A Post-Emancipation History of the West Indies

200 Pages·1982·26.507 MB·English

by  Isaac Dookhan

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