Immigration & Indentureship
HIST147 West Indian History
Terence Joseph October 2021
Immigration & Indentureship
Definition
• Immigration refers to the
migration of individuals into a
particular destination/host
country
• Indentured labour refers to
individuals who agree to a term
of labour based on a written
contract. The contract usually
included the period of the
contract, responsibilities of
employee and employers.
Countries of Origin
• In the post emancipation period estate owners invested in a variety of indentured
labour schemes
• Labourers were contracted from a variety of countries:
• Africa: Liberated Africans (persons who had been intended to be enslaved but
were freed by British navy).
• Europe: Mostly Portuguese from Madeira and the Azores, a few Britons,
Germans, Maltese and French.
• Asia: Chinese and Indians
• North America: Persons of African descent from Canada and the United States.
Some had fought in the American War of Independence
Reasons for Importing Labour
• Planters lost their cheap, reliable, controllable and unfree labour force.
• They wanted indentured immigrants for similar reasons
• Indentured workers could help create competition among the labouring class
which would then drive down wages.
• Indentured labour could stunt the growth of the peasantry forcing them to
return to work on estates. Planters did not want the former enslaved to form
into a peasantry because it would lead to their economic and political
empowerment, which would reduce the power of the white plantocracy.
Reasons for Importing Labour
• Planters wanted European/white indentured immigrants
• To augment the very small white class to create a buffer class between
planter class and the newly freed Africans.
• Immigrant labour could help expand the sugar industry especially in those
territories where the industry had remained underdeveloped such as in
colonial Trinidad and Guyana.
Opposition to Indentured Labour
• Opposition to indentured labour schemes came from the British parliament
and some people in the Caribbean
• They presented moral and economic grounds for opposing indentured
immigrants
• The British Government felt that the importation of indentured labour could be
interpreted as the failure of the Great Experiment (another term used to
describe emancipation)
• The British Government was reluctant to approve any labour scheme which in
any way resembled enslavement and discourage other nations from
abolishing slavery.
Opposition to Indentured Labour
• In spite of this opposition the metropolitan governments acceded to the
demands of the planters
• The main reason for doing so was that the governments wished to appease
planters who had already been denied their enslaved labour
Portuguese Immigrants
Territory Years Number
• Portuguese immigrants arrived in Trinidad Br Guiana 1835-1846 12, 000
and Jamaica in 1834 and 1835
respectively. They came from the Azores. St. Vincent 1845-1848 2, 000
Antigua 1846-1870 2, 500
• Others would follow from Madeira another Trinidad 1846-1847 1, 298
Portuguese Atlantic island. They went to Jo-Anne S. Ferreira ,”Madeiran Portuguese Migration to Guyana, St. Vincent, Antigua and
British Guiana, Antigua, Grenada, St Kitts- Trinidad:A Comparative Overview” Portuguese Studies Review 14 (2) (2006/7) 63-85
Nevis, St Vincent.
• From the onset the Portuguese migration
scheme was plagued with problems
including high mortality rate
• The Portuguese government suspended
the scheme in 1836.
• Madeira immigration recommenced in
1841.
• The scheme was irregular and it would be
suspended and recommenced over the
years
Chinese Immigrants
• Chinese indentured labourers were
introduced in the Caribbean as early
as 1806 in Trinidad (12th October
1806 on the ship Fortitude, 192
passengers arrived)
• Some were recruited for the estates
in Trinidad, Guyana and Jamaica in
the British colonial territories.
• The majority went to Cuba.
Territory Number
• The ports of embarkation from which Br Guiana 13, 533
Chinese sailed to the Caribbean
Trinidad 2, 645
were Amoy, Canton, Hong Kong,
Jamaica 1, 152
Swatow, Namoa and Whampoa.
Suriname 2, 502
Antigua 100
Cuba 150, 000
Chinese Immigrants
• Between 1847 and 1874 almost 150,000 Chinese emigrated to Cuba.
• They were often deceived and/or kidnapped etc. Many were not told the
exact nature of the labour they would be expected to perform.
• They were mostly employed on sugar estates, for 8 years but often forced to
serve more time in order to afford their passage home.
• They were mainly located on plantations in the sugar regions of Matanzas,
Cardenas, Flor de Cuba, San Martin , Santa Susana and Colon
Chinese Immigrants
• A major concern for both Chinese officials and Chinese male migrant was the disparity in the sex
ratio of those making the journey to the Caribbean
• There were taboos against women travelling; generally women were more likely to remain at
home to take care of family members.
• Chinese in the Caribbean were often dissatisfied with the conditions of labour.
• In Cuba they did not want to work alongside enslaved labour.
• Communication, poor sanitation, poor working conditions including poor wages were some of
the grievances they highlighted.
• Many remigrated to the United States where Chinese communities were already established
• Those who remained in Cuba often went into the retail business.
• Despite of their hardships the Chinese migrants are recognised as being integral to the
expansion and success of the Cuban sugar industry.
