Barbados Molten Memories

Boiling Sugar: The Bitter Side of Sweet

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



Barbados Sugar Economy: A Bitter Success. The start of the "plantation system" changed the island's economy. Large estates owned by wealthy planters controlled the landscape, with oppressed Africans supplying the labour needed to sustain the demanding process of planting, harvesting, and processing sugarcane. This system produced enormous wealth for the nest and strengthened its place as a key player in the Atlantic trade. But African slaves toiled in perilous conditions, and many died in the infamous Boiling room, as you will see next:

The Dangerous Labour Of Sugar

In the glory 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, essential tools in the sugar production procedure, however also painful symbols of the gruelling conditions dealt with by enslaved Africans.

Boiling Sugar: A Grueling Job

Sugar production in the days of colonial slavery was  a perilous process. After collecting and crushing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in massive cast iron kettles up until it crystallized into sugar. These pots, often organized in a series called a"" train"" were heated by blazing fires that workers had to stir continually. The heat was extreme, and the work unrelenting. Enslaved employees withstood long hours, often standing near to the inferno, risking burns and exhaustion. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not unusual and might trigger serious, even deadly, injuries.




Now, the large cast iron boiling pots points out this uncomfortable past. Scattered across gardens, museums, and historical sites in Barbados, they stand as quiet witnesses to the lives they touched. These relics encourage us to review the human suffering behind the sweet taste that once drove global economies.


HISTORICAL RECORDS!


Proof of The Deadly Reality of the Sugar Boiling House

Historic accounts, such as those by abolitionist James Ramsay, uncover the hidden horrors of Caribbean sugar plantations. Enslaved employees withstood severe heat and the constant risk of falling into boiling barrels-- a grim reality of plantation life.


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The Iron Heart of Barbados' Sugar