This document provides information about immigration to the British West Indies following emancipation in 1834. It discusses the main reasons immigrants were brought in, which was to provide labor for the sugar estates after emancipation. The document outlines the key groups who immigrated - Europeans, Madeirans, Africans, Chinese, and East Indians. It provides a chart showing the numbers of immigrants that went to different territories. It also examines the arrangements for immigration, including indentured labor contracts and the provisions of the 1854 Immigration Ordinance. Finally, it prompts analyzing similarities and differences between immigration and slavery.

1. Caribbean History
Adjustment to the Problems
of Emancipation
Immigration
A lesson prepared by C Humber for
students at CSEC level © 2015

2. Immigration – Why?
 The main reason for the introduction of the
immigrants to the British West Indian
colonies in particular - to provide an
alternate source of labour for the sugar
estates.

3. Nature of this topic
 Know who came.
 Know why they were willing to come, or in other words,
what factors encouraged or forced them to leave their
homes. What attracted them to the West Indies?
 Examine the arrangements for their coming, to include
terms of contract.
 Evaluate their contribution firstly to the sugar industry
and then their socio-cultural contribution to the
territories/region.
 Discuss the main problems, difficulties/hardships that
they faced.

4. SUMMARY CHART OF IMMIGRANT LABOUR BROUGHT TO THE WEST INDIES BETWEEN 1834 AND
1917
Territory Europeans Madeirans Africans Chinese East Indians
(1834-1841) (1835-1882) (1841-1862) (1852-1893) (1838-1917)
British Guiana 30,000 14,000 12,000 239,000
Jamaica 5,000 100 10,000 5,000 33,000
Trinidad 2,000 8,000 3,000 134,000
Grenada 800 1,500 3,000
St. Vincent 500 1,000 2,700
St. Lucia 500 500 4,000
St. Kitts 200 200 500 300
Antigua 2,000
Totals 5,200 36,100 33,500 20,000 416,000
(Source: Emancipation to Emigration; Greenwood & Hamber)

5. Use the chart/table below to help you
answer the questions that follow:
 1. List the five groups of people that came to the British Caribbean
as immigrants. On a map locate the areas from which they came.
 2. Identify the first group that came and the territory to which they
went.
 3. State which group of immigrants came before Emancipation.
Suggest one reason for this. Which territory did they go to?
 4. Use your map/atlas to help you list three territories that did not
import immigrants (according to the table)
 5. Identify the group with the largest number of immigrants. Record
the figure. Suggest two reasons for this.
 6. State the year in which immigration ended. Do you feel that it
should have ended before or do you feel that it ended too soon?
Give reasons for your answer.
 7. Identify the territory that imported the largest number of
immigrants. Record the figure and suggest three reasons for this.

6. PROVISIONS OF 1854
IMMIGRATION ORDINANCE
 Extended contract to five years
 Amended regulation re last two years of Indentureship.
 Imposed jail terms for infringement of any aspects of the
Immigration Law.
 Provided that time spent in jail be added on to indenture.
 Required that tickets of leave be issued to immigrants to be off the
estate during working hours.
 Compelled immigrants to work with certificates of indenture
residence (to prove that they had completed the required five years).
 Stated that repatriation could only be claimed after 10 years in the
colony except for those imported before January 1, 1854. These
could return after five years.
Source: Emancipation and Immigration: A Pan Caribbean Overview, by Verene
Shepherd

7. E Question Time
 Using the terms of the 1854 Ordinance as
a guide, examine the extent to which
immigration may be described as a new
form of slavery. Your response should
include at least any five similarities and
any two differences in the operations of
both systems.

8. SUGGESTED REFERENCES
 HONYCHURCH, Lennox, The Caribbean
People Book 3
 DOOKHAN Isaac, A Post Emancipation
History of the West Indies
 MANSINGH Laxmi & AJai, Home Away
From Home 150 Years of Indian
Presence in Jamaica (1845-1995)