Bitterness and Power: The Rise of Coffee as a US Staple

How did coffee transform from a rare luxury into a mass-consumed product in the United States? This presentation examines the formative decades of the early nineteenth century, when Brazil became the world’s largest coffee producer and the United States emerged as its largest consumer—a symbiotic relationship that continues to this day. I explore the key economic and cultural factors that made coffee widely accessible and desirable across all social classes, including enslaved populations in the United States South and the working class.

Preliminary archival research reveals that coffee was regularly listed among essential “plantation goods” in sugar and cotton plantation records. Southern plantations were major centers of consumption, not only due to their large labor forces but also because of the wealth generated by their export economy. To sustain plantation operations, southern planters routinely purchased imported goods such as clothing, iron tools, and coffee. For enslaved laborers, coffee was instrumental in enduring long working hours, providing both physical energy and psychological relief.

Besides its role in plantation economies, coffee became associated with ideals of sobriety, asceticism, rationality, and work ethic—values increasingly promoted in urban centers such as New York, Baltimore, and New Orleans. As industrialization started to emerge, factory owners sought to instill discipline and punctuality among the growing working class, reinforcing coffee’s place in American labor culture.

Thus, coffee was not only integral to the U.S. economy—sustaining key sectors like cotton, sugar, and manufacturing—but also embedded in cultural discourses that linked its consumption to values championed by elites and the state. This presentation explores these intertwined economic and cultural dimensions, shedding light on how coffee became an American staple.