Forged for Sugar

Boiling Down The Sweet: The Iron Heart of Barbados' Sugar




The Rise of Barbados Sugar Wealth. Sugarcane cultivation started in Barbados in the early 1640s, when the Dutch came to help with sugar cane harvesting. By the mid-17th century, Barbados had actually become one of the most affluent nests in the British Empire, making the label "Little England." But all was not sweetness in the land of Sugar as we discover next:



The Boiling Process: A Lealthal Job

Sugar production in the days of colonial slavery was  a perilous procedure. After harvesting and squashing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in massive cast iron kettles until it turned into sugar. These pots, typically organized in a series called a"" train"" were heated by blazing fires that workers had to stir constantly. The heat was suffocating, and the work unrelenting. Enslaved employees withstood long hours, typically standing close to the inferno, risking burns and fatigue. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not unusual and could trigger serious, even fatal, injuries.


The Bitter History of Sugar

The sugar industry's success came at a serious human expense. Enslaved workers lived under brutal conditions, subjected to physical penalty, poor nutrition, and relentless work. Yet, they showed extraordinary durability. Numerous found methods to preserve their cultural heritage, passing down songs, stories, and skills that sustained their neighbourhoods even in the face of inconceivable challenges.

Today, the large cast iron boiling pots function as pointers of this agonizing past. Scattered throughout 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 sweet taste that when drove global economies.


HISTORICAL RECORDS!


Abolitionist Expose the Hazards of Sugar Plantations

James Ramsay and other abolitionists brought attention to the gruesome conditions in Caribbean sugar plantations. The boiling house, filled with open barrels of scalding sugar, was a website of suffering, injury, and even death for enslaved workers.


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Boiling Sugar: The Bitter Side of Sweet |The Fatal Side of Sugar: |Sweet Taste Forged in Fire |
Molten Memories: The Iron Pots of Sugar |

Barbados Sugar’s Unseen History