History - Theme 5

ADJUSTMENTS TO EMANCIPATION, 1838-1876

Economic situation after Emancipation

The Post-Emancipation period resulted in most of the ex-slaves leaving the estates. Many of them set themselves up as peasant (small) farmers. This resulted in a massive labour shortage which threatened to cause the sugar industry to collapse.

The sugar industry was already in a poor state because of (1) shortage of labour and (2) beet sugar competition. To avoid total decline, planters tried to introduce immigration in the form of bringing in labourers from Europe, other Caribbean islands, Asia and other areas. They also tried to introduce technology in order to reduce the cost of sugar production. However, all of these efforts could not stop the changes from sugar monoculture (planting of one crop which was sugarcane) to agricultural diversification (planting of many crops). As a result of this, many crops were produced after emancipation e.g. banana, cocoa and arrowroot. Agricultural diversification also occurred because ex-slaves grew crops other than sugarcane. These peasant farmers grew not only food crops for eating but cash crops to sell. Peasant farming began by ex-slaves but was boosted by the East Indians who came through immigration to work on plantations.

Therefore the emancipation of slaves and their exodus or mass departure from the plantations led to (1) the development of peasant farming and (2) Immigration.

n.b. The exodus from the plantations was greatest in Jamaica, Trinidad and British Guiana where large areas of unoccupied land were available.

Labour Problems in the Post-Emancipation period Before emancipation, all territories in the British West Indies could be classified as the same because they were all plantation economies based on slave labour. After emancipation, island separateness developed as each island began to take different turns to develop. In other words, islands developed at different rates. Larger islands had greater labour problems because they had more land and larger numbers of ex-slaves but few of them were willing to work on plantations after emancipation.

Let's compare Trinidad and Jamaica after emancipation. Trinidad was considered a medium sized territory with a large population of freed persons or ex-slaves, Jamaica was considered a large island with an even larger population of freed persons. The difference is that Trinidad had a similar labour problem and saw immigration as the solution to this labour shortage. Jamaica had a lot more problems and therefore an even a larger labour problem, but the government at the time did not want to introduce immigration to solve this problem.

Attitudes to Labour in the English-speaking Caribbean after 1838 The newly emancipated people also had some adjusting to do:

1. They had to find their own food, clothing and shelter. They could either make arrangements with their former owner or establish independent settlements. Where possible, they much preferred the latter.

2. They had to learn and exercise the rules governing bargaining of labour.

3. They had to address the issue of education, health as well as their legal and political rights. Needless to say the colonial authorities were not in a hurry to include them in the political process or to change the laws to reflect their new status. As Governor Harris of Trinidad noted: ‘’A race has been freed but a society has not been formed.’’

4. The planters shifted the burden of taxation to the newly emancipated people.

Attitudes of the planters or plantation owners

After emancipation, the main concern of the white planters was to ensure that they had labour for their plantations. However, some planters had abandoned their estates because they watched the exodus of ex-slaves and were afraid of having to pay high wages to labourers. Most planters tried to convince ex-slaves to stay and work for pay by saying that they would provide good working and living conditions on their plantations as well as high wages but this was far from the truth. Many planters also tried to prevent freed men from getting land so that they would not be able to make a living planting crops and so they would therefore be forced to return to plantations to work. They did this by making the land too expensive or the ex-slaves to buy.

Problems affecting the Sugar Industry in the Post-Emancipation PeriodProblems affecting the sugar industry 1838 to 1854

(1) Increasing cost of sugar production

- There was mismanagement of estates by managers who were in charge because of absentee ownership.

- Labourers had to be paid wages now that slavery was abolished. (2) Increasing debts

- Planters had borrowed extensively from British merchants and were unable to repay their loans because of low profits.

- Many continued to borrow in an attempt to revive their plantations.

- However, banks and merchant houses were sceptical about giving loans to West Indian planters. The Bank of British Guiana and the Planters’ Bank of Jamaica did not want to use estates as security for loans anymore and the Colonial Bank of the West Indies did not make any substantial loans to planters.

(3) Shortage of a regular, relatively cheap supply of labour

- After emancipation there was an exodus of ex-slaves from the plantations in the colonies with higher populations.

- Those who left the plantations established themselves as peasant cultivators; they planted small-scale market crops and provisions and they kept livestock. Skilled Africans moved to towns where they were employed as blacksmiths and carpenters and masons, etc.

- Africans often supplemented their incomes by working part time on plantations but the planters found their labour unsatisfactory- the planters wanted cheap, full time labourers as they had been accustomed to during slavery.

(4) Decline in markets for West Indian sugar

- Preferential duties (taxes) on West Indian sugar were removed under the Sugar Duties Equalization Act of 1846. This meant that sugar sold in Britain was to be sold at one price with no taxes added on.

- Sugar from British Caribbean colonies had to compete with the cheaper sugar being produced in Cuba, Brazil and other parts of the world.

- The British West Indies could no longer compete against much larger suppliers.

- There was competition from beet sugar. By 1833, France had set up more than 400 factories that made twice the amount of cane sugar than was being produced at that time.

