Immigrant Labour Schemes

Where Did The Immigrants Come From? Reasons for Immigration. How Were They Transported?/Traveling
Conditions
❖ The Free Africans- ❖ Pull factors-
➔ Immigrants were put in cramped quarters on the ships.
➔ Sierra Leone ➔ The promise of higher wages and steady work in the
➔ Meals were served twice a day.
➔ Kru Coast Caribbean.
➔ Emigrants were allowed to bathe each day.
➔ Gambia ➔ Land was offered at the end of contracts.
➔ Music and singing were allowed.
➔ Liberia ➔ The contracts offered: return passage, free medical
➔ They were not confined to any part of the ship, but male
treatment, housing, and free rations.
and female quarters were kept separate in order to
➔ Contracts were renewable.
maintain discipline.
❖ Push factors- ➔ The journey lasted approximately 3 to 3&½ months,
➔ Job loss depending on whether it was a sailing or steam ship.
➔ People were losing land because there was insufficient Steam ships were faster.
economic support for those dependent on land.
➔ Increase in food prices because of famines.

❖ The Europeans- Where Did The Immigrants Go After

➔ Ireland Immigrating?
➔ Scotland
➔ Germany ❖ The Free Africans-
➔ Madeira ➔ Martinique
➔ Wales ➔ Guadeloupe
➔ Grenada
➔ British Guinea
➔ Trinidad
➔ Jamaica
❖ The Europeans-
➔ Trinidad
➔ Jamaica
➔ British Guinea
➔ Martinique
➔ Suriname
How Were They Recruited For Labour?
❖ Free Africans-
➔ Rescued by British warships.
➔ Emigration became government supervised in
order to prevent abuses.
➔ Recruiting agents tried to induce them with offers
of high wages and free return passages.
➔ They were freed upon entering colonies.
➔ Private ships were chartered to carry the
emigrants from Africa.
❖ Europeans-
➔ Planters looked to Madeira for workers.
➔ An English merchant, Mr. Seale arranged for 120
sugar cane workers to go to Trinidad.
➔ Madeirans were also transported to Martinique
and Suriname.
➔ Jamaica appointed an agent to recruit settlers.
How Did Their Labour IMpact The Caribbean?
➔ The availability of large numbers of cheap labour posed
some problems.
➔ Immigration permitted the extension of cultivation.
➔ Immigration halted the headlong economic decline of the
sugar industry and contributed to an increase in sugar
production in Trinidad and British Guinea.
➔ Immigration prevented many planters from going
bankrupt and losing estates.
➔ Trinidad and British Guinea became financially
prosperous.
➔ Employment opportunities for resident creoles rose during
crop time.
➔ It was largely responsible for an increase in the production
and consumption of rice.
➔ It led to changes in land tenure.
➔ It contributed to the expansion of small-scale agriculture
and increase in the number of retailers of agricultural
produce.
➔ Immigration also created difficulties for resident creoles,
for example, (a)unemployment/underemployment,
(b)limited bargaining opportunities, (c)tax issues.