While The True
History of Chocolate as Joseph sees it is how "chocolate spread across
the land," the Coes' description of how this took place reveals a number of
interesting facets of Europe's political history especially that of Great Britain.
The distribution of chocolate in England was
decidedly different than that of France.
In 1759, Coe writes, "Louis XIV granted a country-wide royal
monopoly for
chocolate . . . pointing up a profound difference between the two
nations: England was a land of shopkeepers and enterprising private
businessmen, while France was a highly centralized, authoritarian kingdom with
vast, tightly regulated state monopolies.
In France, chocolate was strictly for the aristocracy, while in England
it was available to all those who had the money to pay for it, and it was on
offer to all who patronized coffee-shops.
Chocolate was becoming democratized." (166)
With the mass distribution and availability of
chocolate, the British-style coffee house and later "club" emerged
which quickly became centers of political activity and discussion. The coffee house became an important center
for the country's political parties (Tories/royalists & Whigs). Charles II realized the power of the coffee
houses and issued a decree to suppress them (1675) which was largely ignored.
A similar situation occurred in the United States in
the late 19th century with the Anti-Saloon league. While ostensibly its goal was to combat the
evils of alcohol ("Demon Rum"), its main purpose was to undercut the
power of the Democratic Party whose followers and members like the Whigs
conducted considerable political activity in saloons and bars.
Coe's description of the British economic system in
the above passage does contrast with last week's reading of Mintz who spoke
about the same time period as the high water mark of British Mercantilism. Whether British chocolate importation faced
similar regulations as sugar might be of research interest.
Be that as it may, Coe's discussion is valuable for
it sheds further light on a feature of British political history.
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