i Collins \ Post Emancipation History of the West Indies Dookhan Isaac — v Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/postemancipationOOdook APost-EmancipationHistoryofthe WestIndies A Post-Emancipation History of West the Indies Dookhan Isaac pld AssociateProfessorofHistoryand HistorianWriterinResidence College oftheVirginIslands Collins Sixth Impression 1982 © Isaac Dookhan 1975 ISBN 00 329350 5 Acknowledgement TheExamination Questions on pages 177 to 184 have been reproduced by permission ofthe University ofCambridge LocalExamination Syndicate and the University ofLondon, School Examinations Department. Printed in Great Britain by Collins Clear-Type Press Contents Preface 1. TheEconomic Background 9 n TheLabour Situation 10 TheEstablishment ofthe'Peasantry The Post-Emancipation FinancialProblem 13 Free Tradeandthe Sugar DutiesAct 0/1846 15 Beet Sugar Competition 17 Improvements in the SugarIndustry in the laternineteenth century 19 British Response to WestIndianEconomicProblems: (a) The Select Committee ofEnquiry, 1847-821 (b) The Royal Commission of1882-3 22 (c) The Royal Commission of1896-725 EconomicDiversification in the nineteenth century 27 TheEconomicPattern to the 1930s 28 TheLabour Unrest ofthe 1930s 30 The Moyne Commission, 1938-9 34 The British WestIndian SugarIndustrysince the Second World War 37 Economic Diversification in the twentieth century 39 Conclusion 42 2. ImmigrationanclEmigration 44 Conditionsgiving rise to Immigration in theBritish WestIndies45 Immigration ofEuropeans, WestIndiansandAfricans46 Chineseand EastIndian Immigration 49 Reasons why IndiansEmigrated 51 Recruitmentand Trans-Oceanic Transportation ofIndian Immigrants 53 Working andLiving Conditions ofImmigrants 55 The Termination of Indian IndenturedLabour 59 OverallImpactofImmigration 60 Emigrationfrom the British WestIndies63 The Impact ofEmigration on the WestIndies 65 Conclusion 66 3. ThePublic Welfare 68 EstablishingEducation, 1834-43: The NegroEducation Grantandthe Mico Charity 69 Developments inEducation, 1843-1900 71 Developments inEducation in the twentieth century 73 Problems of EducationsinceEmancipation 75 Transportation andCommunication 76 Health andMedical Services 79 CurrentHealthProblems 82 Social Welfare 83 Conclusion 87 4. OrganizationforDevelopment 89 A. Trade Unions: Early Beginnings90 LaterDevelopmentsand Influences92 Growth ofTrade Unions93 DifficultiesExperienced by Trade Unions97 Achievements ofTrade Unions98 B. Political Parties: The Backgroundto the Development ofPoliticalParties99 The .Rise ofPoliticalParties: (a)Jamaica ioo (b) Trinidad 101 (c) Guyana 102 (d) Barbados 103 (e) Leewardand WindwardIslands 104 Characteristics ofPoliticalParties 107 Scope ofPoliticalPartyActivities 108 ProblemsEncounteredby PoliticalParties 109 The Relationship between PoliticalPartiesand Trade Unions no Conclusion in 5. Constitutional Changes 112 The Passing ofthe Old Representative System 113 The British West Indies under Crown Colony Government 114 Stages in the ConstitutionalEvolution ofthe British West Indies 116 Constitutional Development in the British WestIndies: (a)Jamaica 119 (b) Trinidad 120 (c) Guyana 123 (d) Barbados 125 (e) TheLeewardand WindwardIslands 127 AssociatedStatehood 128 TheAftermath of Independence 129 Conclusion 133 6. Closer Association 135 Attempts at Unification up to 1900 136 TheLeewardIslands Federation of1674 139 TheLeewardIslands Federation of1871 140 Proposalsfor Closer Union in the West Indies after 1871 142 Conditions Retarding theAdoption ofFederation 144 Conditionspromoting Federation in the twentieth century 161 Steps towards the Federation of1958 146 The Federation ofthe West Indies 148 Causesfor the Failure and Collapse ofthe Federation ofthe West Indies 151 Regional Co-operation andIntegration 152 Conclusion 156 7. The United States and the Caribbean 158 Reasonsfor UnitedStates Interest in the Caribbean 158 United States Involvement in the Caribbean in the nineteenth century 160 Extension ofUnited States Influence in the twentieth century 162 Impact ofthe UnitedStatespresence on the Caribbean 165 Local Response to the UnitedStates in the Caribbean 168 Conclusion 170 List ofShort Note Topics 172 A Select Bibliography 175 Examination Questions 177 Index 185