Barbados Sugar’s Unseen History
The Hidden Side of Sugar In 18th-century Barbados, sugar production relied on 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 vaporized in a series of iron pots of decreasing size to make crystallized sugar. The Sweet Country: Barbados Sugar Economy. Barbados, often called the "Gem of the Caribbean," owes much of its historical prominence to one product: sugar. This golden crop changed the island from a little colonial station into a powerhouse of the international economy throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Yet, the sweet success of sugar was built on a foundation of enslaved labour, a truth that casts a shadow over its legacy. Boiling Sugar: A Lealthal Job Making sugar in the days of colonial slavery was a perilous procedure. After collecting and squashing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in massive cast iron kettles up until it took ...