Barbados Sugar’s Unseen History\ Sugar Iron and Fire
Molten Memories: The Iron Kettles of Sugar Barbados Sugar Economy: A Bitter Success. The start of the "plantation system" changed the island's economy. Big estates owned by wealthy planters controlled the landscape, with shackled Africans supplying the labour required to sustain the requiring process of planting, harvesting, and processing sugarcane. This system created immense wealth for the colony and solidified its place as a key player in the Atlantic trade. But African slaves toiled in perilous conditions, and many died in the infamous Boiling room, as you will see next: Boiling Sugar: A Grueling Job Sugar production in the 17th and 18th centuries was a highly dangerous procedure. After gathering and squashing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in enormous cast iron kettles until it took shape as sugar. These pots, typically arranged in a series called a"" train"" were heated up by blazing fires that workers had to stir c...