Sugar Manufacturing in the West Indies: a Study of Innovation and Variation
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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1984 Sugar manufacturing in the West Indies: A study of innovation and variation Linda Gail France College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Caribbean Languages and Societies Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation France, Linda Gail, "Sugar manufacturing in the West Indies: A study of innovation and variation" (1984). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625240. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-w06d-jj97 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SUGAR MANUFACTURING IN THE WEST INDIES: / i A STUDY OF INNOVATION AND VARIATION A Thesis Presented To The Faculty of the Department of Anthropology The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Linda Gail France APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Linda Gail France Approved, April 1984 Advisor Dr. Norman F. Barka Advisor Dr. Nathan Aultshuler \ Advisor Dr. Eric Ayisi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF T A B L E S ..................................................vi LIST OF F I G U R E S .................................................vii LIST OF P L A T E S ..................................................ix INTRODUCTION .................................................. 2 CHAPTER I. THE ORIGIN AND SPREAD OF SU G A R ..................... 11 CHAPTER II. MANUFACTURING SUGAR.............................. 52 CHAPTER III. SITE REPORT, ENGLISHQUARTER ................ 150 CONCLUSION ..................................................... 253 APPENDIX A. ENGLISH QUARTER, ADDITIONAL MEASUREMENTS . 255 CONSULTED WORKS ...............................................262 VITA ............................................................271 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis could not have been written without the support of friends and family. I would also like to thank my professors at William and Mary, Dr. Aultshuler, Dr. Ayisi and Dr. Barka for their continued support and guidance. Dr. Crane at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was also of great assistance to me as an edi tor and specialist in the Dutch Caribbean. My thanks, too, go to Hilda Dawson for her fine graphics. Special thanks go to the people of Saint Eustatius, N.A. I was able to spend two wonderful summers on their island involved with archaeological fieldwork at English Quarter. My work could not have been accomplished without the support of Dr. Barka and the students of the William and Mary field school on Statia. The field school could not have been a success without the assistance of the Statia Historical Foundation and government officials on Statia and Curacao. In particular, my thanks go to Walton and Marianne Schmidt, Dave Shaw, Martin Scofield, John May, Eric Henriquez, Newman Pompier, Andre Patrick, Kenneth Van Putten, the Pandt family, Eddie Ayubi, Ish Berkel, and Ellis Lopes. All helped in obtaining historical infor mation, permission to work, arranging transportation and housing, and in generally smoothing our way on Statia. TheoLinda, Robbie Canfield and Charlie Lopes served as valuable aides in the field school and as good friends to all. Further, I would like to thank Mr. Franz S. Lampe for his invaluable assistance. Mr. Lampe gave me access to his personal collection of historical records pertaining to English Quarter. His knowledge of Statian history and of English Quarter proved to be vital to my understanding of the plantation. Any mistakes are, of course, my own. v LIST OF TABLES Page Home Consumption of Sugar: England and Wales . 28 Black and White Population Frequencies, St. Kitts . 43 Distribution Cane Mill Engines .................... 64 Dates of Introduction of Steam-powered Mills . 86 Frequency of Mill Types 1827-1911 .... ......... 88 Frequency Extracted per 100 lbs. of Cane ......... 90 Comparative Extraction Rates ......... ........... 91 Mill -Frequencies................................... 93 Efficiency and Costs: Animal, Water and Steam . 95 Average Yearly and Monthly Rainfall ............... 157 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page - English Quarter, 1857, St. Eustatius, N.A..... xii 1. Location Map, Caribbean Region ...................xiii 2. 3-Roller Grinding Mills ............................... 61 a. Vertical (Fraginals, 1976, p. 102) b. Horizontal (Coulter, 1937, plate IV) 3. Standard Horizontal Mill Headstock, circa 1830 (Deerr VII, 1950, p. 5 3 9 ) .......................... 