- The policies of the British Government after emancipation actually helped to set back the sugar industry in its colonies. As a general rule, Britain/England did not want its colonies making manufactured goods to compete with products from England. This policy was called mercantilism - the idea that a country's prosperity depended on getting cheap raw material from colonies, making manufactured goods from these materials then selling the goods within national borders, back to the colonies and to other countries. This policy even included refined sugar. So even though the West Indian plantations were technically capable of making refined sugar, instead of just exploiting brown sugar to England to be processed into white sugar, the British Government charged higher duties on refined sugar coming from its colonies.

Measures adopted to deal with the problems facing the West Indian Sugar Industry

(1) Alternative labour sources

- Immigrants were brought to some Caribbean countries to work plantations. (2) Mechanization of production

- Steam mills replaced mills that were run by animals (such as cow-drawn mills) - New equipment was installed, such as vacuum pans and the centrifuge. (3) Introduction of new varieties of cane

- Attempts were made to improve the varieties of cane so that cane had higher sugar content.

(4) New farming techniques

- New techniques developed on the fields included the use of:

∙ the plough and harrow

∙ different types of fertilizers

∙ irrigation schemes

∙ proper drainage systems

(5) Amalgamation of estates

- Smaller estates were joined together to form larger ones. This allowed for more efficient use of factory equipment and generally better management of estates. It also meant that labour was more readily available and estates could share marketing facilities.

- More land was available for cultivation so therefore, the most fertile areas were cultivated.

- A large estate was more likely to get loans which could then be divided and given to individual planters.

(6) West Indian planters attempted to establish newer markets

- Some planters turned to the USA to export their sugar. As the USA is relatively close to the West Indies, transport costs were lower and prices were better than when supplying to Britain for example.

(7) Technical advice

-Many colonial governments employed skilled engineers to give advice to planters, for example on new types of manufacturing which could save cost.

- Departments of agriculture were established by some governments. These gave

advice to sugarcane farmers and offered technical assistance and financial advice on how to increase production. These government departments also conducted research on new types of crops.

n.b. The above measures were adopted in different degrees according to the size and wealth of the colony and what individual planters could afford.

Outcome of these improvements on the sugar industry Despite all of the measures mentioned, production of sugar in the British Caribbean colonies declined in the years just before and after emancipation. From 1831 and 1838, there was an overall decline of 20% and by 1842 this decline had reached 40%.

This fall in production was due to several factors including:

- the trade policies of the British Government.

- competition from Spanish and French sugar producers.

- shortage of labour.

- a flooding on the sugar market of sugar from many countries.

Immigration in the British Caribbean (1834-1917)

Reasons for Caribbean Immigration in the Post-Emancipation period The planters believed that their most serious post-emancipation problem was the scarcity of cheap reliable estate labour caused by the flight of ex-slaves from the plantations/estates after emancipation. Many of the freemen formed an independent peasantry through land ownership. The planters responded by

importing indentured (an indenture was a formal legal agreement or contract) labourers from densely populated agrarian (agricultural) communities and they petitioned the colonial governments to support the various immigration schemes. Moreover, it was felt that in the long-term immigration would lead to reduced wages for labourers when a new set of labour was established.

The Crown (British Government) had four main aims in supporting immigration, which were to:

∙ restore and even expand the sugar industry.

∙ create a steady supply of labourers.

∙ ensure that the ruling class in the colonies maintained control over the labour force.

∙ keep wages low by having immigrant labour compete for wages with the freed populace.

Introduction

China and India were the first places that Europeans checked for replacement labour after slavery ended. The planters had already tried using other Europeans before the slave trade from Africa began and already knew that this plan would not work because they would have to pay high wages to white labourers. China and India seemed ideal sources of labour. Both were poor countries with large populations, which meant that there were many people who would see even the hard labour on the sugar plantations as an opportunity for a better life.

The first shipment of labourers left India just before the apprenticeship period

drew to a close in 1838. Of the 414 Indians who came, 18 died on board the ship and 98 died within 5 years of landing in the colony. 238 Indians later returned to the subcontinent and just 60 decided to stay in the Caribbean. Emigration from India was suspended until 1844 because of this high mortality rate, while the authorities examined the conditions of retirement and shipping.

Between 1845 and 1847, Jamaica received 4,551 Indians and 507 Chinese. By 1854 though, just over 1,800 of these immigrants had died or disappeared. It is likely that many of them were killed by a cholera epidemic which swept through Jamaica in 1850. Between 1838 and 1917, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenada received Indian labourers. Some people in Jamaica were against this importations of immigrants. Some churches also opposed Indian immigration worrying about the effects the Indians would have on African Christian converts. The Anti-Slavery Society in England also opposed Indian immigration, saying that it would reverse the social and moral gains made by abolition.

The planters however saw immigration as the key solution to their labour and financial problems. Only in islands such as the Leewards, Barbados and Belize was there opposition to immigration schemes by the ruling whites and this was only because the labour supply was adequate. Even this situation soon changed because the freed blacks refused to work for low wages and became more independent so that by the late 19th century planters in some small islands like Antigua, St Kitts and Nevis were also calling for immigrant labour.

