And you've gone and made me look up the history of sugar. Looks like sugar was already a major export from sugarcane plantations in more equatorial regions at that point, so their sugar would have probably been imported from caribbean plantations.
I don't know if Plymouth Colony specifically had any, but early European colonists also brought over beehives (which the indians called "white man's flies") to produce honey. Honeybees weren't native to the area, but flourished and quickly spread out into the surrounding wilds. Within a short time it was highly profitable just to go out into the forest and harvest "bee trees" in which large hives had been established in hollow trees.
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timeasmymeasure
Sweetness in the Colonies
Date: 2009-11-26 08:01 pm (UTC)I don't know if Plymouth Colony specifically had any, but early European colonists also brought over beehives (which the indians called "white man's flies") to produce honey. Honeybees weren't native to the area, but flourished and quickly spread out into the surrounding wilds. Within a short time it was highly profitable just to go out into the forest and harvest "bee trees" in which large hives had been established in hollow trees.