Forged for Sugar

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


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

The Rise of Barbados Sugar Wealth. Sugarcane cultivation started in Barbados in the early 1640s, when Dutch merchants introduced sugar production. 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 nests in the British Empire, making the nickname "Little England." But all was not sweetness in the land of Sugar as we discover next:



The Boiling Process: A Lealthal Task

Making sugar in the 17th and 18th centuries was  a highly dangerous procedure. After collecting and squashing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in enormous cast iron kettles till it turned into sugar. These pots, frequently set up in a series called a"" train"" were warmed by blazing fires that workers had to stoke constantly. The heat was extreme, the flames unforgiving and the work unrelenting. Enslaved employees endured long hours, often standing near to the inferno, running the risk of burns and exhaustion. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not unusual and could trigger extreme, even deadly, injuries.

A Life of Peril

The risks were ever present for the enslaved Africans entrusted with tending these kettles. They worked in intense heat, inhaling dangerous gases from the burning fuel. The work demanded intense physical effort and precision; a moment of negligence might result in mishaps. Despite these difficulties, oppressed Africans brought remarkable skill and ingenuity to the procedure, ensuring the quality of the end product. This product sustained economies far beyond Barbados" coasts.


Today, the large cast iron boiling pots points out this painful past. Spread throughout gardens, museums, and archaeological sites in Barbados, they stand as silent witnesses to the lives they touched. These relics encourage us to reflect on the human suffering behind the sweet taste that once drove global economies.


HISTORICAL RECORDS!


Abolitionist literature on The Risks of the Boiling House

Abolitionist literature, consisting of James Ramsay's works, information the horrific dangers dealt with by enslaved workers in sugar plantations. The boiling home, with its alarmingly hot vats, was a lethal workplace where fatigue and severe heat caused terrible accidents.

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Boiling Sugar: The Bitter Side of Sweet |The Dark Side of Sugar: |Sweetness Forged in Fire: The Sugar-Boiling Legacy |
Molten Memories: The Iron Kettles of Sugar's Past |

Barbados Molten Memories