By the end of the 19th century, the West Indies had received over 300,000 Indian labourers. Some Chinese and Portuguese labourers were also brought in but in small

numbers. There were also small numbers of European and African immigrants as well as ex slaves migrating to different islands for labour.

Immigration schemes

British immigration schemes:

∙ The Madeirans from 1835 to 1852

∙ The Chinese from 1852 to 1893

∙ The Africans- after 1841, attempts to bring free Africans from Sierra Leone and the Kru Coast in Africa failed because the Africans soon became aware of working conditions in the Caribbean. By 1869, 36,160 free Africans came mainly to British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad ∙ The East Indians from 1845 to 1917

∙ The West Indians from 1837

THE EUROPEANS

Due to a decline in the white population, planters sought European immigrants to increase the size of the white population. It was hoped that Europeans would set an example of industry to ex-slaves and eventually develop into a middle class. They would settle on available land in the interior, thus forcing ex-slaves off the land and back to the plantations. Jamaica imported the largest number. Europeans also went to Trinidad, British Guiana and St Kitts. These immigrants were mainly Scots, Irish, French and Germans. They were recruited under a bounty system.

Problems with European immigration

Europeans were unsatisfactory as most died soon after they arrived. They died from tropical diseases, heat stroke and many drank themselves to death. They also refused to work on the plantations with blacks. Many asked to be sent home or migrated to the United States. Planters also failed to supply proper food, shelter and medical facilities.

THE PORTUGUESE

Madeirans were paid only 3d per day in Madeira and were attracted by higher wages in the Caribbean, especially in British Guiana. Many went to Trinidad and a few to the Windward Islands. They were brought in by government bounty. Most came during periods of famine in Madeira (1846-1847). Their numbers decreased after 1847 until the scheme ended in 1882.

Problems with Madeiran immigration

The Madeirans died in large numbers. They suffered severely from yellow fever, malaria, overwork and inadequate food. The scheme was very irregular and most of them went into trading as soon as their contracts ended. In addition, because so many of its citizens were leaving, the Madeiran Government objected to the scheme and implemented measures to make it difficult for them to be recruited.

THE AFRICANS

There were two distinct groups of Africans that were used as labourers in the post-emancipation period. These were the free Africans and the liberated Africans. The free Africans were persons who willingly opted to come and work on

the plantations in the Caribbean. The liberated Africans were persons freed by British naval personnel from vessels illegally transporting them to the Caribbean as slaves.

Free Africans

Attempts were made to obtain Africans from the Kru Coast and Sierra Leone. The British government was reluctant to grant approval of this scheme as it seemed to be a revival of the slave trade. However, in 1840, approval was granted. At first they were recruited privately but the British government assumed direct control two years later.

Problems with African immigration

1. Very few Africans were willing to come to the Caribbean. There were no catastrophes in Africa which would make them leave.

2. Many who came to the Caribbean did not remain on the plantation; rather they followed the ex-slaves and settled on lands and became peasant farmers.

Liberated Africans

The largest number of Africans who came to the British Caribbean were ‘’rescued’’ by the British Navy from slave ships bound for Cuba and Brazil. These Africans were forcibly indentured for up to five years in the Caribbean, primarily in British Guiana, Trinidad and Jamaica.

Problems

1. The number of liberated Africans was too small to make a difference to the labour. This scheme ended when Cuba and Brazil abolished slavery in 1886 and 1888, respectively. Like the ex-slaves, they abandoned the estates and settled on land.

THE CHINESE

The first Chinese immigrants arrived in Trinidad in 1806 from Malaya. They were to be indentured for five years, with a promise of small plots of land afterwards. They were extremely unsuitable as estate labourers, and most were shipped back.

Most Chinese immigrants came during the period 1859-1886 and went to British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad. They came mostly from the Portuguese colony of Macao and from Canton. Others came as well because of the Teiping Rebellion (1851-1864).

Problems with Chinese immigration

Planters complained that the Chinese did not make good estate workers. A few re indentured themselves. They preferred to return to China or open retail shops. In addition, they were more expensive than the Indians. The Chinese government insisted that a full return passage be granted after a five-year indenture contract, but the planters were willing to pay this only after two five-year contracts.

The Chinese Government also opposed immigration because the Chinese were ill treated in Cuba. Most Chinese avoided the West Indies, preferring to go to the

United States or to find work nearer to home in Java or the Philippines. Finally, race relations between blacks and Chinese were quite poor.

THE EAST INDIANS

The first Indians arrived in 1838 on Gladstone’s Estate in British Guiana. However, the British government stopped the scheme because of evidence of ill-treatment and the high death rate among the immigrants in Mauritius. However, due to pressure from the planters, the British reopened the Indian immigration scheme in 1844.

It was not difficult to find willing immigrants. Many craftsmen had lost their jobs due to competition from the mechanized factories and mills of England. Also, India was becoming overpopulated and there was not enough land to divide among the younger generation. In addition, wages in India had fallen to 1/2d per day and there was a series of famine during the period 1857-1877 that led to an increase in food prices. Those seeking to escape the police and the caste system were also willing to migrate.

