The Bitter Cauldron
The Dark Side of Sugar
Sugar in Barbados.
Sugarcane cultivation started in Barbados in the early
1640s, when Dutch merchants introduced crop. By the
mid-17th century, Barbados had 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 Lealthal Job
Sugar
production in the 17th and 18th
centuries was a perilous procedure. After
harvesting and squashing the
sugarcane, its juice was boiled in massive cast iron
kettles till it crystallized into sugar. These pots, often
set up in a series called a"" train"" were
heated up by blazing fires that enslaved
Africans had to stir
continuously. The heat was
suffocating, and the work
unrelenting. Enslaved employees withstood
long hours, frequently standing close to the inferno, risking burns and
exhaustion. Splashes of the boiling liquid were not
unusual and could cause
extreme, even deadly, injuries.
The Bitter History of Sugar
The
sugar market's success came at an
extreme human cost. Enslaved workers lived
under ruthless conditions, subjected to physical
punishment, poor nutrition, and
relentless work. Yet, they
demonstrated amazing
strength. Lots of
found ways to maintain their
cultural heritage, passing down tunes, stories, and
abilities that sustained their communities
even in the face of unthinkable
challenges.
Today, the
large cast iron boiling pots points out this
unpleasant past. Scattered
throughout gardens, museums, and historical
sites in Barbados, they stand as silent
witnesses to the lives they touched. These relics
motivate us to reflect on the human
suffering behind the sweetness that as soon as
drove international economies.
HISTORICAL RECORDS!
Abolitionist Accounts Reveal Sugar Plantation Horrors
Abolitionist
works, consisting
of James Ramsay's works, expose the
harsh
dangers
shackled
workers handled in Caribbean sugar plantations. The boiling
home, with its
huge
open barrels of scalding sugar, ended up being a place of
unthinkable
suffering and fatal accidents.
{
Boiling
Sugar: The Bitter Side of Sweet |The Fatal Side of
Sugar: |Sweet Taste Forged in Fire |
Molten Memories: The Iron Kettles of Sugar's Past |
Barbados Sugar’s Unseen History
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