The Peasantry: Economic Activities and Constitutions of the Freed People to Development of Society

One of the defining tenets of the peasantry, in the territories of the British Caribbean, was the ability of the people to control the land that they used and the time and labour they expened on that land. As a consequence of this requirement, the peasantry, in the Caribbean, began after 1838 with the freed people who moved off the estates and who established their own small holdings of an average size of about two acres. The reasons for the setting up of the peasantry are many but, at root, they all reflect the freed peoples desire to move off the plantation which had been their place of abuse and to seek out lives for themselves which they controlled. Additionally, by being skilled agriculturalists the move to an agriculturally based subsistence lifestyle was one that gave them comfort. The development of the peasantry in the British Caribbean, in terms of its growth and in terms of the ability of the freed people to engage in it, was, however, limited by the unavailability of land. Hence, the peasantry developed only in a few of the territories such as Jamaica, Trinidad, the Windwards and British Guiana. These places had available land which could have been utilized for peasant production by the freed people. From the outset, one notes that the growth of the peasantry was not in keeping with the aim of the plantation. This was because both activities competed for the labour of the freed people. In this context, therefore, one can understand that although the peasants did in fact often work on the plantations as part time wage earners, in general, however, their orientation was in opposition to the plantation. This occurred because they were always looking for more land to expand the peasantry and by so doing, making their labour less available to the estates. Thus, the two main inputs of the plantation, land and labour, were the two main inputs also required by the peasantry. With no surprise, therefore, we learn that the plantocracy often pursued policies to hamper the growth of the peasantry and keep its labour tied to the estates. These policies included strategies like raising the price of land holdings to make it too expensive for the peasants (peasants often paid 20 per acre of land which could be raised to as much as 200 per acre), as well as, to pursue strategies that would lead the peasants into a form of debt peonage. The effectiveness to these policies were, however, limited by the planters own indebtness and their own need to secure labour through the offering of incentives to the peasant labour force. The peasantry was a mixed one and the peasant pursued a number of economic activities which were not all tied to their own plots of cultivated land. To this end, they fished and carried on shop-keeping and huckstering, in addition to part time jobs on the estates. Their land use differed from that of the plantation and resulted in the setting up of small holdings and villages away from the plantation. Indeed, in British Guiana, for example, by 1852 peasant smallholdings were valued at over 1million and numbered about 11,000, while in Jamaica, the smallholdings, under 50 acres, had to grown to 50,000. Historians studying the development of the Caribbean peasantry have identified three stages in its growth. Firstly, a period of establishment which lasted from 1838 up until 1850-60, secondly, a period of consolidation which followed on and lasted until 1900 and, thirdly, a period of saturation which lasted from 1900 to the present. During these phases, the peasantry established

itself as a force for change in the Caribbean and also demonstrated that it too was a changing force. As such, the size of the smallholding increased over time (especially in order to remain as viable units), as the focus changed to cash crops and to the export market. One realizes, therefore, that the peasantry was always a dynamic force that experienced different phases in its development. An important developmental aspect of the peasantry was its move from an activity providing initial subsistence for the freed people to one geared towards the production and export of cash crops and products. To this end, we note that the peasants produced export crops and products such as arrowroot, cotton, sugar, bananas, citrus, logwood, rum, spices, coffee, cocoa, ginger and pimento. The peasantry also introduced new crops and diversified the monoculture of the sugar economies. By their activities, they, ultimately, led to a level of self sufficiency for the colonies that was never attained in the previous years under enslavement. Indeed, by removing the focus from the plantation, the peasantry directly stimulated the growth of an independent village life for the freed people with the associated services and amenities such as churches, schools and markets. Indeed, the development of the co-operatives in the Caribbean has been traced to this peasant development. Ultimately, the growth of the peasantry in the British Caribbean was one that succeeded not because of but largely in spite of the colonial authorities. Since, the peasants consisted largely of the freed people and they were competing with the estates, no real encouragement was given to them by the local governments. Agricultural innovation and assistance that could easily have been provided by the State were denied these peasants. Indeed, it was not until the later part of the 19th century with the agitation of the period and reports like those of the Royal West India Commission of 1897 (which pointed out that the peasantry was a source of both economic and political strength) were the peasants taken seriously. In spite of these realizations, however, little had actually been done in terms of official support, and the Caribbean peasantry has still continued to exist largely because of the resilience of its participants.

Growth of the peasantry: efforts of the freemen

(a) Apart from the missionary-supported free villages, many freemen bought their own land with money earned from overtime work during apprenticeship. They became subsistence farmers but sold some surplus crops in local markets and in some cases grew sugar cane. They eventually developed trading systems (higgling in Jamaica) and export crops: coffee, ginger and pimento in Jamaica; arrowroot in St. Vincent; cocoa and copra in Grenada. (b) The cooperative venture in Guiana was shortlived, but after its collapse cooperative members still sought land by squatting in the interior. (c) Squatting illegal occupation of Crown Lands in remote areas; common in large territories. (d) Metayage or sharecropping. Labourers produced the sugar and profits were shared between themselves and the plantation owner. This was done mainly in the French islands, St. Lucia and Tobago. In Barbados and other areas the freemen grew sugarcane

on plantation grounds or small plots nearby; the cane was milled on the estate; estateowner and growers shared profits. (e) The peasants encountered such difficulties as: (i) their lands were not officially surveyed. (ii) colonial governments imposed restrictions on the sale of Crown Lands (iii) the land itself was very often marginal, infertile and remote (iv) licences for the sale of export crops were required (v) opposition from the planters (vi) exploitation of land-buyers; they wereforced topay excessively high prices for inferior land.