# in 17th-19th cent. why did they import spices from SE Asia instead of growing them in Americas?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-17th-19th-cent-why-did-they-import-spices-from-se-asia-instead-of-growing-them-in-americas/535882>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 12, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-17th-19th-cent-why-did-they-import-spices-from-se-asia-instead-of-growing-them-in-americas/535882 "2010-04-12T21:13:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-17th-19th-cent-why-did-they-import-spices-from-se-asia-instead-of-growing-them-in-americas/535882/1 "2010-04-12T21:13:48Z")

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everybody knows that the Portuguese and Dutch made a ton of money importing pepper and other spices from, well, the “Spice Islands” in Indonesia. So, how come? Why didn’t they just plant all those spices in the Caribbean or in Brazil instead, without the huge distances and hostile locals involved in commerce with SE Asia?

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**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-17th-19th-cent-why-did-they-import-spices-from-se-asia-instead-of-growing-them-in-americas/535882/2 "2010-04-12T21:20:57Z")

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I’m sure some of the plants in question only flourish in their native areas.

Beyond that, European traders in that era often had surprisingly little clue what the stuff _was_ that they were trading.

For example, the British were well on their way to being hooked on tea before any of them had the slightest idea that the shredded black stuff they bought in chests on Chinese piers was related in any way to the green _Camellia sinensis_ bush.

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**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-17th-19th-cent-why-did-they-import-spices-from-se-asia-instead-of-growing-them-in-americas/535882/3 "2010-04-12T21:22:37Z")

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I believe that in a lot of the cases, there was quite an incentive to prevent the removal of seeds, cuttings, etc. IIRC there were laws that would punish people caught smuggling out such items. Don’t have a cite, though, sorry.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-17th-19th-cent-why-did-they-import-spices-from-se-asia-instead-of-growing-them-in-americas/535882/4 "2010-04-12T21:23:31Z")

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[They did.](http://www.spicegardenssrilanka.com/history.html)