This documents is a Caribbean History School Based Assessment that covers the topic: Is it fair to say that the Chinese and Indian immigrants solved the labour problem after 1838?

1. SBA Question:Is it fair to say that the Chinese and Indian immigrants solved the labour problem
after 1838?
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CANDIDATE NAME: Ryon Whyte
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2. RATIONALE
Is it fair to say that the Chinese and Indian immigrants solved the labour problem after 1838?
The reason for this topic being by the researcher is to better, analyze, interpret and
interpret whether the Indian and Chinese immigration schemes actually solved the labour
problem that faced the Caribbean during the post emancipation period. For the researcher,
History encourages critical thinking, and this topic brought out that opportunity. The Chinese
and Indian immigrants are famous for their contribution to the Caribbean as they helped to shape
the society we have today. Also, this research topic is not a very popular topic and so the
researcher to use his skills as an historian. The topic itself was a very interesting one which
played a big part for the researcher choosing it.

3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, the researcher would like to offer his eternal thanks to the Almighty God who
blessed him with the perseverance and the spirit of hard work to complete this research project.
He is also using this great opportunity to express my haughty gratitude to everyone who assisted
in getting this project done. The researcher is thankful for their guidance and constructive
criticism as this is what shaped the topic of research to what it has become and for that the
researcher is truly grateful.

4. INTRODUCTION
A law was passed by the British Parliament to abolish slavery throughout its empire in
1834. Following this was the apprenticeship system which began in 1838 and failed prematurely.
The apprenticeship system was designed to provide a smooth transition from enslavement to
freedom by forcing the ex-slaves to remain on their plantations for a period of six years. Its main
purpose was to prevent the immediate desertion of estates by the-slaves, although, in fact, it was
the masters and not the slaves who were awarded compensation for the loss of their property.
The system proved too cumbersome to administer and was prematurely terminated in 1838.
As a result of this West Indian producers began to face severe competition from other
countries like Cuba and countries that produced beet sugar and at that time sugar prices were also
falling. Sugar producers then turned to ex-slaves to solve the labour problems that existed but
was face by the unfortunate as wages and working conditions were a problem as they could not
be negotiated. Hence, to defeat the labour problems James Stephen, a Colonial Office official,
humanitarian and drafter of the 1833 Emancipation Act, was appointed to draw up conditions for
immigrant labour schemes in 1838 which would make it clear that no new slave trade was being
established. And so sugar producers were then encouraged to import alternative labour and
consequently were the arrival of the Chinese and Indians.

5. As retrieved from Robert Greenwood, S. Hamber and Brian Dyde’s book the first
Chinese immigrants that came to the Caribbean 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 for estate labor and most were shipped back. Most Chinese immigrants
came during the period 1859-1886 and went to British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad. Chinese
immigration schemes lasted for a long period, but very large numbers did not come to the British
West Indies as far more went to Cuba (see figure 4). Under some schemes Chinese were
deceived as they were not told of the nature of work they were going into and false promises
were made about repatriation.1
There were many problems as a result of Chinese immigration. The Chinese government
was opposed to it as it hurt Chinese pride, but having suffered a succession of defeats by the
European powers since 1839, they were forced to accept it. Also, immigrants would have settled
more happily if Chinese women had been allowed to immigrate. The shortage of women caused
jealousy and resentment between the Chinese and the black populations. Additionally, Chinese
immigration was more expensive than other schemes because of the distance from China to the
West Indies. China was not a British colony and the British government could only try to
persuade the Chinese government to allow emigration. The Chinese, even when they allowed it,
enforced all sorts of restrictions and conditions, such as the use of only certain ports for
embarkation. And lastly, When the Chinese immigrants found that they had been misled about
the kind of work, they frequently refused to work. As soon as they could they tried to obtain land
1 Robert Greenwood, S. Hamber, Brian Dyde. BK 2 Emancipation to Emigration, Macmillan Education.Published 28
Nov 2011.Date: 14/2/2015

6. of their own, or they asked to be repatriated which was a very expensive business.2 Therefore,
the Chinese proved to be unsatisfactory and unreliable as a permanent labour force on sugar
plantations.
Greenwood stated that in 1837 John Gladstone the owner of two plantations in British
Guiana applied to the Secretary of State for the Colonies for permission to import Indian
labourers. In 1838, with the arrival of 396 Indians, the flood of Indian immigration began. It was
immediately proclaimed a success in British Guiana. However, investigations by the Anti-
Slavery Society revealed otherwise that many of the immigrants had died quickly. Some had
been flogged and wrongly imprisoned, while others had not been paid their promised wages.
Therefore, as cited by Parbattie Ramsarran in July 1838, the Indian government
suspended emigration to the Caribbean while a thorough investigation was done in British
Guiana. Immigration resumed officially in 1844 and it lasted until 1917. In the 1840s the
planters’ demand for Indian immigrant labour was very strong, especially in British Guiana
where the government was spending £50 000 per year on immigration. 3As a result of this the
British Guiana government was nearly bankrupt in 1848 because of this. In order to fix this
situation a loan was borrowed from the British government and was put towards immigration,
and the scheme continued. Trinidad and Jamaica were also importing Indians on a large scale,
but the Jamaican government was unwilling to finance the scheme to the same extent as British
Guiana and Trinidad.4 Consequently Jamaica took far fewer immigrants than the other two. In
1848, after giving loans to the governments of British Guiana, Trinidad and Jamaica, she wanted
2 http://countrystudies.us/caribbean-islands/9.htm,Feb 1, 2001 . Date: 14/2/2015
3ParbattieRamsarran The Indentured contractand its Impact on Labor Relationship and Community
Reconstruction in British Guiana Published:December 2008, Vol. 1, No. 2
4 Robert Greenwood, S. Hamber, Brian Dyde. BK 2 Emancipation to Emigration, Macmillan Education.Published 28
Nov 2011.Date: 14/2/2015

