The Bitter Cauldron
Boiling Down Sugar: The Iron Heart of Barbados' Sugar In 18th-century Barbados, cane sugar was made in cast-iron syrup kettles, an approach later on adopted in the American South. Sugarcane was squashed utilizing wind and animal-powered mills. The drawn out juice was heated, clarified, and evaporated in a series of cast-iron pots of decreasing size to make crystallized sugar. The Bitter Sweet Harvest: Barbados Sugar Economy. Barbados, often called the "Gem of the Caribbean," owes much of its historic prominence to one commodity: sugar. This golden crop transformed the island from a small colonial outpost into a powerhouse of the worldwide economy during the 17th and 18th centuries. Yet, the sweet success of sugar was built on a structure of oppressed labour, a reality that casts a shadow over its legacy. The Boiling Process: A Grueling Job Producing sugar in the days of colonial slavery was an unforgiving procedure. After gathering and squashing the sugarcane, its juic...