Guyanese Online

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West Indian and African Migration to British Guiana from 1834

With the passing of the Emancipation Act in 1833, the sugar planters in British Guiana (Guyana) anticipated a labour shortage even though the apprenticeship system would force the ex-slaves to continue to provide free labour. As a result they made plans to recruit labourers from the West Indies and elsewhere. (recruitment of Portuguese indentured labour was featured earlier in Guyanese Online HERE).

Because of the close proximity of the West Indian colonies, the planters felt it would be more economical to bring a paid labour force from those islands. Between 1835 and 1838, about 5,000 labourers were recruited from Barbados, St. Kitts, Antigua, Montserrat and Nevis. These islands either had no apprenticeship system or they had a fairly large free African population by 1834. The employment of West Indian full-time wage labour was carried out by the private sugar planters who competed sharply among themselves for the available migrants.     Continue reading →