History of salt
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Salt's preservative ability was a foundation of civilization. It eliminated dependency on the seasonal availability of food and allowed travel over long distances; it was also a vital food additive. However, salt was difficult to obtain, and so it was a highly valued trade item throughout history. Until the 1900s, salt was one of the prime movers of national economies and wars. Salt was taxed from as far back as the 20th century BC in China.
In the empire of Mali, merchants in 12th-century Timbuktu — the gateway to the Sahara Desert and the seat of scholars — valued salt enough to buy it for its weight in gold[[Citing sources citation needed]]; this trade led to the legends of the incredibly wealthy city of Timbuktu and fueled inflation in Europe, which was exporting the salt.
Today salt is universally accessible, relatively cheap and iodized.
Romans and Middle Ages
Roman soldiers were partially paid with salt, and this is still evident in the English language as the word salary derives from the Latin word salarium that means payment in salt (Latin sal), as well as the phrase "worth one's salt". The Roman Republic and Empire controlled the price of salt, increasing it to raise money for wars, or lowering it to be sure that the poorest citizens could easily afford this important part of the diet.
It was also of high value to the Hebrews, Greeks and other peoples of antiquity.
Already in the early years of the Roman Republic, with the growth of the city of Rome, roads were built to make transportation of salt to the capital city easier. An example was the Via Salaria (originally a Sabine trail), leading from Rome to the Adriatic Sea. The Adriatic Sea, having a high salinity due to its shallow depth, had more productive solar ponds if compared with those of the Tyrrhenian Sea, much closer to Rome.
During the late Roman Empire and throughout the Middle Ages salt was a precious commodity carried along the salt roads into the heartland of the Germanic tribes. Caravans consisting of as many as forty thousand camels traversed four hundred miles of the Sahara bearing salt, sometimes trading it for slaves.
Cities and wars
Salt has played a prominent role in determining the power and location of the world's great cities. Timbuktu was once a huge salt market. Liverpool rose from just a small English port to become the prime exporting port for the salt dug in the great Cheshire salt mines and thus became the source of the world's salt in the 1800s.
Salt created and destroyed empires. The salt mines of Poland led to a vast kingdom in the 1500s, only to be destroyed when Germans brought sea salt (often, to most of the world, considered 'superior' to rock salt). Venice fought and won a war with Genoa over salt. Genoa, however, had the last laugh. Genovites Christopher Columbus and Giovanni Caboto destroyed the Mediterranean trade by introducing the New World to the market.
Cities, states and dukedoms along the salt roads exacted heavy duties and taxes for the salt passing through their territories. This practice even caused the formation of cities, such as the city of Munich in 1158, when the then Duke of Bavaria, Henry the Lion, decided that the bishops of Freising no longer needed their salt revenue.
The gabelle — a hated French salt tax — was enacted in 1286 and maintained until 1790. Because of the gabelles, common salt was of such a high value that it caused mass population shifts and exodus, attracted invaders and caused wars.
During many wars in American history, salt has been a major factor in the outcome. In the Revolutionary War, the British used Tories to intercept the rebels' salt supply and destroy their ability to preserve food. During the War of 1812, salt brine was used to pay soldiers in the field, as the government was too poor to pay them with money. Before Lewis and Clark set out for the Louisiana Territory, President Jefferson spoke in his address to Congress about a mountain of salt supposed to lie near the Missouri River, which would have been of immense value. (However, by 1810, new discoveries along the Kanawha and Sandy Rivers had greatly reduced the value of salt.)
Salt trade
The salt trade was based on one fact — it is more profitable to sell salted foodstuffs than to sell just salt. Thus sources of food to salt went hand in hand with salt making. The British controlled saltworks in the Bahamas and North American cod, their sphere of influence quickly covered the world. The search for oil in the late 1800s and early 1900s used the technology and methods pioneered by salt miners, even to the degree that they looked for oil where salt domes were located.
Salt mines
In the second half of the 19th century, its price finally became more reasonable. At this time, it became possible to mine salt, which is less expensive than evaporating seawater.
British India
In India during the time of the British Empire, the government had a monopoly on salt production. Gandhi saw this as wrong. He decided to defy British salt laws as a means of mobilizing popular support for self-rule in India. To protest at the government's salt tax, Gandhi proposed a 240-mile Salt March march from Ahmedabad to the coastal town of Dandi, in 1930, in which thousands of Indians went to the sea to illegally produce their own salt in protest of the British tax on salt. Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, explaining his intentions: "My ambition is no less than to convert the British people through nonviolence, and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India". This gesture led to civil disobedience breaking out in many parts of India. 60,000 people were arrested. Gandhi's resistance on salt continues to serve as the model for other modern non-violent efforts to change policy.
United States
Use in fishing
Cod fishing, a major food source in the New England colonies relied heavily on the use of salt. The colonists used the “dry” method of salting. To use this method cod are caught and shipped to land before they are salted, removing them from the water of the fish barrels. This method permitted cod to stay preserved for a long time. The French used the "wet" method of salting cod. They used salt-filled barrels on the boats to store the cod in as soon as they were caught. This method allowed for fresher fish, but they did not stay preserved for long.
Solar evaporation
John Sears was the first person in the American colonies to use solar evaporation to create salt. He used wind-powered pumps to pump water from the sea into huge wooden vats where it sat until the water evaporated and only salt was left. There were then no advances in solar evaporation until 1833 when the purification pan was invented. This device purified salt water to remove grit or sand. This method for producing salt was the most popular and successful until rock salt was discovered in 1869.
Morton salt
During modern times, one salt corporation stands out as the most successful. Morton Salt was incorporated in 1848 as a small salt producer. In 1910, the spouts on top of their salt dispensers were invented and patented. These spouts would become their most lucrative idea. In 1911, The Morton Salt Corporation began to use the little girl with the umbrella to represent them. She brought worldwide fame to the company as an advertising symbol which people could associate with the company and product. Around 1918, the company began to sell lower grade livestock salt to farmers. In 1924, Morton Salt was the first to use iodine in their salt to prevent goiters. During the highway boom of the 1950s, they solely supplied the government with roadway salt. In the health-conscious 1970s, Morton Salt began to produce salt substitute to help control high blood pressure. This product tasted like table salt but was made from potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride.
See also
References
Kurlansky, Mark. Salt: A World History. Penguin, 2003.
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