The Deadly Labor of Sugar

Boiling Down The Sweet


In 18th-century Barbados, cane sugar was made in cast-iron syrup kettles, a technique later adopted in the American South. Sugarcane was squashed using wind and animal-powered mills. The drawn out juice was heated up, clarified, and vaporized in a series of iron kettles of reducing size to create crystallized sugar.

The Rise of Sugar in Barbados. Sugarcane cultivation began in Barbados in the early 1640s, when the Dutch introduced sugar cane harvesting. By the mid-17th century, Barbados had actually turned into one of the wealthiest nests in the British Empire, making the label "Little England." But all was not sweetness in the land of Sugar as we discover next:



Boiling Sugar: A Grueling Job

Sugar production in the days of colonial slavery was  a highly dangerous process. After gathering and crushing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in massive cast iron kettles till it took shape as sugar. These pots, frequently organized in a series called a"" train"" were warmed by blazing fires that workers had to stir continuously. The heat was extreme, and the work unrelenting. Enslaved workers withstood long hours, frequently standing near to the inferno, running the risk of burns and exhaustion. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not uncommon and might trigger severe, even fatal, injuries.


The Bitter History of Sugar

The sugar industry's success came at a severe human cost. Enslaved workers lived under harsh conditions, subjected to physical penalty, bad nutrition, and relentless work. Yet, they showed amazing resilience. Numerous discovered ways to maintain their cultural heritage, passing down songs, stories, and skills that sustained their neighbourhoods even in the face of unthinkable challenges.

Now, the big cast iron boiling pots work as reminders of this painful past. Scattered across gardens, museums, and archaeological sites in Barbados, they stand as quiet witnesses to the lives they touched. These antiques motivate us to assess the human suffering behind the sweetness that as soon as drove international economies.


HISTORICAL RECORDS!


 Abolitionist Expose Sugar Plantation Horrors
 
Abolitionist works, consisting of James Ramsay's works, expose the extreme risks oppressed workers dealt with in Caribbean sugar plantations. The boiling home, with its massive open barrels of scalding sugar, became a place of unthinkable suffering and fatal accidents.


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Boiling Sugar: The Bitter Side of Sweet |The Dark Side of Sugar: |Sweetness Forged in Fire: The Sugar-Boiling Legacy |
Molten Memories: The Iron Kettles of Sugar |

Barbados Sugar-Boiling Kettles