Rethinking the Industrial RevolutionFor over two centuries, Britain has celebrated the Cort Process as a hallmark of English innovation — the iron-refining technique that powered railways, bridges, and the rise of empire. But new research is challenging that story.In 2023, historian Dr. Jenny Bulstrode published groundbreaking evidence suggesting that a group of 76 highly skilled Black ironworkers in Jamaica may have developed a key iron-refining method years before Henry Cort filed his famous patents. Their expertise, forged at a foundry near Morant Bay, drew on centuries-old African metallurgical traditions and may have shaped one of the Industrial Revolution’s pivotal technologies.🎙️ In this episode, we investigate how Jamaican innovation, colonial power, and industrial ambition intersected — and why this history is only now being brought to light.📜 Sources include Bulstrode’s peer-reviewed research (History and Technology, 2023), colonial records, and African ironworking histories.Read: https://fiwiroots.com/articles/metallurgy-cort.html

Step into 18th-century Jamaica, where fragile treaties, land concessions, and calculated strategies of divide-and-rule shaped a volatile peace between Britain and the Maroons. This episode unpacks the First Maroon War and the unequal treaties that followed — agreements designed not only to end open conflict, but to fracture alliances and entrench colonial control.

For centuries, records declared the Taíno “extinct”—a paper verdict shaped by epidemic, forced labor, and time. Yet families, language, and lifeways endured. This episode follows that living return. For the human line behind the history, the historical novel The Secret Pact—set in Maroon-era Jamaica—threads those themes through a fast-paced tale of rebellion, suspense, and intrigue.

From 1655 to 1809, over a million Africans were transported to Jamaica, making the island one of the largest destinations in the transatlantic slave trade. Drawn mainly from West and Central Africa, they endured brutal plantation conditions, resisted through rebellion and maroon communities, and laid the foundations of Jamaica’s culture and identity. Emancipation in 1838 ended slavery, but their legacy continued to shape the island’s language, music, spirituality, and national character.

NOTE: This episode includes material from The Forgotten Chapters—sections that did not appear in the book—and references a 2023 study by Dr Jenny Bulstrode arguing that enslaved Black metallurgists in Jamaica influenced wrought-iron production.

The Chinese presence in Jamaica began in 1854 with the arrival of the first two groups of indentured laborers. Brought to the island after the abolition of slavery, they were initially deployed on sugar plantations. Subsequent waves, drawing primarily from southern China, arrived in the years that followed. Though conditions were challenging, the community gradually diversified, shifting from field labor to becoming the indispensable backbone of community shops and groceries. This successful transition allowed the Chinese community to become an integral and significant contributor to the cultural and economic fabric of Jamaican society.

Mary Seacole was a Jamaican-born nurse and businesswoman who faced racial and gender discrimination yet persevered to make an extraordinary contribution during the Crimean War. Refused official nursing roles, including with Florence Nightingale’s team, she financed her own voyage to Crimea and established the British Hotel near the front lines. More than just a place for food and rest, the British Hotel became a vital haven where Seacole personally cared for wounded soldiers, often venturing into battle zones under fire. Known affectionately as "Mother Seacole," she earned deep respect for her bravery, compassion, and dedication. Seacole also broke new ground by publishing the first autobiography written by a Black woman in Britain, sharing her remarkable story of resilience and service. Her legacy challenges traditional histories and celebrates a trailblazer whose efforts saved and comforted many in one of history’s bloodiest conflicts.

In 1948, hundreds of Jamaicans and other Caribbean men and women sailed to Britain, promised citizenship and invited to help rebuild after the war. Driven by hope for a better life and greater opportunities for their children, they became the Windrush Generation — working, paying taxes, raising families, and building new lives. Yet decades later, many faced a shocking injustice. Branded as illegal immigrants, they were denied healthcare, jobs, housing — even threatened with deportation. This is the story of the Windrush Generation: how the colonies answered Britain’s call, only to be betrayed by the very system they helped rebuild.

ABOUT FIWIROOTS FiwiRoots is a non-profit initiative dedicated to preserving the heritage and culture of Jamaica. Its name, which is a Jamaican term meaning "Our Heritage," introduces an audio series that brings the island's history, traditions, and untold stories to life. The episodes explore the events and influences that have shaped Jamaica's people and culture, from historical events to herbal remedies.

In a special deep dive, we explore the shocking story behind a key chapter from the book 'The Timeline of Jamaica' by Glen Carty.

The 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica sent a bloody aftershock across the Atlantic, igniting a firestorm of public debate that drew in celebrated British figures like Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens. We go beyond the history to reveal how this remote uprising forced Britain's elite to take a side in one of the most significant moral and political controversies of the Victorian era.

Featured:

• The Morant Bay Rebellion (1865)

• The book 'The Timeline of Jamaica' by Glen Carty

• Charles Darwin & Charles Dickens

• The legacy of the British Empire"

  
  

  To learn more, or to purchase the book, visit Amazon: [ The Timeline of Jamaica ]

  [ Fiwi Roots ]