The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was the start of something new. It was a period of time when advances in manufacturing, agriculture, transportaton, and production occured.For hundreds of years, the chocolate-making process remained almost the same. By the mid 1700s, the growing Industrial Revolution saw something that changed the future of chocolate and its productions. A variety of new inventions and advertising helped create solid chocolate candy to become the international favored sweet it is today. From Pre-Hispanic times until the time of the Industrial Revolution, chocolate was largely a handmade product. Chocolate was available only to the wealthy as a beverage during those times because producing the chocolate was expensive and it took a lot of time. New machinery of the industrial revolution time made it possible to create solid chocolate in large amounts at a fraction of the original cost. Since the production cost and time were decreased, other people could afford to buy solid chocolate or chocolate beverages. Hardships continued long after slavery came to an end. For more than two centuries, enslaved people had worked hard to produce crops in lands colonized by European nations. Although slavery was gone, in all countries by 1888, the need for labor for products like sugar and cacao continued. That same year, a United States Congressional hearing resulted in a ban on any cacao because the slaves were laboring on plantations to get the cocao and sugar. Mechanical mills relieved people from the laboring process of grinding cacao. It became possible to grind huge amounts of cacao in an inexpensively and quickly way. New ideas improved chocolate’s texture and taste. Before the Industrial Revolution, chocolate was lumpy and hard. The invention of new machines made it possible to create smooth chocolate so it could be an edible candy bar.