The Caribbean seemed attractive with high wages, shelter, medical care and a chance to find new occupations beside agriculture. Indians were easily recruited as India was a British colony. British ships and trading posts were already there, and the British Government could easily provide British Officials to supervise the scheme. Planters were satisfied with the Indians because they were hardworking, accustomed to tropical agriculture and they re-indentured themselves.

Working and living conditions on the plantations

East Indians immigrants served their indentureship in Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Trinidad. They were contracted to those owners who had requested their services and who had partly funded their importation. The protector or Asian General explained their terms of contract to them. They also saw it that the employers signed the indenture conflict before the proper authorities and gave a written contract or guarantee that the immigrants would receive medical care. In Jamaica they worked also on banana plantations and in Trinidad on cocoa and coconut plantations. Most of the estates were in rural areas. In the 1840’s Indians served a one- year contract. They could recontract after the first year but most did not. By the 1850’s, there were three year contracts and by 1862 there were five year contracts. Some land owners wanted seven year contracts. Initially, immigrants were guaranteed a return passage at the end of the contract. First after five years but later after ten years of residence. Later they had to pay part of the cost to return. They could pay cash or land. On the estates, the living conditions were slave like. Labourers could not leave estates without a pass and they were subject to fines and imprisonment for being absent from work and for disobedience.

Methods of recruitment:

∙ Promise of land and work in the Caribbean.

∙ Kidnapping.

∙ Recruitment of Indians involved a degree of deception where information related to their jobs were either withheld or misinterpreted. In particular,

the amount that they were likely to be able to earn and save were often exaggerated.

Reasons why some Immigrants did not return home at the end of their contract

∙ They could not afford the money to subsidize their passage back to India. ∙ They accepted the offer of free land, or a cash grant instead of a return passage.

∙ Many Immigrants were unwilling to return to the poor social and economic conditions and the crushing poverty from which they had come from. ∙ Opportunities for self-fulfilment and material gain that were available in the West Indies were not available at home.

Difficulties Immigration created for resident Creoles

Immigration created some difficulties for the resident Creoles. It contributed to unemployment and underemployment in the during the ‘’off- crop’’ period of sugar production. It limited bargaining opportunities and so forced them to accept low wages. It forced them to carry more of the fax burden to finance immigration.

The poor conditions for Immigrants led to the Indian Legislative Council in India passing the Abolition of Indenture Act so East Indian Immigration ended in 1917.

The impact/ effects of Immigration on Caribbean Society, Culture and the Sugar Industry

ECONOMIC EFFECTS ON THE SUGAR INDUSTRY

1. There was an increase in the supply of labour. Their coming definitely solved the labour shortage problem.

2. There was a decrease in the wages offered to workers on the estates. This helped to cut the cost of production dramatically since wages was two thirds of the cost of production.

4. Sugar production increased particularly in Trinidad and British Guiana.

5. A number of immigrants remained and worked on the estates after their contract expired. They did both skilled and unskilled jobs.

6. It is said that the Indian immigrants encouraged the use of mechanization.

7. This improvement in the sugar industry slowed down the diversification of the Caribbean economy.

British West Indian planters had turned to immigration as a tool for reviving the sugar industry. The hope was that with the steady supply of labour, planters could focus on increasing their output. Immigration, however, did not have its desired impact, especially in a colony as Jamaica. In territories such as Trinidad and British Guiana, we cannot assume that immigration saved their sugar industry. For instance, they introduced mechanization and placed more lands under sugarcane cultivation. These other factors could readily be counted as factors that saved their sugar industries. Barbados could be used as another example. Up to 1848, they had seen an increase in their output by 250 per cent. However, by the end of the 19th century, this had declined. We cannot assume that it was because Barbados was not using immigrant labour that its output declined. During the

period, Barbados was plagued by problems such as soil exhaustion and inadequate mechanization.

The overall conclusion must be that immigration did not cause increased sugar production in the British West Indies, as many other factors could have been responsible.

SOCIAL EFFECTS

1. Indians were felt to be inferior and they could only find work in poorly paid jobs. They could not settle in the towns, but lived in the countryside and formed an active peasant class. The employment of Indians mainly as field workers led to the employment of blacks in better jobs, for example, the police force.

2. The ex-slaves despised the Indians and refused to work alongside them in the fields. They were described as ‘’heathens’’ because of their speech and clothing. Indians also despised the blacks because of their alleged low moral standards.

3. Immigration led to the expansion of social services, for example, medical facilities and a large police force.

4. Caribbean societies became plural societies or multi-ethnic societies. In other words, there are people in the Caribbean who are citizens of the same country, but who belong to different racial groups, different ancestral cultures, different religions or all of these.

CULTURAL EFFECTS

1. Family- Indians brought their firm family structure in which all relations supported each other. The idea of extended family, which included several generations, was very strong. All males over 16 years were members of a family council. They made all decisions of the family, for example, marriage, religious ceremonies and expenditure.

