Chocolate has had an extensive history throughout Europe and beyond. Along with its base ingredient, cacao, chocolate has vastly changed in terms of use, form, means of consumption, and purposes served within society. Within this paper, a chronological depiction, analysis, and comparison with contemporary contexts will be conducted regarding chocolate’s origins, and its roles, significance, and use in Europe.
Cacao in Aztec Society, the Age of Discovery and Spanish Conquistadors
The latest incarnation of chocolate before European ‘borrowing’ was within the Aztec Empire, in the form of cacao beans, and they believed that cacao were gifts sent from the god of wisdom Quetzalcoatl (Garcia, 2001). Brewed with spices and cornmeal, the mixture named xocoatl was exclusively consumed by royalty and warriors (Squicciarini, 2016).
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The consumption of cacao symbolized power and wealth. It was also commonly used as a folk remedy for ailments such as diarrhea or cough, or even used as an aphrodisiac. The crop was rare in the wild and difficult to cultivate. Its godly attributions and exclusivity increased its value and solidified its establishment as a form of currency within Aztec society.
In the 16th century, many civilizations within Mesoamerica were conquered by the Spanish. The Spanish immediately realized the value of cacao beans as an economic tool and symbol of power within Aztec society, as compared to bartering with metals such as copper, silver, or gold (Presilla, 2009). To the Spanish, the role of cacao at the time was to continue using it as a form of currency in already conquered regions and use the cacao brews as a means to manage the empire more efficiently. The Spanish also acquired the reins of production and monopolized the trade of cacao, allowing them to take control of Mesoamerica.
Thus, it can be said that cacao’s relative importance in Aztec society eventually allowed it to be noticed and used strategically and diplomatically by the Spanish, and this serves as an important hallmark in chocolate’s conceptualization. However, at the time, they did not appreciate the bitter taste of cocoa’s resultant beverage that was commonly drunk by the Aztec noblemen. Quoting a derogatory depiction, chocolate was likened to feces and deemed to be a drink for pigs.
Chocolate, Spanish Society, and Spread Across Europe
The exact figures that introduced cacao to the Spanish court is unclear. However, most sources unanimously tout that the drink became very popular among Spanish nobility upon substituting chili with sugar within the recipe, and making it hot rather than cold (Coe, 2013). After adaptation to Spanish tastes, chocolate became more reminiscent of its sweet, modern form. It subsequently became an expensive beverage enjoyed by the privileged classes only as it required a great amount of labor to produce. It also became customary to drink chocolate from luxurious utensils. While no longer viewed as currency, chocolate’s consumption was still regarded as a symbol of power and nobility, and relatively inaccessible to commoners as food.
Chocolate was also initially viewed as demonic by some Catholic churches’ leaderships, due to the interruptions it caused during mass, where churchgoers would order their servants to deliver chocolate to them midway (Ball, 2000). However, churches were unable to object to chocolate as its immense popularity resulted in churchgoers switching churches (Evans, 2011). Churches ultimately relented and even allowed the beverage to be consumed while fasting. With Pope Alexander VII stating that liquids would not break the fast, chocolate also became classified as a medicative liquid that resolved issues such as diarrhea, cough, or impotence, rationalized by the Galenic medicinal method (Dillinger et al., 2000).
The exact mechanism in which chocolate spread throughout Europe is also disputed. It possibly began with an Italian traveler discovering chocolate in Spain before taking it to Italy, then subsequently spreading out towards the rest of the European countries (‘The History of Chocolate’, 2018).
Again, chocolate received immense popularity, and its purpose was largely retained as a luxurious beverage beyond Spain. Unique cultures regarding chocolate preparation or consumption habits also developed. For instance, the French preferred to incorporate milk rather than water into their brews, which the Spanish later adopted. Chocolate was even used as a diplomatic tool between countries, where Spanish Princess Maria Theresa gave her fiancé Louis XIV of France an engagement gift of chocolate packaged in a chest, exemplifying Spanish-Franco culture.
Thus, without Spanish intervention, chocolate would not have existed in its contemporary form as a tasty sweet, flavor, or beverage, since the Spanish and the rest of Europe would not have been incentivized to introduce it into their diets in the first place.
Encomienda and Mexican Exploitation
The encomienda system was a system of forced labor instituted in the early 16th century. Through the system, an encomendero would be granted the right to manage properties and labor of the native Americans, and demanded a portion of the output from the labor (Yeager, 1995). These were deemed acceptable under the guise of paying tribute to Catholicism and the Spanish monarchy as a valid justification. Although the system was intended to be a less brutal version of slavery, the rules of the system, i.e., inheritance prohibition incentivized encomenderos to treat the natives poorly and cruelly.
One of the regions where encomienda prevailed was Suconusco, a region that was highly contested even among the Aztecs due to its superior conditions in growing cocoa. It became highly regarded amongst the Spaniards as well due to the increasing popularity and demand for cocoa in Spain and across Europe, and later became densely populated with encomiendas. Thus, it can be said that the popularity of chocolate and the production of cocoa directly exacerbated the spread of the encomienda system in the Americas, exploiting the natives and robbing them of their freedoms.
