Salt

The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt 1 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 1: The Mandate of Salt 2 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 2: The Garum Grid: Salt, Sex, and Power in the Roman World 3 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 3: The Adriatic Empire: Venice, Salt Monopoly, and the Spice Trade 4 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 4: Friday’s Treasure: Cod, Herring, and the Northern Salt Wars 5 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 5: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks: The Gabelle, Contraband, and Revolution 6 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 6: The Rock and the Soul: Gandhi’s March to End an Imperial Tax 7 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 7: Sodium’s Perfect Marriage: When Chemistry Dethroned the Miner 8 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 8: Big Salt, Little Salt: The Global Corporation and the Gourmet Revival 9 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Intro: The Rock That Built Civilizations ← Series Home Act I: The Rise and Branding of Big Salt The foundation of American Big Salt was built on strategic transportation advantage. The Morton Salt Company was founded in 1880 by Joy Morton, a Detroit-born former railroad employee. Morton began working for E. I. Wheeler and Company in Chicago, which acted as an agent for Onondaga salt companies, selling their product in the Midwest. Morton invested his entire savings of $10,000 and acquired a fleet of lake boats to deliver a year’s supply of salt inexpensively to midwestern centers during the ice-free summer months, giving his company a competitive advantage in the expanding market. ...

The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt 1 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 1: The Mandate of Salt 2 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 2: The Garum Grid: Salt, Sex, and Power in the Roman World 3 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 3: The Adriatic Empire: Venice, Salt Monopoly, and the Spice Trade 4 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 4: Friday’s Treasure: Cod, Herring, and the Northern Salt Wars 5 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 5: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks: The Gabelle, Contraband, and Revolution 6 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 6: The Rock and the Soul: Gandhi’s March to End an Imperial Tax 7 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 7: Sodium’s Perfect Marriage: When Chemistry Dethroned the Miner 8 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 8: Big Salt, Little Salt: The Global Corporation and the Gourmet Revival 9 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Intro: The Rock That Built Civilizations ← Series Home For millennia, the value of salt derived from its preserving power and its rarity in certain regions. Yet, by the end of the eighteenth century, the rise of chemistry began to dismantle this ancient economic structure. This new field of science, which became an independent field of research in the late 1600s, finally revealed the true nature of salt, confirming that common table salt was merely one component of a larger, complex family of substances. ...

The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt 1 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 1: The Mandate of Salt 2 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 2: The Garum Grid: Salt, Sex, and Power in the Roman World 3 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 3: The Adriatic Empire: Venice, Salt Monopoly, and the Spice Trade 4 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 4: Friday’s Treasure: Cod, Herring, and the Northern Salt Wars 5 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 5: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks: The Gabelle, Contraband, and Revolution 6 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 6: The Rock and the Soul: Gandhi’s March to End an Imperial Tax 7 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 7: Sodium’s Perfect Marriage: When Chemistry Dethroned the Miner 8 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 8: Big Salt, Little Salt: The Global Corporation and the Gourmet Revival 9 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Intro: The Rock That Built Civilizations ← Series Home The British Empire’s administration of India during the twentieth century operated under economic principles that favored Great Britain. The Indian economy existed largely for the enrichment of the mother country, with Indian salt explicitly managed for the benefit of Cheshire, England. ...

The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt 1 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 1: The Mandate of Salt 2 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 2: The Garum Grid: Salt, Sex, and Power in the Roman World 3 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 3: The Adriatic Empire: Venice, Salt Monopoly, and the Spice Trade 4 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 4: Friday’s Treasure: Cod, Herring, and the Northern Salt Wars 5 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 5: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks: The Gabelle, Contraband, and Revolution 6 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 6: The Rock and the Soul: Gandhi’s March to End an Imperial Tax 7 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 7: Sodium’s Perfect Marriage: When Chemistry Dethroned the Miner 8 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 8: Big Salt, Little Salt: The Global Corporation and the Gourmet Revival 9 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Intro: The Rock That Built Civilizations ← Series Home The Crown’s Salty Start: From Crusade to Code The idea of the French Crown controlling salt production for royal revenue began modestly on the Mediterranean coast. In 1246, Louis IX established a sea-salt pond in the estuary of the Rhône—a marshy area known as the Camargue—to raise money for his planned Crusade to the Middle East. ...

