The Deadly Labor of Sugar
Boiling Sugar: The Bitter Side of Sweet
In
18th-century Barbados, sugar was made in cast-iron syrup kettles,
a technique later embraced
in the American South. Sugarcane was squashed
using wind and animal-powered mills. The drawn
out juice was heated, clarified, and
vaporized in a series of cast-iron kettles of
decreasing size to produce crystallized
sugar.
Sugar in Barbados.
Sugarcane growing began in Barbados in the early
1640s, when Dutch merchants presented crop. The island's
rich soil and beneficial
climate made it an ideal
place for sugar production. By the
mid-17th century, Barbados had turned into
one of the most affluent colonies in the British
Empire, earning the nickname "Little England." But all
was not sweetness in the land of Sugar as we discover next:
The Boiling Process: A Grueling Task
Sugar
production in the days of colonial slavery was a highly
dangerous process. After
collecting and squashing the
sugarcane, its juice was boiled in huge cast iron
kettles till it took shape as sugar. These pots, frequently
organized in a series called a"" train"" were
heated up by blazing fires that enslaved
Africans needed to stir
continuously. The heat was
extreme, and the work
unrelenting. Enslaved workers endured
long hours, frequently standing close to the inferno, risking burns and
fatigue. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not
unusual and could cause
serious, even fatal, injuries.
Living in Peril
The
threats were constant for the enslaved
employees entrusted with
tending these kettles. They laboured in
intense heat, breathing in smoke and
fumes from the boiling sugar and burning fuel. The
work demanded intense physical effort and
precision; a moment of inattention
might lead to mishaps. Regardless of these difficulties,
oppressed Africans brought
amazing ability and
resourcefulness to the process,
guaranteeing the quality of the final
product. This item fueled economies
far beyond Barbados" coasts.
Acknowledging the Past
By
acknowledging the harmful labour of
enslaved Africans, we honour their contributions and sacrifices.
Barbados" sugar market, built on their backs, shaped
the island's history and economy. As we admire the
relics of this age, we should
also remember individuals whose
labour and strength made it
possible. Their story is an essential part of comprehending not just the history of
Barbados but the wider history of
the Caribbean and the global effect
of the sugar trade.
The video
depicts chapter 20 of Rogues in Paradise. The
scene is of Hunts Gardens one of the many gullies in
Barbados: Meet the exceptional
man who created the most
captivated place on earth!
HISTORICAL RECORDS!
Abolitionist Voices Settle on the Deadly Fate of Boiling Sugar
Accounts,
such as James Ramsay's works, shed light
on the gruesome
dangers
shackled
staff members dealt
with in Caribbean sugar plantations. The boiling
places, with its open
vats of scalding sugar, was a
website of
unthinkable
suffering -- among numerous
scaries of plantation life.
{
The Bitter Side of Sweet |The Dark Side of
Sugar: |Sweet Taste Forged in Fire |
Molten Memories: The Iron Kettles of Sugar's Past |
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