Caribbean Studies

Topic: Movement Towards Independence

The socio, economic and political context of the Post Emancipated British Caribbean
Social conditions after slavery

Slavery ended but there was no true sense of freedom for the ex- slaves. Many of the ex- slaves struggled to
create a livelihood for themselves due to pervasive colonial oppression.
The society was highly stratified with very little opportunity for blacks to improve their social status.
Education on the other hand was only given to the privileged white, upper middle class whites and
coloured.
Blacks were given basic skills in education which could not improve their status in society.

Many Children attended school irregularly and for only a few years, as their parents could not afford
school fees and lunch money.
Many also lived and worked in squalid conditions which led to the spread of diseases thus leading to high
mortality rates.
Economic Difficulties
Economically, most blacks struggled to make a living from peasantry and huckstering due to colonial
oppression.
The economic difficulties in the BWI were caused by the decline of the sugar industry and the failure of
most of the alternative crops to provide satisfactory substitutes by 1925.
Later in the 1930s and 40s the Great Depression caused a Wall Street Crash 1929 which led to the
economic woes of the Caribbean.
Political Conditions After Slavery
Firstly, blacks had limited opportunity to vote and own property which contributed to much of the
hardships faced in the first half of the 19th century. For example, in order for blacks (men) to vote they had
to have 10 30 shillings in 1906; women were not given franchise in 1919 but only to those who were aged
25, literate and paying 2 pounds a year in land tax.

In places such as Trinidad, there was no elected element in the colonys government throughout the 19th
century.
Local legislature continued to be dominated by planters and other members of the employed class who pass
laws which favoured their own interests at the expense of black workers.
The money government needed for their expenses came mainly from import duties, but in many cases these
fell more heavily on the poor.
Laws were not properly enforced fairly to protect the masses from exploitation. For example, the law did
not set the level of wages and offered any protection to workers when employers decided to cut wages.
Samuel Smith an Antiguan recorded events where planters fatally whipped their workers without any fear
of legal consequences.
Clergymen of the Anglican Church were partisan to the government and decided which set of people should
get poor relief and whose child should get a scholarship.
Political Enfranchisement
This refers to the right of a people or nation to determine their own affairs.
Once emancipation was achieved it was only a matter of time before Caribbean people start to develop the
skills and expertise necessary to challenge the status quo; the first of which was the Morant Bay Rebellion
in 1865.
Caribbean people also migrated to different regions in the years to come to work for better wages. Some
went to work on the Panama Canal, the modern sugar industry in Cuba, Puerto Rico in textile factories, the
oil refineries of Curacao and Aruba and the oil fields of Venezuela.
Returning soldiers who had served in the world wars were unwilling to settle for their low status in society
and thus formed their own organizations to speak out against the injustices of the society.
Many were influenced by the philosophical ideas of Marcus Garvey black pride and consciousness.

By the 1930s people launched riots and strikes in order to bring about changes.

This time also saw the rise of charismatic leaders such Uriah Buzz Butler, Alexander Bustamante of
Jamaica, Arthur Cipriani of Trinidad Nathainel Crichlow of Guyana and Grantley Adams of Barbados.
Creation of political parties- JLP & PNP in Jamaica; Barbados Progressive Leagues; Peoples National
Movement led by Eric Williams all assisted in the move towards self governance and Nationalism.
The Moyne Commission had recommended that all colonies move towards Adult Suffrage that is, every
adult should have franchise.

Adult Suffrage came into being in Jamaica 1944 which stipulated that every man/ woman over 21 should
be given the right to vote. This gave them the opportunity to make laws to effect changes in the respective
colonies.

Adult Suffrage gained support from the Nationalist Movements such as Graveyism and Pan African
Movement; the intelligentsia, literary works of writers and the media in the decolonization process.

1 Ms. N. Lewis

Trade Unions were also formed to enable better working conditions and treatment of workers of which
were the Barbados Workers Union and Jamaican Industrial Trade Union.

Economic enfranchisement
This is a condition whereby a country or nation achieves the right to determine how it will develop its systems
of production.
The genesis of this enfranchisement can be found in the movement of the newly freed people to
establish themselves as new proprietors and which evolved into the formation of free villages and
peasantry.
Caribbean people in their quest for self governance also wanted the opportunity to control their
economy.
The plantation economy was diversified to include alternative crops such as banana, cocoa, coffee,
arrowroot which were cultivated by peasant farmers on small landholdings.

This strategy of economic diversification attempted to make small farmers self sufficient and resilient
to face the economic hardship. It kept them independent of the planter and the low wages offered on
the plantations.

It gave them the opportunity to organize themselves for the export market and develop some
sophistication in making trading connections with the wider world.

In spite of this yearning to become economically viable peasants were meted with oppression from the
ruling class who charged high rents for land or face eviction.

Planters refuse to sell lands to peasants in order to block their efforts to seek credit facilities; some
were sabotaged.
Efforts at economic diversification did assist the colony in establishing a more balanced economy and
provided the peasants with a sense of independence.
Sources

1.Ashdown, Peter and Francis Humphreys. ( 1988). Caribbean Revision History for CXC. Macmillan Publishers
2. Beckford, Evol. Caribbean Studies Course Outline and Notes.
3. Beckles, Hilary and Verene Shepherd. ( 2004). Liberties Lost: Caribbean Indigenous Societies and Slave systems.
Cambridge Univesity Press.
4. Greenwood, Robert and Shirley Hamber ( 2003). Amerindians to Africans. Macmillan Publishers.
5. Mohammad, Jeniffer. (2008). CAPE Caribbean Studies: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Macmillan Publishers.
Limited.
6. _____ ( 2011) Caribbean Examination Council CAPE Caribbean Studies: Self Study Guide. Nelson Thornes
Limited.
7. Shepherd, Verene. ( 2006) . Freedoms Won: Caribbean Emancipations, Ethnicities and Nationhood. Cambridge
University Press. Pg. 46.
Questions
1. Explain the socio- economic conditions of the society before independence.
2. Why were blacks given limited educational opportunities in the Caribbean ?
3. What is Adult Suffrage?
4. What was the significance of Adult Suffrage in the Caribbean during 20th century?
5. What role did Garveys philosophical ideologies play in the development of nationalists movements in the
Caribbean?
6. What is political enfranchisement?
7. How political enfranchisement did supported the movement towards economic independence in the
Caribbean?
8. What role did the church play in the process of independence in the Caribbean?

2 Ms. N. Lewis