Unit III: Post-Abolition British Colonial Society & the Moyne Commission (3/3)

Corresponding text is found on p180-194 and p309-319 of Brief History of the Caribbean.

Anti-slavery movement in Great Britain - 1780s-1790s
1796 - House of Commons ends slave trade; does not abolish slavery
1815 - slave registration required of owners
1823 - Amelioration Proposals limit controls; restrict physical punishment, require education, etc

Slave revolts become more common

August 1833 - Abolition Act passed; ordered all slavery cease by August 1834
Institutes apprenticeship system (ending in 1840 for agricultural slaves, 1838 for domestic slaves)
         45 hours unpaid labor a week in exchange for food, shelter, clothing, lodging, medical
         owners compensated about 25 pounds per freed slave by government
April 1838 - due to difficulties, apprenticeship ended

End of slave labor had impact on colonial economies
Sugar industry almost collapses in Jamaica
Sugar industry becomes reliant on indentured labor in Trinidad
Import taxes which had benefited Caribbean sugar exports to Britain ended by 1846, further hurting revenues

Compare effects of emancipation in Jamaica (p191), Barbados (p190-191), & Trinidad (p192-193)

Indentured Indian labor in Trinidad - roughly 1838-1917

Large numbers to Trinidad and Guyana
Guaranteed 5 years of service; 3 year initial contract; subsidized return ticket after 10 years residence
Wages, care, and working conditions never held to standards

Indian indentured laborers replaced slave labor

Due to incompetence or need for more direct control, Britain replaced many elected colonial assemblies with Crown Colony system of governance
What characterizes Crown Colony governance?

Trade-union movements of middle-class and working-class professions gain influence in late 19th and early 20th Century
Demands for self-government increase among local professional class, especially those who served British West India Regiment in WWI
Labor unions had support of British Labour Party; Fabians built networks of political parties and labor unions between Britain and Caribbean
Early opposition leaders - T Albert Marryshow (Grenada) and Capt Arthur Cipriani (Trinidad)

1930s - Great Depression has severe effects on export dependent island economies
                 -wages fell
                 - taxes rose
                 - unemployment increased
Result is numerous strikes, demonstrations, and riots
June 1937 - Butler Riots in Trinidad; began as general strike by oil field workers, cane workers, and laborers in Port of Spain; led by Tubal Uriah Butler

Tubul Uriah Butler

Spreads to Barbados (1937) and Jamaica (1938)

Moyne Commission formed to investigate causes of unrest; Report issued in Nov 1939 and recommended wider elected representation on Legislative Councils, expansion of the vote, and stronger labor unions

Recommendation regarding more self-governance set aside due to WWII

1930s saw the formation of strong, unified, politically active labor unions under the direction of elite, educated class
Platforms advocated govt intervention in economy, land reform, higher taxes, and expanded welfare
       Peoples' National Party (PNP) - Jamaica - Alexander Bustamante & Norman Manley
       Democratic Labour Party (DLP) - Barbados - Grantley Adams
       People's National Movement (PNM) - Trinidad - Dr Eric Williams

Norman Manley

Dr Eric Williams