The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt 1 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 1: The Mandate of Salt 2 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 2: The Garum Grid: Salt, Sex, and Power in the Roman World 3 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 3: The Adriatic Empire: Venice, Salt Monopoly, and the Spice Trade 4 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 4: Friday’s Treasure: Cod, Herring, and the Northern Salt Wars 5 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 5: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks: The Gabelle, Contraband, and Revolution 6 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 6: The Rock and the Soul: Gandhi’s March to End an Imperial Tax 7 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 7: Sodium’s Perfect Marriage: When Chemistry Dethroned the Miner 8 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 8: Big Salt, Little Salt: The Global Corporation and the Gourmet Revival 9 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Intro: The Rock That Built Civilizations ← Series Home The rise of northern Europe as a great economic power was inextricably linked to salt. This transition of wealth from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic world was driven, ironically, by religious observance. In the early Middle Ages, the Catholic Church dramatically expanded the number of “lean” days when meat consumption was forbidden, requiring the populace to rely on preserved fish. The Lenten fast, established in the fourth century, was extended to forty days, and all Fridays, commemorating Christ’s crucifixion, were included. ...

The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt 1 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 1: The Mandate of Salt 2 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 2: The Garum Grid: Salt, Sex, and Power in the Roman World 3 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 3: The Adriatic Empire: Venice, Salt Monopoly, and the Spice Trade 4 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 4: Friday’s Treasure: Cod, Herring, and the Northern Salt Wars 5 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 5: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks: The Gabelle, Contraband, and Revolution 6 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 6: The Rock and the Soul: Gandhi’s March to End an Imperial Tax 7 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 7: Sodium’s Perfect Marriage: When Chemistry Dethroned the Miner 8 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 8: Big Salt, Little Salt: The Global Corporation and the Gourmet Revival 9 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Intro: The Rock That Built Civilizations ← Series Home The enduring Roman idea that establishing saltworks was synonymous with building empires was carried forward into the maritime republics that rose after Rome’s collapse in the fifth century. The Mediterranean, once the most economically vital region of the Western world, entered a period of intense competition. ...

The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt 1 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 1: The Mandate of Salt 2 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 2: The Garum Grid: Salt, Sex, and Power in the Roman World 3 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 3: The Adriatic Empire: Venice, Salt Monopoly, and the Spice Trade 4 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 4: Friday’s Treasure: Cod, Herring, and the Northern Salt Wars 5 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 5: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks: The Gabelle, Contraband, and Revolution 6 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 6: The Rock and the Soul: Gandhi’s March to End an Imperial Tax 7 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 7: Sodium’s Perfect Marriage: When Chemistry Dethroned the Miner 8 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 8: Big Salt, Little Salt: The Global Corporation and the Gourmet Revival 9 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Intro: The Rock That Built Civilizations ← Series Home Salt preservation defines civilizations. The need to preserve flesh first emerged where the desert met the fertile strip along the Nile River. Earliest Egyptian burial sites date to about 3000 B.C.. ...

The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt 1 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 1: The Mandate of Salt 2 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 2: The Garum Grid: Salt, Sex, and Power in the Roman World 3 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 3: The Adriatic Empire: Venice, Salt Monopoly, and the Spice Trade 4 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 4: Friday’s Treasure: Cod, Herring, and the Northern Salt Wars 5 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 5: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks: The Gabelle, Contraband, and Revolution 6 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 6: The Rock and the Soul: Gandhi’s March to End an Imperial Tax 7 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 7: Sodium’s Perfect Marriage: When Chemistry Dethroned the Miner 8 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 8: Big Salt, Little Salt: The Global Corporation and the Gourmet Revival 9 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Intro: The Rock That Built Civilizations ← Series Home Prologue: The Rock and the Economy Salt stands as one of the first international commodities of trade. This substance, essential for human survival and health, inevitably became the focus of the world’s first state monopoly. Long before it fueled empires in Europe, salt drove politics, philosophy, and technology in China. Chinese history, documented across 4,000 years, begins as a history of pivotal inventions. Leaders throughout China, including Mao Zedong, proudly list the numerous Chinese firsts. These inventions include the papermaking process, printing technology, gunpowder, and the magnetic compass. ...

The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt 1 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 1: The Mandate of Salt 2 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 2: The Garum Grid: Salt, Sex, and Power in the Roman World 3 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 3: The Adriatic Empire: Venice, Salt Monopoly, and the Spice Trade 4 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 4: Friday’s Treasure: Cod, Herring, and the Northern Salt Wars 5 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 5: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks: The Gabelle, Contraband, and Revolution 6 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 6: The Rock and the Soul: Gandhi’s March to End an Imperial Tax 7 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 7: Sodium’s Perfect Marriage: When Chemistry Dethroned the Miner 8 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Part 8: Big Salt, Little Salt: The Global Corporation and the Gourmet Revival 9 The White Gold Standard: A World History of Salt - Intro: The Rock That Built Civilizations ← Series Home I bought the rock in the rundown hillside mining town of Cardona, Spanish Catalonia. It presented as an irregular, pink trapezoid. Curved indentations, etched by rain, marked its surface. The rock had a peculiar translucence and looked like a cross between rose quartz and soap. This resemblance to soap came because the stone dissolved in water. Rainwater wore its edges smooth, similar to a used bar of soap. ...