Barbados Sugar-Boiling Kettles

Molten Memories: The Iron Pots of Sugar's Past

In 18th-century Barbados, sugar was made in cast-iron syrup kettles, a method later on adopted in the American South. Sugarcane was squashed using wind and animal-powered mills. The extracted juice was boiled, clarified, and evaporated in a series of iron kettles of decreasing size to make crystallized sugar.

The Bitter Sweet Economy: Barbados Sugar Economy. Barbados, often called the "Gem of the Caribbean," owes much of its historic prominence to one product: sugar. This golden crop changed the island from a small colonial station into a powerhouse of the worldwide economy during the 17th and 18th centuries. Yet, the sweet success of sugar was built on a foundation of shackled labour, a truth that casts a shadow over its legacy.



The Dangerous Labour Behind Sugar

In the shadow of Barbados' sun-soaked shores and dynamic greenery lies a darker tale of durability and difficulty-- 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, but also harrowing signs of the gruelling conditions faced by enslaved Africans.

Boiling Sugar: A Lealthal Task

Sugar production in the 17th and 18th centuries was  a perilous process. After gathering and squashing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in huge cast iron kettles up until it turned into sugar. These pots, often set up in a series called a"" train"" were heated by blazing fires that workers needed to stir continually. The heat was suffocating, , and the work unrelenting. Enslaved employees withstood long hours, often standing close to the inferno, risking burns and exhaustion. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not uncommon and could cause severe, even deadly, injuries.




Today, the large cast iron boiling pots points out this uncomfortable past. Spread throughout gardens, museums, and historical sites in Barbados, they stand as quiet witnesses to the lives they touched. These relics encourage us to assess the human suffering behind the sweet taste that when drove worldwide economies.


HISTORICAL RECORDS!


Abolitionist Voices Expose the Dangers of Sugar Plantations

James Ramsay and other abolitionists accentuated the gruesome conditions in Caribbean sugar plantations. The boiling home, filled with open barrels of scalding sugar, was a website of suffering, injury, and even death for enslaved workers.



The Bitter Side of Sweet - See the link for Details

sugar boiing pots