The growth of contemporary rationalism in Europe was paralleled by the spread of coffee, a new drink that increased clarity and sharpness of thought. After many years of wine and beer’s popularity, coffee had become the most preferred drink by intellectuals, clerks, traders, and most white-collar workers.
As Standage (2006 p. 100) states, coffee assisted thinkers and “information workers” regulate working days, helped them wake up in the morning and enabled them to stay alert long after business hours.
Unlike alcoholic drinks, coffee was served in sober, calm, reputable establishments that provided forums for discussion, debate, education, and self-improvement.
As a favorite beverage of intellectuals, professionals, and respected thinkers, coffee played a crucial role in the advancement of the renaissance period. Common beverages like wine, beer, and spirits could not match the popularity of coffee. For instance, water was prone to contamination.
Alcoholic drinks like beer, wine, and spirits, although popular, were intoxicating rather than sobering, diminishing senses and blotting reality rather than heightening perception (Standage, 2006 p.101).
By the 1660s, Europe had awoken from a centuries-long alcoholic haze and embraced coffee, a drink that Standage (2006 p. 101) refers to as a “wakeful and civil drink.” When European businessmen desired to follow prices of commodities, following the latest business news, keep up-to-date with politics, and understand new scientific developments, a coffeehouse was the ideal place.
Coffeehouses became establishments for politicians, businessmen, scientists, and writers and outlets for newsletters, broadsides, pamphlets, etc. In cities like London and Paris coffeehouses were erected with distinctive names and acted as offices, venues, and meeting rooms for businessmen and their associates.
Merchants and businessmen visited different coffeehouses depending on their interests. According to Standage (2006), merchants, for instance, would visit coffeehouses that specialized in East Indie, Baltic, and West Indie shipping. Many trade discussions, business deals, and economic & financial decisions were made in coffeehouses because the ‘enlightenment drink’ enabled stakeholders to make informed decisions.
Coffee also had a significant impact on both the French and Scientific Revolutions. Coffeehouses were popular places for debates and discussions that reflected and influenced public opinion. As Standage (2006 p. 111) states, they were key centers for political fermentation, philosophical speculations, self-education, commercial innovation, news, and gossip.
Having spread throughout major European cities like Paris and London, coffeehouses enabled thinkers, political figures, and intellectuals to hang out and discuss ideas under the influence of a drink that enhanced their thinking capacities. During the period before the French Revolution, coffeehouses had become ideal places for republican agitation the organization of the revolution.
As a social focal point of private and public discussions, the coffeehouses worked as a field of correspondence and filled in as a basic part in the creation and spread of popular assessment and revolutionary talk. Displayed in leaflets, the prevalent attitude finds distribution using creators whose expectation was to unveil explicit exchange through the diversion of coffeehouses talk.
Creators of coffeehouses flyers go about as specialists of the average folks by communicating their discussion amid an emergency or when religion and odd notions overwhelmed them. The eighteenth century represents the period where a bourgeoisie open arena and general assessment blended. Subsequently, a recently characterized space shaped were the expulsion of conversation from the influence of the state permitted the improvement of eighteenth-century public power/power.
This combination further escalated with the beginning of the Revolution brought about the arrangement of famous general assessment using the people, print, and the coffeehouses. They turned into a get-together spot for each layer of the French social request, from elites to the leftovers of society.
Concisely, coffee played a vital role in both the French & Scientific Revolutions and had a significant effect on the balance of power & global commerce. After gaining popularity and replacing alcoholic beverages as the drink of choice throughout Europe, coffee influenced many aspects of society like politics, economics, commerce, etc.
Coffeehouses became centers for the advancement of ideas, debates, and discussions that shaped the opinions of most Europeans. Ultimately, coffee and coffeehouses influenced the ideas and opinions of people from different walks of life in different European cities, thereby dictating aspects like commerce, politics, and balance of power.
Reference
Standage, Tom. History of the World in 6 Glasses. Annotated, Walker Publishing Company, 2006.
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