7. much stricter supervision over immigration. As it was impossible to oversee the treatment of the
immigrants in other territories it was decided in 1876 to stop the transportation of Indians into all
non British colonies except Surinam, Guadeloupe and Martinique. In 1886 Guadeloupe and
Martinique were also banned, and only Surinam continued importing Indians until 1917.
Even though this scheme appears to have been successful, Greenwood noted that in many
ways it did not live up to expectations as it had many failings from a moral point of view. The
indentured servant system in general deprived human beings of freedom for long periods of their
lives as they were sometimes restricted to the states and there was great mortality and suffering
among the immigrants. 5
The Chinese immigration enabled the Chinese to make a contribution to the Caribbean
society. Lee shared the fact that the Chinese were noted for their acumen business and for the
caring and nurturing of their children placing great emphasis on education and family life. To
date, these characteristics have positively impacted the Jamaican society. The Chinese have
added another dimension to the plurality of the cultural heritage of the entire Caribbean. Chen
extended Lee’s point by stating that in 1880, many of those who had remained in Jamaica started
retail businesses trading in grocery items with a few shops set up in Kingston.6 Chinese host
special celebration in the Caribbean that people from almost all ethnic group participate in. For
example during Christmas Caribbean people can always look forward to performances of the
Dragon Dance in the floats in the city (see figure 3).7
5 Robert Greenwood, S. Hamber, Brian Dyde. BK 2 Emancipation to Emigration, Macmillan Education.Published 28
Nov 2011.Date: 14/2/2015
6 Chen, Julie. The Chinese in Jamaica.The Daily Gleaner 29 June, .:p15. Date: 14/11/2015
7 Lee, Easton. Jamaican culture:the Chinese connection. The Observer 31 May 1997 Date: 14/11/2015

8. Even though Greenwood deemed the Indian immigration scheme a failure she went on to
say that many people of Indian descent in the West Indies today, would not look back on the
scheme as a failure. They now form half the population of Guyana and well over one-third of the
population of Trinidad.8 Indian immigration introduced new cultures and religions into the. A
minority of Indians became fairly wealthy through business. Others joined the peasantry and
introduced crops such as rice, cocoa and coffee because of their knowledge of agriculture
brought with them from India (see figure 2). Some set up villages and grew rice and sugarcane.
Indian immigration introduced new cultures and religions into the British West Indies. During
the late 19th Century, the immigrants consisted of 86% Hindu and 14% Muslim.
In conclusion, the immigration system can be argued to be a failure from a moral point of
view as previously stated by greenwood. This is so as the system was cheated by agents which
resulted in plantation conflict with workers. However the immigrants later made immense
contribution to the Caribbean society. These immigrants have allowed for a diversified
Caribbean society with many cultures prospering without strife. In addition they also aid in the
economy as communication links are made with their presence and this allows for a prosperous
Caribbean community.
8 Robert Greenwood, S. Hamber, Brian Dyde. BK 2 Emancipation to Emigration, Macmillan Education.Published 28
Nov 2011.Date: 14/2/2015

9. APPENDIX
Figure 1: A Chinese Family Figure 2: Chinese planting rice in Jamaica
Figure 3: Chinese celebration in the Caribbean Figure 4: Chinese immigrants aboard a ship
to the Caribbean
Figure 5 :Chinese practicing their religion in
the caribbean
Figure 5 :Indian Businesses in the caribbean

10. Immigration form given to immigrants upon approach and agreement

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Lee, Easton. Jamaicanculture:the Chinese connection.The Observer31May 1997
 RobertGreenwood,S.Hamber,BrianDyde. BK2 EmancipationtoEmigration, Macmillan
Education.Published28Nov2011. Date: 14/2/2015
 Parbattie Ramsarran The IndenturedcontractanditsImpact onLabor Relationshipand
CommunityReconstructioninBritishGuiana Published:December2008, Vol.1, No.2
 http://countrystudies.us/caribbean-islands/9.htm,Feb1,2001 . Date:14/2/2015
 Chen, Julie. The Chinese in Jamaica. The Daily Gleaner 29 June, .:p15
 Lee, Easton. Jamaican culture: the Chinese connection. The Observer 31 May 1997
 https://www.google.com.jm/search?q=indians+planting+rice+in+jamaica&espv=2&biw=
1280&bih=880&tbm=isch&imgil=ejm-