Boiling Down Sweetness

Boiling Sugar: The Bitter Side of Sweet



The Rise of Sugar in Barbados. Sugarcane growing started in Barbados in the early 1640s, when the Dutch came to help with sugar cane harvesting. By the mid-17th century, Barbados had actually become one of the wealthiest nests in the British Empire, making the nickname "Little England." But all was not sweetness in the land of Sugar as we discover next:



Boiling Sugar: A Grueling Job

Sugar production in the 17th and 18th centuries was  an unforgiving process. After collecting and crushing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in enormous cast iron kettles until it took shape as sugar. These pots, often arranged in a series called a"" train"" were heated up by blazing fires that enslaved Africans had to stoke continuously. 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 fatigue. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not unusual and could cause extreme, even fatal, injuries.

Living in Constant Peril

The dangers were constant for the enslaved Africans entrusted with tending these kettles. They worked in sweltering heat, breathing in dangerous gases from the burning fuel. The work demanded extreme physical effort and precision; a moment of negligence might cause accidents. In spite of these difficulties, enslaved Africans brought exceptional skill and resourcefulness to the process, ensuring the quality of the end product. This item fueled economies far beyond Barbados" shores.


Today, the big cast iron boiling pots function as reminders of this agonizing past. Scattered across gardens, museums, and historical sites in Barbados, they stand as quiet witnesses to the lives they touched. These antiques encourage us to assess the human suffering behind the sweetness that once drove international economies.


HISTORICAL RECORDS!


Abolitionist Voices Expose the Dangers of Sugar Plantations

James Ramsay and other abolitionists brought attention to the gruesome conditions in Caribbean sugar plantations. The boiling house, filled with open vats of scalding sugar, was a website of suffering, injury, and even death for enslaved workers.


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Boiling Down Sweetness