De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana

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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
Sugar cane contributes millions of dollars to
Louisiana's economy. Of the U.S. sugar producing
areas, Louisiana is the oldest and most historic.
Sugarcane is being produced on nearly 450,000
acres of land in 23 Louisiana Parishes. Granulate
d sugar from sugar cane is now a fixture in homes
across Louisiana now. Jean Étienne De Boré played
a major role in the birth of granulated sugar
business in Louisiana in 1795.
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
Etienne de Bore was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois
on December 27, 1741 to Louis de Bore and
Celestene Therese Carriere. At four years old the
family returned to France. He was educated
there. He attended military school as well. On
November 5, 1771, he married Jeanne Marguerite
Marie Destrehan des Tours, a member of a
prominent and wealthy Louisiana family. Upon
being married, he and his bride returned to
Louisiana. In 1776, the couple and settled in St.
Charles Parish.
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
In 1781 he was granted extensive property above
New Orleans (which included the present-day
Audubon Park.) He embarked upon an agricultural
career with the planting of indigo. The Council
of the Indies had introduced indigo in and it
became one of Louisianas agricultural staples.
By the 1790s the colonys indigo crops were
bringing in 180,000 a year.
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
After a couple of years of drought and insects
attacking the plants, the issues of the bare
stalks in the indigo fields were discouraging
planters. De Bore and other planters were on the
verge of bankruptcy. So he decided to gamble on
sugar cane crops. The Jesuits had first
introduced sugar cane into Louisiana to make
molasses, but it never developed into a
commercial crop. Attempts to crystallize the
syrup into granules had failed until that time.
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
Although he knew that historically, the
production of granulated sugar had been a failure
in Louisiana, De Bore, was determined to try and
give it a chance. A number of expert
sugar-makers were among the refugees who had
escaped from Santo Domingo in1791, so he sought
their advice. Obtaining cane from two of the
Spanish growers, he planted a crop.
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
After his crops were harvested, De Bore and his
slaves worked hard planting and harvesting the
cane, digging to bring water from the Mississippi
River into the fields. It was a small operation
by most standards of plantation living. On his
estate, he set up a sugar mill. With the aid of
Mendez and Lopez and the use of the Spanish
method of making molasses, De Bore wanted more.
Wanting to go a step further in granulizing the
molasses, his hard work and determination
eventually paid off. Etienne de Bore was
delighted as he stood in the drying room of the
Sugar House while his first crop of Creole Cane
was drying as granulated brown sugar. He had
finally succeeded in crystallizing the syrup into
sugar granules.
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
Louisiana planter Jean Etienne de Bore became the
first to granulate sugar in the colony in 1795.
Once proven that sugar could be granulated, and
De Bores industry began to grow. Etienne De
Bore then granulated sugar on a commercial scale
in Audubon Park. He sold his 1796 crop for
12,000 and a new industry was born in Louisiana.
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
The success of a wealthy Louisiana planter Jean
Étienne De Boré in making sugar on a substantial
scale in 1795 caused a rapid shift of planters
from indigo to sugarcane. The result of De
Bores venture completely revolutionized
agriculture in Louisiana.
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
Etienne de Bore was appointed the first New
Orleans mayor by Governor William C. C. Claiborne
in 1803. However, he resigned to look after his
personal affairs the following year.
Governor William C. C. Claiborne
1st New Orleans Mayor Etienne de Bore
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De Bore, Granulated Sugar, and Louisiana
Louisiana's economy since that time, has been
able to profit from Etienne De Bores granulated
sugar. When the United States took possession of
Louisiana in 1803, there was already a small
thriving sugar industry in south
Louisiana. Within a decade, production of
granulated sugar would transform the kitchens
around the world. Jean Etienne De Bore died at
79 years old on February 1, 1820 leaving a sweet
legacy of granulated sugar in his wake.
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Think about this..

• Can you imagine life without granulated sugar?
  Explain your reasons.
• How did granulated sugar affect Louisiana and
  sugar cane crops at the time of its discovery and
  now?
• How do you think the success of granulated sugar
  and cane crops affect slavery in Louisiana?
  Explain your reasons.