2. Religion- Hinduism- Hindus worshipped several gods of which Brahma was the most important. He was the supreme god or creator. They believed that when people die, their souls are reborn in a new body. The Hindus had very strict divisions in the society; this was known as the caste system. Each person belonged to a special group or caste. The Brahmins or the religious leaders were at the top of the society and the Hindus in the Caribbean continued to follow them as their leaders.

Islam- The Indians who came were also Muslims. They believed in one God, called Allah. They followed the teachings of the Quran.

3. Festivals- Divali or Festival of lights was celebrated by the Hindus. They told stories, shared gifts and decorated their windows and doors with lights and candles.

Hosein- A Muslim festival. Small temples, made from paper and bamboo, were decorated and carried in a procession through the streets, while there was dancing to the beats of drums.

4. The Indians normally segregated themselves deliberately in the educational institution. Oftentimes, they were unwilling to send their children to school, since they feared they would be converted to Christianity. It was not until the late 1870s when separate schools for Indian children were established, mainly by the Canadian Presbyterian Mission to the Indians, that Indian children went to school and language barriers began to crumble. Indian integration in the Caribbean was not very easy, since many of them spoke the Hindi language and this served as a language barrier.

5. New culinary skills were introduced, the use of curry, and new kinds of food, for example, roti. Chinese foods were also introduced.

The Free Village Movement

Introduction

The drift of ex-slaves from the plantation can be found in the ex-slaves’ desire to establish himself in a social and economic context free from the demands of the plantation. The desire for independence drove ex-slaves away from the plantations and led to the village movement.

No matter how many blacks became small landowners they could not resist the oppressive system unless they cooperated as a group. This was why the formation of free villages became so important. Free villages developed when ex-slaves moved off the plantation and settled themselves in ‘’free villages’’.

Some free villages were established before emancipation by run-away slaves in the forests of Guyana and the mountains of Jamaica and were known as maroon settlements.

The formation of free villages happened quite rapidly in the British Caribbean. In Jamaica, the first free village called Sligoville (named after Marquess of Sligo) was established by a Baptist Minister named James Phillipo just one year after emancipation which catered to 100 families when emancipation was declared. The second free village was established in 1838 through the efforts of an English Minister named William Knibb. The village was named Sturge Town and was established on land bought by the Anglican Church.

Factors which determined the establishment of free villages

A number of factors were attributed to the development of free villages within the British Caribbean after emancipation.

1. Places like British Guiana, Trinidad and Jamaica had much unused land available and because of this the development of free villages was possible, while in smaller territories such as St. Kitts, Barbados and Antigua and so on, little land was available which resulted in the development of fewer free villages.

2. The ex-slaves had a desire to be free and to own a piece of land. They associated work on estates with slavery, so they wanted to be independent of the estates. In addition, owning a piece of land was the key to independence.

3. The former slaves disliked plantation labour and they wanted to forget the bad treatment that had been meted out under slavery.

4. There were some governors who encouraged the movement away from the plantation. A good example was Governor Colebrook of Antigua in 1837. On the other hand, there were also governors who legislated against the growth of cooperative estates. For example, in British Guiana.

5. The ex-slaves’ familiarity with agriculture helped to pave the way for the establishment of free villages. During slavery, slave owners who had available land provided their slaves with provision grounds on which they grew food crops. Slave-owners had also developed the practice of allowing slaves to sell any surplus in the Sunday market. When freedom came the ex-slaves wanted to devote as much time as they chose to the growing and marketing of provisions from which they could make a living.

6. Some ex-slaves squatted on unused land and disregarded official warnings to desist from such practice, because they knew that it was difficult for them to be brought to justice.

7. Some landowners were willing to sell some of their land in order to ease their financial problems, for example to raise money to pay wages or to clear off longstanding debts.

8. Many ex-slaves were able to use their savings to purchase land at prices ranging from two pounds to ten pounds per acre.

9. In British Guiana, ex-slaves pooled their resources, obtained limited credit and purchased large territories of land from estate owners. Victoria, Queenstown, Plaisance and Beterverwagting were some of the villages which they established. By 1852, it was estimated that there were more than 70, 000 ex-slaves owning property in houses and land for which they had paid one million pounds.

10. Baptist and Wesleyan missionaries for example William Knibb, James Phillipo and Thomas Burchell in Jamaica who wanted to protect the ex slaves from the abuses of the planters, established free villages such as Sligoville, Sturge Town, Clarkson, Clarksonville, Wilberforce, Boston,

Bethany, Salem, Philadelphia and Harmony, where ex- slaves were able to purchase small lots of land.

11. The generosity of some planters also contributed to the establishment of free villages. In Barbados, Reynold Alleyne Ellcock, the owner of Mt. Wilton Estate in St. Thomas, left money in his will to teach his slaves. After his death, they received this money in 1841 and together, they bought sections of Rock Hall Estate to establish free villages.

12. A few planters for example Peter Chapman, owner of Workman’s Estate in St. George made land available for sale. In 1856, he subdivided 102 acres of his estate and allowed ex- slaves to purchase lots in instalments.

Effects of free villages on the supply of labour on the British Caribbean sugar estates

The development of free villages in various colonies in the British Caribbean had a profound effect on the labour supply on the sugar estates.