66 4. Single-level Animal M i l l ............................... 72 5. Two-level Animal Mill (Coulter, 1937, p. 153). .... 74 6. Single-level Tower Windmill ................ ..... 79 7. 18th c. 3-Roller Water M i l l s ................. ... 83 a. (Deerr VII, 1950, plate XVII) b. (Barrett, 1970, p. 56) 8. 18th c. Sugarhouse............................... 101 a. 1784 Boiling House (Bernard, 1784, in Barrett, 1970, p. 57) b. 1693-1705 Boiling Equipment (Pere Labat in Radford, 1979, p. 192) 9. Evans' 1848 Filter Designs ..... .................. 114 a . Common Bag b. Charcoal 10. 16th c. Drying House (Deerr VI, 1949, plate VI). 124 11. 19th c. Drying H o u s e .................. 127 12. Spalding's 1816 Sugar-works (Coulter, 1937, p. 252). 129 vii Figure Page 13. 18th c. Drying House (Barrett, 1970, p. 57)......... 132 14. Location Map, Caribbean Region.......................... 149 15. Topographic Map of St. Eustatius, N.A. (Redrawn from 1977 map compiled at James Madison University) . 153 16. English Quarter Site M a p ............................... 192 viii LIST OF PLATES Plate Page 1. a. Housing Complex, View to S o u t h ..................... 194 b. Factory Complex, View to W e s t ..................... 194 2. Coursed Rubble Construction, View to Soutwest of F a c t o r y ................................... 197 3. Ashlar Construction, View to South Wall SE45-1-A9 . 199 4. Coursed Rubble with Pushed Rubble Mortar, View to East Wall S E 4 5 - 1 - C 2 ............................... 201 5. a. Inset Wooden Beam, View to West Wall SE45-1-C7 . 204 b, c. Ceramic Fragment, View to South, North Interior Wall Structure SE45-1-C 205 6. Structure SE45-1-C, View to South/Southeast ............ 208 7. Structure SE45-1-B, View to Southeast ................... 211 8. Porch, SE45-1-B, View to So u t h ....................... 212 9. a. Structure SE45-1-A, View to South/Southeast .... 214 b. Structure SE45-1-A, Ashlar Section, View to West . 214 10. a. Kitchen, Structure SE45-1-A, View to E a s t ........ 216 b. Chimney of Kitchen, View to East ............ 216 11. Animal Mill SE45-2-L, View to W e s t ........................ 218 12. Feature and Wall SE45-2-L1, View to S o u t h e a s t ........... 219 13. a. Example of Metal R o l l e r ............................... 221 b. Pillars, SE45-2-L, Looking West ..................... 221 14. a. Animal Pen SE45-2-P, View to South .............. 223 b. Animal Pen SE45-2-P, View to West, Southwest .... 223 15. Gate Column, Animal Pen, View to South/Southwest .... 225 16. a. Flue System, Wall SE45-2-H1, View to E a s t ........ 227 b. Factory Cisterns SE45-2-D, E, View to E a s t ........ 227 ix a. Northwest Corner, Sugar-house, View to South . 231 b. Lower Sugar-works, View to Southwest ............. 231 Lower Sugar-works, View to Southwest .................. 232 Entrance to Curing Area, View to West ........ 233 a. Stove Flue, Room SE45-2-F, View to Southwest . 235 b. Joist Apertures, Room SE45-2-C, View to Southwest 235 Cistern, Wall SE45-2-A1, View to West ............... 238 a. Cistern SE45-2-A, View to Southeast ....... 240 b. Structure SE45-2-Q, View to Northwest ........... 240 a. Rubble Pile, Operation 3, View to Southeast . 242 b. Rubble Pile, Operation 3, View to South ......... 242 a. English Quarter Well, View to South ............. 243 b. English Quarter Well, View to North ............. 243 x ABSTRACT Sugar manufacturing in the West Indies from the period of circa 1492 to 1900 C.E. serves as an example of cultural change. Social customs, economics, technologies, politics and general life styles were greatly influenced by the industry. Technologically, methods of production changed over the approximately four hundred year period discussed. Sugar production methods also varied from region to region and island to island. As with any technology, certain similarities in production are also evi dent in sugar manufacturing. English Quarter Plantation is discussed in detail. It serves as an example of changes that occurred on one planation that produced sugar. English Quarter 1857 m m m m m m m m i m : St. Eustatius, N.A. CUBA HAITI PUERTO RICO i'-i-i 1 — o * • % <5> SAINT MARTIN rv CZ3' 0 BARBUDA Cy ANTIGUA SINT eustatius ( SAINT KITT5 J \ GUADFLOPf NEVIS V / O ^ MARTINIQUE Cb BARBADOS ARUBA C0L0M 8/A Figure i. LocationMap, Caribbean Region SUGAR MANUFACTURING IN THE WEST INDIES A STUDY OF INNOVATION AND VARIATION INTRODUCTION From circa 1492 to 1900 C.E. the Caribbean sugar industry influenced the lifestyles of millions of diverse peoples. It affected colonization policies, economics, politics, diet and social customs.