Essay Example on Coffee has been an American Commodity

Coffee has been an American commodity as early as 1773 however over long periods of time prices of coffee have risen and the caffeinated beverage has developed its own culture and food chains such as Starbucks Dunkin Donuts and Wawa are thriving across the country because of their flavors of various coffees and lattes such as Peppermint Mocha Pumpkin Spice Caramel etc The term Coffee Culture refers to the social environment in which human behaviors are driven by the consumption of coffee Coffee has become the world's primary source of caffeine and is not only a trend that has flourished in the nation but has transformed into a symbol of social status So how has the evolution of coffee changed over that past couple of centuries How did it become a daily routine to have a cup of coffee in the morning And why are industries and companies making millions of dollars every year with their production of coffee 

As coffee started to reach the cities of Mecca and Cairo a controversial debate arose among Muslim scholars who believed that coffee was intoxicating same religious prohibition as wine and other alcoholic drinks which the Prophet Muhammed has prohibited Standage Tom Wine Of Islam 2006 Once coffee became consumed publicly again under the ruling of Kha ir Beg coffee was used to stay awake during nightly prayers and was also considered a social drink where it was sold by vendors in market squares and coffeehouses Coffee drinkers engaged in conversations listened to music watched performances played games read newspapers and were up to date on the current news over a cup of qahwah and was extremely popular with the Muslim community for its stimulant powers By parching and boiling the coffee beans Arabs were able to corner the market on coffee crops Avey 2013 Coffee was introduced to the Americas when Parliament passed the 1773 Tea Act Britain s prime minister Lord North made the decision to assist the Company of British East India which was on the brink of being bankrupt Wars in India resulted in the country to be in debt and since the British had taxes on tea colonial merchants began illegally selling cheaper Dutch tea for profit 

As a result East India Company tea could now be sold at lower prices than smuggled Dutch tea The American Vision 2005 The new law permitted the company to sell the tea to vendors directly causing colonial merchants to be angry by the fact that they would be robbed out of business When the East India Company planned to ship 1 253 chests of tea to the Boston New York Charlestown and Philadelphia colonies the Committees of Correspondence which were organizations in each colony that were opposed to British policies informed colonists that the tea was arriving into the Americas The Committees took immediate action and made a choice that the tea would be prohibited from coming to American territory In December 1773 tea ships arrived in Boston Harbor while about 150 men had already snuck on and boarded the ship the previous night The men emptied the 342 chests of tea into the harbor and the raid became known as The Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea party angered British King George III causing parliament to pass the Coercive Acts which punished Boston city until it paid for the destruction of the tea After these laws were passed it was considered unpatriotic to drink tea colonists found that they could import coffee from South and Central America without the help of the British Drinking coffee became a sign of independence and American autonomy Howard 2012