Boiling Down Sweetness

Fatal Molten Memories: The Iron Trains of Sugar's Past

In 18th-century Barbados, 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 evaporated in a series of cast-iron kettles of reducing size to produce crystallized sugar.

Sugar in Barbados. Sugarcane cultivation started in Barbados in the early 1640s, when the Dutch presented crop. The island's soil and favourable climate made it an ideal location for harvesting sugar. By the mid-17th century, Barbados had become one of the wealthiest colonies in the British Empire, earning the nickname "Little England."By the mid-17th century, Barbados had become one of the most affluent colonies 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 procedure. After collecting and squashing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in huge cast iron kettles until it crystallized into sugar. These pots, often arranged in a series called a"" train"" were heated by blazing fires that enslaved Africans needed to stoke constantly. The heat was extreme, the flames unforgiving and the work unrelenting. Enslaved workers sustained long hours, often standing close to the inferno, risking burns and fatigue. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not unusual and might trigger serious, even deadly, injuries.





Acknowledging the Past

By acknowledging the unsafe labour of enslaved Africans, we honour their contributions and sacrifices. Barbados" sugar industry, built on their backs, formed the island's history and economy. As we appreciate the antiques of this age, we need to likewise keep in mind the people whose work and resilience made it possible. Their story is an essential part of comprehending not simply the history of Barbados but the more comprehensive history of the Caribbean and the worldwide effect of the sugar trade.



If you come across kettle in a tranquil garden or museum, remember that it is more than an ornamental piece. It is a memory of the the slaves who tended the boiling pots, the lives that withstood, and the resilience that continues to influence.


HISTORICAL RECORDS!


Boiling House Horror: The Truth of Sugar Production Revealed in Historical Records

The boiling house was one of the most hazardous put on a Caribbean sugar plantation. Abolitionist authors, consisting of James Ramsay, recorded the stunning conditions enslaved employees endured, from brutal heat to deadly accidents in open sugar barrels.


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Boiling Down Sweetness