1.+Theme+5+Adjustment+to+Emancipation

=Theme 5- Adjustment to Emancipation 1838 to 1876=

In this section you will learn the following;

1. Economic and labour situation after Emancipation. 2. The main problems affecting the sugar industry in the Post Emancipation period up to 1876 and what measures were implemented to deal with these problems. 3. Development of the Peasantry (Peasant Farming) in the West Indies. 4. What factors promoted and hindered the emergence of free villages? 5. Immigration and its impact on the colonies. 6. How did peasants contribute to the Caribbean economy and society? 7.Why was Crown Colony government adopted in the English Caribbean in the 19th Century?

__Introduction__

Emancipation did not mean an easy lime for the Africans in the Caribbean. They could no longer be punished at will by their former masters, but they were still at the bottom of the social ladder. They could not vote and they had few or no rights to own property so they could not hold public office. Also they now had to find ways to get their own food, clothing, shelter and tools.

The en-slaved Africans were freed partly because sugar was no longer as profitable as it used to be. However, because sugar was no longer profitable the planters were not willing to pay high wages to their former slaves, while the latter wanted to work for a sum that they considered fair.

Sometimes compromises were reached but not always. This was determined by the availability of land- for instance in the large colonies such as Trinidad, British Guiana and Jamaica. The Africans could find land to grow their own crops whereas this was more difficult in islands such as Barbados and St Kitts. At the same time, the larger islands had bigger populations of Africans who needed to earn wages in order to buy necessities, so sometimes the demand for labour was sometimes greater than the supply for it.