1. Free villages greatly reduced the number of full-time labourers on plantations.

2. Free villages reduced the labour supply on sugar plantations which created a labour shortage in some islands particularly in the larger territories like Jamaica, Trinidad and British Guiana which further resulted in the decline in production of sugar.

3. Free villages reduced the number of male artisans and craftsmen on the plantations.

4. Free villages resulted in planters having to seek alternative labour supply for the estates which inevitably resulted in indentured immigration.

The African-Caribbean Peasantry in the Post-Emancipation Period in the British Caribbean

A fundamental development during the post emancipation period was the movement away from the estates by ex-slaves mostly to set themselves up as peasant proprietors. Indeed, many ex-slaves struggled to make a life for themselves and to etch out some form of existence for themselves and their families in a society that still had many of the prejudices of the pre-emancipation era.

One of the many problems facing the ex-slaves after emancipation which still prevented them from enjoying full equality with members of the planter class was the difficulty in obtaining land to set themselves up as independent small farmers. Many ex-slaves desired to become independent small farmers but this could only happen if the ex-slaves acquired their own land. Such a life would give them the security of personal liberty and landownership, enabling them to escape the high rents and the low wages or in some cases the métayage system.

Despite the fact that the colonial governments made it difficult for the ex-slaves to own Crown lands (in an attempt to keep them bound to the estates and ensure continued production of sugar), some ex-slaves were able to become peasants.

1. Some ex-slaves set themselves up most easily where unoccupied land was most available. As the fall in sugar prices hit the estates land values fell and some estates were abandoned. By pooling their money together ex-slaves could buy these abandoned estates and then subdivide the and into plots of two, three or more acres.

2. Ex-slaves acquired land through the help of Baptist missionaries who helped to bargain with landowners and provided funds so that peasants could set

themselves up in farming villages. This also acted as an incentive to the ex slaves to convert to Christianity and to become members of the Christian Church.

3. Peasants who could not buy land squatted on unused Crown lands in the hills. By living on these plots long enough they came into possession of the land. Despite their success in acquiring land peasants still encountered a number of obstacles in acquiring land to establish peasant plots.

1. For one thing peasants were not free of official interference. Licenses and land taxes were imposed and small landholders had to follow numerous regulations or deal with interfering planters nearby. There were still many peasants who were unable to buy plots because plantations were so tied up in debt and uncertainty of ownership that they lay unused and unsold while the peasantry was desperately in need to land. At times there were violent protests when peasants felt they were being unfairly treated for example the peasant revolt led by Paul Boggle at Morant Bay in 1865.

2. There were problems with the acquisition of land due to high rents, lack of Crown Land and planters’ reluctance to sell land.

3. Planters charged high rents on and the peasants could not afford these. 4. Planters used legislation, such as the Squatters’ Act and the Tenancy Act, to make it difficult for peasants to acquire land.

A number of crops were planted on a large scale by this emerging peasant population. These were cash crops grown for sale in the local markets and subsistence crops grown to be eaten by the peasant family. Peasants used every piece of land however steep or stony to grow ground provisions, fruits and

vegetables. Livestock ranged from cattle to sheep, goats, pigs and poultry. Cash crops included, tobacco, bananas, spices, cocoa, coffee, coconuts, and some sugarcane. The increase of these crops helped to change the pattern of agriculture in the Caribbean leading to what was called the Agricultural Diversification.

a) Individual peasant holdings normally comprised:

∙ Marginal, un-cleared and un-surveyed land

∙ Land that was usually located far from the markets where goods were sold

b) Peasant holdings were normally a half acre to two acres c) The land was usually used for:

∙ Growing provisions, fruits and vegetables

∙ Rearing livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry

d) Peasants normally practiced subsistence agriculture where sufficient crops were grown to feed the family.

e) Some peasants supplemented their income by working part-time on the estates for wages.

The peasantry developed in every British Caribbean island to a lesser or greater extent. The islands grew the same crops. However, only a few emerged as leaders such as Jamaica. Jamaica had adequate shipping arrangements as well as enough peasants and plantations supplying banana for export figure for this fruit continued to rise in the early 1900s and it was established as a major industry. The island of Barbados was still fairly concentrated on sugar. Trinidad and St. Kitts did not put so much acreage into those other crops for several reasons. The islands’ sizes as well as the smaller size of their peasantry were also deterrents.

Sidney Mintz shows that the cultivation of provision grounds came to be seen by slaves as a customary right and that the experience of this ‘’proto-peasantry’’ in producing and marketing crops and livestock was an important aspect of their transition to emancipation. After slavery, the rise of the peasantries constituted some kind of resistance response to the dominant plantation system and for many reasons the former slaves valued peasant farming for their independence.

Contribution of the Peasantry to the Economic and Social Life of the Caribbean

Economic:

1. The peasants helped the Caribbean people to reduce their dependence on imported food as they grew crops for the local market and their families. Their goods consisted mainly of fruits, vegetables and ground provisions which they sold at the local Saturday or Sunday market for cash.

