Was sugar a crop during the civil war?

Answer 1

Yes, and it was grown on some plantations in the south. It was a very difficult crop though. The only way to get sugar was by growing sugar cane, then harvesting that, and in a lengthy process crush and squeeze the cane stalks through heavy roller machinery, then boil the juice down for several days to get molasses, which could then eventually be made into brown ("loaf") sugar. (Today much sugar is made by extracting it from red "sugar beets", or turnips, a process unknown in those times). Confederate president Jefferson Davis as a young, newly married man was set up by his older brother with a sugar cane plantation, but the crops failed two years out of three - once because a hail storm destroyed his growing cane stalks, I believe another year because of a flood. This was typical of the risks run by those attempting to grow sugar cane. This was a very labor-intensive crop, so those engaged in growing it needed vast numbers of slaves. The failure of the crop for Davis meant he had to mortgage his land, AND his slaves, to try to make it until the next year and hope he could get a crop made then, to sell for money to repay the loans and cover expenses. When he did not, his farm and the slaves were foreclosed by the lender, and he lost it all, which was a common thing for those trying to grow sugar cane. If a planter was lucky enough to manage to complete the harvest for several years in a row though, they could get rich.