Boiling Sugar: The Bitter Side of Sweet
The Bitter Sweet Country:
Barbados Sugar Economy. Barbados,
typically called the "Gem of the Caribbean," owes
much of its historical prominence to one product:
sugar. This golden crop changed the island from a
small colonial outpost into a powerhouse of the
worldwide economy during the 17th
and 18th centuries. Yet, the sweet success of sugar was built on a structure of oppressed labour, a fact that casts a shadow over its legacy.
The Boiling Process: A Grueling Task
Sugar
production in the 17th and 18th
centuries was a highly
dangerous procedure. After
collecting and squashing 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 by blazing fires that enslaved
Africans had to stir
continually. The heat was
suffocating, and the work
unrelenting. Enslaved workers endured
long hours, typically standing near the inferno, running the risk of burns and
exhaustion. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not
unusual and could cause
extreme, even deadly, injuries.
Living in Peril
The
threats were ever present for the enslaved
Africans entrusted with
working these kettles. They laboured in
sweltering heat, breathing in dangerous gases from the burning fuel. The
work required extreme effort and
accuracy; a minute of inattention
could lead to accidents. In
spite of these challenges,
oppressed Africans brought
impressive skill and
ingenuity to the process,
ensuring the quality of the final
product. This product fueled economies
far beyond Barbados" shores.
Now, the
large cast iron boiling pots act
as pointers of this
painful past. Spread
throughout gardens, museums, and historical
sites in Barbados, they stand as quiet
witnesses to the lives they touched. These relics
motivate us to review the human
suffering behind the sweetness that once
drove worldwide economies.
HISTORICAL RECORDS!
Abolitionist literature on The Threats of the Boiling Trains
Abolitionist
literature, including James Ramsay's works,
details the dreadful dangers
dealt with by enslaved employees in sugar plantations.
The boiling house, with its
precariously hot barrels, was a lethal work environment where
exhaustion and severe heat caused awful mishaps.
{
The Bitter Side of Sweet |The Fatal Side of
Sugar: A History in Iron |Sweetness Forged in Fire:
The Sugar-Boiling Legacy |
Molten Memories: The Iron Kettles of Sugar |
The Iron Heart of Barbados' Sugar
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