2. A complex system of direct trading and middlemen developed in places like Jamaica where not all the peasants who produced crops came to the market. For example, farmers in the mountainous eastern parishes, sold their produce to coastal traders who carried them to the southwest where main wage earners still worked on sugar plantations. Other peasants sold goods to those who were going to market in Kingston and Spanish Town.

3. Some peasants in the Eastern Caribbean traded with other islands for provisions, e.g. Montserrat small farmers sold food to people in St. Kitts, Nevis and Antigua.

4. The development of the peasantry helped to make sure that a variety of different crops were grown in the region. In the Eastern Caribbean, the peasantry changed the pure plantation economies which was based on growing just one crop.

5. The peasants contributed to the money earned by the region by exporting spices, ginger, logwood, cotton, sugar, rum, coffee, arrowroot, citrus, pimento, lime juice, and coconuts.

Social:

1. Peasants promoted cultural events, some of which helped to keep African and Indian culture alive in the Caribbean.

2. Peasants laid the foundation of modern Caribbean society by building schools and churches in their villages, by campaigning for roads and streets, and for improved medical and educational facilities.

3. Peasants helped to develop Friendly and Benefit Societies, and to develop agricultural societies and cooperative banks.

Alternatives to Sugar

Sugar was the main export crop in Trinidad, British Guiana and Jamaica, however, a main export crop was developed. In Trinidad, cocoa was grown along with quicker growing crops such as bananas, plantains, peas, beans, and groundnuts.

In Jamaica, bananas were at first grown as a locally eaten food until Lorenzo Dow Baker realized its profitability and officially registered the L.D. Baker Fruit Company in 1772. In 1885, he formed the Boston Fruit Company and controlled the

stages of this banana business. In 1929, small farmers in Jamaica pooled their resources and set up an organization for the transportation and sale of their crops in the USA and Britain. This organization was called the Jamaica Producers’ Association.

In British Guiana, rice became important due to the arrival of the Indian labourers. In the Eastern Caribbean, small famers turned to other crops in addition to sugar. Barbados and Antigua exported sea island cotton, cocoa was grown in St. Lucia and Dominica. In St. Vincent, arrowroot was the new chief crop; in Grenada, it was nutmeg, and in Montserrat, sea island cotton and limes. These crops were met with new difficulties such as insects, hurricanes, diseases, and overseas marketing.

DEFINITIONS

A small famer owns or rents lands, hires labour to help work the land or harvest a crop, lives on the income from the farm, and very seldom if ever, labours for wages.

A peasant owns or rents land, works on the land and is mainly dependent on it for a living. He very seldom hires labour, and sometimes looks for work for wages to help out the income from the cultivation.

A labourer is a person who might have a piece of land and work it, but whose income comes mainly from wages earned working for someone else.

Métayage: In métayage, the planter did not pay money as wages to his labourers. Instead, he shared with them the proceeds of the crop. The arrangement was made in one of two ways. In one, the sharecroppers would undertake to plant and reap and supply the cane to the planter’s factory. The sharecroppers would plant and the planter would them to hire labourers to reap and supply to his factory. The

sharecropper would receive about half or one-third of the proceeds. In the second, the sharecropper would plant and the planter would then hire labourers to reap and supply to his factory. The sharecropper would receive about half or one-third of the proceeds.

Métayage was most widely attempted in the Windward Islands, especially after the Sugar Duties Act of 1846 had been passed. After 1846, all planters found it more difficult to raise money because of sugar prices declined and merchant creditors stopped lending money except to those planters who had good security to offer.

Métayage was advantageous as the planters did not have to advance any money for wages. Also, no matter whether the price obtained for the produce was high or low, the planter could not lose, since he was committed only to pay an agreed proportion of what he received.

However, métayage was not a successful arrangement because of the falling sugar prices so planters and ex-slaves were reluctant to agree to such an arrangement.

Adoption of Crown Colony Government in the British Caribbean in the 19th century

We have already pointed out that very little provisions were made for the newly emancipated people. No public health system or housing scheme was put in place to accommodate them. The laws did not address the matter of their legal and voting rights. It was the Missionaries who gave them guidance and support in these unfamiliar areas.

All of these problems and more led the peasants in St. Vincent (1862) and Jamaica (1865) and Barbados (1876) to stage a rebellion in their respective territory.

The government felt that it had done enough. It had partnered with the Churches in providing elementary education for the masses. For ten years through the Negro Education grant, it helped to finance education. From 1835 to 1840, it provided an annual sum of thirty thousand pounds to help finance education. The amount decreased gradually for the next five years until it ceased in 1845.

In addition, they took the initiative to use the Mico Trust Charity Fund of £120,000, to open a number of schools. These were operated by religious bodies in colonies such as Jamaica, St. Lucia, Dominica and Trinidad. By 1841, just three years after emancipation, there were about 196 schools throughout the British Caribbean with a school population of about 1,500. Government inspectors were appointed and commissioned to supervise the education system.

The truth is that after this very little was done. Once the Imperial Government withdrew or ceased funding, the local government authorities refused to vote any significant amount of money for education of the masses. It was in their best interest to keep the masses ignorant. It would ensure labour for their estates and enterprises and secure their class from any the entrance of any lower class people. Primary Education was not seen as necessary or compulsory (except in British Guiana). How then could the masses reach any further?

