The Kettles of a Bitter Past
Fatal Molten Memories: The Iron Trains of Sugar In 18th-century Barbados, sugar production relied on cast-iron syrup kettles, an approach later on adopted in the American South. Sugarcane was crushed utilizing wind and animal-powered mills. The drawn out juice was boiled, clarified, and vaporized in a series of pots of reducing size to produce crystallized sugar. The Bitter Sweet Harvest: Barbados Sugar Production. Barbados, frequently called the "Gem of the Caribbean," owes much of its historical prominence to one commodity: sugar. This golden crop changed the island from a little colonial station into a powerhouse of the international economy during the 17th and 18th centuries. Yet, the sweet success of sugar was built on a structure of enslaved labour, a reality that casts a shadow over its tradition. The Boiling Process: A Lealthal Job Sugar production in the days of colonial slavery was a highly dangerous procedure. After harvesting and squashing the...