The Deadly Labor of Sugar

Boiling Down Sugar: The Iron Heart of Barbados' Sugar


In 18th-century Barbados, cane sugar production required the use of cast-iron syrup kettles, a technique later on embraced in the American South. Sugarcane was squashed using wind and animal-powered mills. The drawn out juice was heated up, clarified, and evaporated in a series of pots of reducing size to make crystallized sugar.

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

The Dangerous Labour Of Sugar

In the glory of Barbados' sun-soaked coasts and lively plant lies a darker tale of durability and difficulty-- the dangerous labour behind its once-thriving sugar economy. Central to this story is the big cast iron boiling pots, essential tools in the sugar production process, however likewise harrowing symbols of the gruelling conditions dealt with by enslaved Africans.

Boiling Sugar: A Lealthal Task

Sugar production in the 17th and 18th centuries was  a perilous process. After gathering and squashing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in enormous cast iron kettles till it crystallized into sugar. These pots, typically organized in a series called a"" train"" were heated up by blazing fires that workers needed to stoke continuously. The heat was suffocating, the flames unforgiving and the work unrelenting. Enslaved workers endured long hours, frequently standing near the inferno, running the risk of burns and fatigue. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not unusual and might cause severe, even deadly, injuries.

A Life of Peril

The risks were constant for the enslaved Africans entrusted with working these kettles. They worked in sweltering heat, inhaling dangerous gases from the boiling sugar and burning fuel. The work demanded intense effort and accuracy; a minute of inattention could lead to accidents. Despite these challenges, enslaved Africans brought amazing skill and ingenuity to the process, making sure the quality of the final product. This product sustained economies far beyond Barbados" coasts.


Now, the large cast iron boiling pots points out this unpleasant past. Scattered throughout gardens, museums, and historical sites in Barbados, they stand as silent witnesses to the lives they touched. These relics motivate us to assess the human suffering behind the sweet taste that as soon as drove international economies.


HISTORICAL RECORDS!


 Abolitionist Expose The Hotrrors of Boiling Sugar
 
Abolitionist works, consisting of James Ramsay's works, expose the severe threats shackled employees faced in Caribbean sugar plantations. The boiling house, with its enormous 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 Hidden Side of Sugar: A History in Iron |Sweet Taste Forged in Fire: The Sugar-Boiling Legacy |
Molten Memories: The Iron Kettles of Sugar's Past |

The Bitter Cauldron