Forged for Sugar

Boiling Sugar: The Bitter Side of Sweet



Barbados Sugar Wealth. Sugarcane growing started in Barbados in the early 1640s, when Dutch merchants presented sugar cane harvesting. By the mid-17th century, Barbados had actually become one of the wealthiest colonies in the British Empire, making the label "Little England." But all was not sweetness in the land of Sugar as we discover next:

The Dangerous Labour Behind Sugar

In the shadow of Barbados' sun-soaked shores and dynamic greenery lies a darker tale of durability and challenge-- the harmful labour behind its once-thriving sugar economy. Central to this story is the big cast iron boiling pots, vital tools in the sugar production procedure, but likewise painful signs of the gruelling conditions faced by enslaved Africans.

Boiling Sugar: A Grueling Task

Making sugar in the 17th and 18th centuries was  a perilous process. After harvesting and crushing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in huge cast iron kettles till it turned into sugar. These pots, typically arranged in a series called a"" train"" were heated up by blazing fires that enslaved Africans needed to stir constantly. The heat was suffocating, and the work unrelenting. Enslaved employees withstood long hours, frequently standing close to the inferno, risking burns and exhaustion. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not unusual and could cause severe, even deadly, injuries.

A Life of Constant Peril

The threats were ever present for the enslaved workers entrusted with working these kettles. They laboured in intense heat, inhaling smoke and fumes from the burning fuel. The work required extreme effort and precision; a moment of inattention could cause accidents. Regardless of these challenges, shackled Africans brought exceptional ability and ingenuity to the procedure, ensuring the quality of the end product. This product fueled economies far beyond Barbados" coasts.


Now, the large cast iron boiling pots work as suggestions of this uncomfortable past. Spread throughout gardens, museums, and archaeological sites in Barbados, they stand as quiet witnesses to the lives they touched. These antiques motivate us to review the human suffering behind the sweet taste that once drove worldwide economies.


HISTORICAL RECORDS!


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

The boiling home was one of the most hazardous places on a Caribbean sugar plantation. Abolitionist authors, consisting of James Ramsay, documented the shocking conditions oppressed workers endured, from ruthless heat to lethal mishaps in open sugar barrels.


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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 Pots of Sugar's Past |

The Bitter Cauldron