Slavery, Antigua Rum Distillery, 1823

European overseer inspects the work in a rum distillery in Antigua, an island in the West Indies. The first distillation of rum in the Caribbean took place on the sugarcane plantations there in the 17th century. Plantation slaves discovered that molasses, a byproduct of the sugar refining process, could be fermented into alcohol. Later, distillation of these alcoholic byproducts concentrated the alcohol and removed impurities, producing the first modern rums. To support this demand for the molasses to produce rum, along with the increasing demand for sugar in Europe, a labor source to work the sugar plantations in the Caribbean was needed. A triangular trade in rum, molasses, and slaves was established between Africa, the Caribbean, and the colonies to support this need. In the slave trade, rum was also used as a medium of exchange. Drawing from Ten Views in the Island of Antigua by William Clark, 1823

Picture No

12696638

Media ID

47672498

Size

4500px x 3138px (3.8MB)

Credit

British Library/Science Source/Mary Evans