Notes

The people in Ancient Greece were some of the first to chew gum. They used the sap of a tree. It made their breath fresh. The people of Mexico chewed tree sap too. It helped when they felt hungry or thirsty but had nothing to eat or drink. Native American people also chewed the sap of a tree. They shared this with the early American settlers, who later chewed a kind of wax instead of sap. Gum was made from sap and wax for a long time. Then a man named Thomas Adams changed that. He had an idea to use tree sap to make a new kind of rubber, but he made a new kind of gum instead. It tasted good but the flavor did not last. Later, a man named William White added sugar to the gum. It tasted very good and the flavor lasted. Soon many people were chewing his new gum. Today, gum is no longer made from tree sap. This is good for the sap trees because too many trees were being cut down. Gum also comes in many flavors. People still use it when they feel hungry or want to have fresh breath.