Today, the imperialist encomienda relationship no longer persists. Instead, the Aztecs are conveniently used by chocolate companies as material for marketing collateral and branding, while naturally avoiding the aforementioned brutalities, leading to much cultural appropriation, misrepresentation, and disrespect.
Age of Enlightenment
During the Age of Enlightenment, there were significant advancements in the studia humanitatis, and many social gatherings took place that discussed and spread knowledge. Chocolate was served as an accompanying drink in the French salons and especially in the upper-class Spanish Tertulia, playing a role in facilitating the exchange of ideas.
However, chocolate was heavily associated with leisure and aristocracy, contradicting the principles of Enlightenment. Coffeehouses, the liberal Northern European variant of tertulias, were geared towards the middle class. Men in coffeehouses preferred egalitarian environments with diverse debate unhindered by class (White, 2018). Coffee was comparatively more popular due to its lower price, and also its productivity-enhancing properties.
Thus, chocolate’s role in the Age of Enlightenment was only prominent within Spanish and occasionally French social communities, as it was mostly viewed as counterproductive in the pursuit of civilization and liberty. Ironically, it should also be noted that the Spanish encomienda system (that obviously contradicted Enlightenment’s fundamental ideals of liberty, fraternity and tolerance) was not formally abolished until the late 18th century, perhaps revealing the superficialities residing within the Spanish tertulia. It can also be argued that the ideals discussed by intellectuals during Enlightenment were also superficial in the wake of industrialization with the subsequent exploitation of the African regions.
Industrial Revolution
Before the Industrial Revolution, chocolate was mostly available for elites only, in the form of a laboriously-produced beverage. However, upon rapid development of machinery and progression of the sciences, intellectuals were able to experiment with ways to produce chocolate more efficiently and cheaply without the need for manual labor. The Watt steam engine dramatically improved the efficiency of the bean grinding process. With the assistance of a specialized hydraulic press and chemical alkalizing process, chocolate began to taste more like its modern-day counterpart. Termed ‘Dutch Cocoa’, it became much sweeter and appealed to a wider audience. The separation of the chocolate liquor into its constituents also facilitated the conception of the prominent chocolate bar that is commonly seen today. The increased productivity and reduced cost allowed for chocolate bars to proliferate in mass amounts (Coe, 2013) in a form that was widely available for the masses beyond solely aristocrats.
Today, chocolates as sweets are also widely marketed at children due to their sweetness and affordability. This is mostly attributed to the industrialization of commercially available sugar, which transitioned from a luxury to a household necessity (Mintz, 1985). Cheaply-priced sugar substituted expensive sweeteners such as vanilla and anise, allowing companies such as Fry to price chocolate cheaply and advertising their chocolates to children.
Thus, as a result of the Industrial Revolution, chocolate’s function was transformed from a luxurious beverage for the aristocrats, to a foodstuff that was commonplace regardless of societal stature, and even affordable by children.
African Exploitation
As a byproduct of industrialization, there was much unemployment and poverty of people from more rural parts of Europe due to their inability to adapt. Coupled by revolts and revolutions in their existing colonies, and an ongoing economic depression, the Europeans naturally tended towards other regions that they could utilize and profit from (Coe, 2013).
Africa was viewed as a land of cheap, accessible labor, while possessing many of the valuable resources Europe needed to fuel their industrialization. Africa also possessed the appropriate climate for growing cacao. Hence, following Africa’s colonization and the Berlin Conference of 1884, African colonies were partitioned and distributed to European countries, the production of cocoa was shifted over, and forced labor in a worse manner to the encomienda system was instituted.
Thus, while it can be argued that Africa would have been exploited regardless of chocolate’s existing, the industrialization and widespread commercialization of chocolate could still be viewed as a factor that indirectly encouraged the exploitation and slavery of the African people.
Modern-Day Survival and Reception
In today’s globalized world, chocolate is known as a widespread food and flavor that is easily accessible (albeit in varying grades) by almost everyone, in a variety of forms ranging from beverages, sweets, and liquor. The demand for chocolate continues to grow across the world. The global cocoa and chocolate market size was valued at 44.35 billion USD in 2018, and is projected to reach 61.34 billion USD by 2027 (Fortune Business Insights, 2020).
However, exploitation and slavery of cocoa production in Africa remains. Rather than the Americas, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana together produce nearly 60% of the world’s cocoa each year. There are also over 2.1 million children working in the cocoa fields of the Ivory and Gold Coasts (Fountain & Hutz-Adams 2018). In contrast to the past, cocoa is currently of low value, encouraging companies to find additional sources of labor, and increase production for greater economies of scale.
With weak governments and accompanied by consistent internal warfare, strife, and corruption created by European imperialism, Africa currently possesses poor infrastructure for enforcing companies to abide by regulations. There is also a lack of crop diversification, and farmers are forced to continue to farm cocoa. Through the Berlin Conference, the Europeans had locked the Western African countries into a sorry fate.
Conclusion
In summary, chocolate has a rich history, a history of cruelty and slavery that few people know about, and these human rights abuses actually still persist in Africa today. This bloody history of chocolate should be better known to the public, especially children, and that human rights organizations such as the UN Human Rights should work with chocolate companies such as Nestle, Hershey and Mars to prevent further violations, ending the chain of imperialism forever.
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