The authorities had the same attitude towards public health and housing. The Old Representative System of Government was anything but representative. The

composition of it was mainly plantocrats and upper class whites with a few coloured members. These people did not care about the suffering of the masses.

The 1850s and 1860s brought further distress on the already frustrated masses:

∙ Cholera epidemic claimed the lives of thousands and left many children orphaned and families without the main breadwinner (income earner).

∙ 1861-1865 was the American Civil War. This meant that essential food supply- flour and saltfish- was not available. The shortage of food sent the prices ‘’sky high’’. Bread and flour went up by as much as 83%!

∙ 1863-1865 were years of drought and other natural disasters.

No relief was provided. What followed next is a prime example of how the Representative Government dealt with the demands of the freed people.

The people in the parish of St. Ann, Jamaica, sent a petition to the Queen Victoria. She sent an unkind reply. She advised them to work hard for whatever wages they were offered and find ways to help themselves. The biased and racist governor Eyre loved the response. It seemed to give him approval for his draconian way of dealing with the masses that he treated with open disdain. He published thousands of copies, held public readings of them and had them posted all over different towns.

He treated Paul Bogle with open disdain. The peasants from St. Thomas dared to seek audience with him. He had no time to listen to the grievances of peasants. It did not matter to him that Bogle and his marching band had walked more than sixty

miles to see him! They returned to Morant Bay in St. Thomas were only a few days later the Morant Bay Rebellion led by Bogle erupted.

The governor quickly proclaimed Martial law. As usual their first response was force and repression! The militia was called out to suppress the rebellion. Ringleaders were caught, brutally and publicly flogged and then hung.

This forced the Imperial government to change its response. It effected a change from the Old Representative System to Crown Colony Government. All colonies except Barbados and the Bahamas instituted this new form of government. Crown Colony Government was more responsive to the needs of the public but the attitude of control and superiority was basically the same.

Reforms of Crown Colony Government

∙ Public works: roads, bridges, etc.

∙ Police Force

∙ District Courts

∙ Social services: Boards of Health, Government Hospitals constructed

The Morant Bay Rebellion (1865)

Rebellion and response

On October 7th, 1865, a black man was put on trial and imprisoned for trespassing on a long-abandoned plantation, creating anger among black Jamaicans. When one member of a group of black protesters from the village of Stony Gut was arrested, the protesters became unruly and liberated the accused man from prison. When he returned to his home, Bogle learned that he and 27 of his men had warrants issued for their arrest for rioting, resisting arrest, and assaulting the police.

A few days later on October 11, Bogle marched with a group of protesters to Morant Bay. When the group arrived at the court house they were met by a small volunteer militia who panicked and opened fire on the group, killing seven black protesters before retreating. The black protesters then rioted, killing 18 people (including white officials and militia) and taking control of the town. In the days that followed some 2,000 black rebels roamed the countryside, killing two white planters and forcing others to flee for their lives.

The White planter population feared that the revolt would spread to the rest of Jamaica and Governor Eyre sent government troops, under Brigadier-General Alexander Nelson, to hunt down the poorly armed rebels and bring Paul Bogle back to Morant Bay for trial. The troops were met with no organized resistance but killed blacks indiscriminately, many of whom had not been involved in the riot or rebellion: according to one soldier, “we slaughtered all before us… man or woman or child.’’ In the end, 439 black Jamaicans were killed directly by soldiers, and 354 more (including Paul Bogle) were arrested and later executed, some without proper trials. Paul Bogle was executed “either the same evening he was tried or the next morning.” Other punishments included flogging for over 600 men and women (including some pregnant women), and long prison sentences.

Gordon, who had little– if anything –to do with the rebellion was also arrested. Though he was arrested in Kingston, he was transferred by Eyre to Morant Bay, where he could be tried under martial law. The speedy trial saw Gordon hanged on October 23rd, two days after his trial. He and William Bogle, Paul’s brother, “were both tried together, and executed at the same time.”

Consequences in Britain

When news of the response to the rebellion broke in Britain it generated fierce debate, with public figures of different political affiliations lining up to support or oppose Governor Eyre’s actions. When Eyre returned to Britain in August 1866, his supporters held a banquet in his honour, while opponents at a protest meeting the same evening condemned him as a murderer. Opponents went on to establish the Jamaica Committee, which called for Eyre to be tried for his excesses in suppressing the “insurrection.” More radical members of the Committee wanted him tried for the murder of British subjects under the rule of law. The Committee included English liberals, such as John Bright, Charles Darwin, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Huxley, Thomas Hughes and Herbert Spencer. An opposing committee, which included such Tories and Tory socialists as Thomas Carlyle, Rev. Charles Kingsley, Charles Dickens, and John Ruskin, sprang up in Eyre’s defense. Twice Eyre was charged with murder, but the cases never proceeded.

Consequences in the Caribbean

The rebellion led to the adoption of the Crown Colony System of Government in the British territories except Barbados and the Bahamas.