Sah Fehe The maior ‘able foced by suger Brigg’ plonters during Wort | the first few yeors ofter tain. SPenelPation cult fy a par oplied sand nthe Adjustments to Emancipation M3 British Caribbean Sugar Industry, 1838-1876 ‘The following were some of the problems faced by sugar planters during the first few years after emancipation. @) (ii) @w) w) In all seasons, the shortage/irregularity of estate labour was a chronic problem for planters in the larger territo ries. The busiest time for those ex slaves who cultivated provision grounds coincided with crop time on the estates. This forced the ex slaves to choose between their own and their employers’ crops, and, quite natu rally, they chose their own. Planters Jacked capital and cash with which to pay wages and invest in labour saving technology. Under slavery, currencies in the territories (particularly of smaller denominations), were in short supply. as much trading was conducted on a barter basis, or their European trading partners paid planters in credit or sup plies, Almostall the European countries with possessions in the West Indies and the independent mainland states, had coins which circulated in the islands, but supplies were never sufficient. The coins included United States dollars, doubloons, reals, escudos and guilders. There was the high cost of production, particularly in. _territories where there 1s i ile Jand_that could allow the ex slaves to-exist independently of the “estates, Wages were generally higher in these territories. Negligence on the part of the ex slaves was costly co the planters. The abuse of equipment, destruction of carts and the brutalisation of draft animals increased after emancipation. Fires caused by negligence were common and inadequate weeding and sloppy work in the boiling houses reduced the quality of the sugar. Natural disasters, for example drought, wreaked havoc on the estates. During the first eight years of treedom, Jamaica suffered five years of prolonged and paralysing Scanned with CamScanner4 Lenton Foret ugar DutiesAct (vi) (vii) (viii) (x) a “AS drought. Herds of cattle were devastated by the reducing the quantity and value of their Tang, Eff Streams disappeared, and wells ran dry in Charen. 2 preventing the manufacture of sugar. - Public roads and bridges were full of ru deplorable state. The cost of transportin, Sugar over these roads was very hii battered, and thieves occasionally inte stealing sugar and rum, Technology continued to be backward in most territg. ies. In the Windward Islands, in 1854, water mil Predominated. Barbados and Antigua retained their Windmills, as most planters who possessed propery, functioning wind or water mills could not justify a change to steam power under the difficult economic citcumstances of the period. New machinery such a¢ the plough, vacuum pan, centrifugal dryer, and the steam mill were generally absent in the smaller territo—_ ries because most planters lacked the lange amounts of capital that were needed to provide these. In addition. many of the estates were not lange enough to make eco. nomical use of the new machinery. The labour-inten- sive methods of the pre persisted. iLexhaustion contributed to low vield in some tertic. tories. tS and in, 8 hogshead og igh: carts Teepted wagon emancipation days, therefore, There was competition trom Mauritian and Indian sugar, resulting from low rates of duty that were extended to these countries in 18 and 1836 respectively: In 1846, the British parliament Passed the it Duties: Equalization Act, (hereatter referred to as the Sugar Duties Act) establishing a schedule by which the preter- ential duties for colonial muscovado would be gradually removed by 1851. In response to the requests of British ‘West Indians, the Act did not take effect until 185 Act increased the planters’ problems. This Scanned with CamScannerEffects of the (@) @ ‘oct on sugar producers ) Adjustments to Emancipation WS Itresulted in the fall in sugar_prices on the London market and, consequently, the collapse of many plan- _tations that were unable to compete with sugar from _cheaper_sources such as Cuba and Brazil which could easily sell their sugar for two shillings (2/-) per hundredweight below the London price. _ Acaffected planters’ ability to pay wages. They were, _therefore, forced to reduce wages, Some ex-slaves resisted all attempts to reduce wage levels, denoune- ing such measures as a deceitfial means of subjecting them to bondage. In Jamaica, a rumour spread throughout the istand that buckra’ was going to turn the island over to Cuba, or to the United States to re-enslave them permanently. White and coloured colonists feared that the workers would stage a rebel~ lion, so the governor increased his police force, as well as the garrison and asked for a steamship of war to be sent to the island. However, the workers did not rebel, but many of them deserted the estates. In British Guiana, in 1848, ex-slaves refused to tolerate the cuts in their wages, and so many of them took strike action. They refused to work, remaining idle for up to three months, Destructive fires occurred throughout the colony as arsonists destroyed megasse buildings and residences. So many labourers departed the estates that, in 1849, the rivers and creeks of the colony were lined with the huts of freed men for fifty or sixty miles, a condition which Governor Henry Barkly described as ‘internal haem- orthage? The Act . forty-eight (48) West Indian mx chant houses and thirteen (13) firms ¢ cl the British West Indies to become bankrupt between 1847 and 1848, Caribbean planters were unable to recover expenses drawn on bankrupt British compa- nies for sugar already shipped. Scanned with CamScannerB Lest Vou Foyer most stable merebant firs ep credit to British West India ved of their regular source oy and short tetm (qd) Iemade even the to extend further ‘ planters, who, depri faulted on wage payments capital, def anks. obligations to local b ready indebted to British merchany n more indebted, as those whose failed to pay their debs nn their sugar estates and (c) Many planters, houses, became ever properties were mortgaged “This forced some to abando: 5, By the mid 19th century, about five the West Indies. hundred (500) estates had been sold or abandoned in Jamaica, The Encumbered Estates Act of 1854 shifted many of these properties into the hands of these British merchant houses. (9 The Act caused estate values to collapse. Plantations changed hands for twenty per cent (20) of the value that their buildings and machinery would have b brought in more prosperous times. Bog Estate in Jamaica, valued at 80,000 pounds during slavery, was sold for less than 500 pounds in 1849. Similarly, Windsor Forest in British Guiana, valued at 85,000 pounds during slavery, was sold for less than 2,000 pounds in 1849. her effects (g) The Act reduced the inflow of revenue, as taxes could not be collected! in fall because colonists had little or no money with which to pay them. In 1847, several vessels were anchored in Port of Spain, unable to sail or to unload their cargo because the mer- chants were unable to pay customs duties. (h) Asa result, the government of Trinidad failed to pay the salaries of public employees during the final : quarter of 1847 and salaries were only partially paid in Barbados. : ! (i) The Act caused great anguish for resident propri- etors, Thomas McCormock, a popular resident of forty years in Jamaica and a most intelligent and Scanned with CamScannerresponsi- for the inthe industry 1838-1876 Adjustments to Limanctpation 7 distinguished proprietor, manager of Golden Grove, owner of Stanton Estate and Custos of St. Thomas in the East, cut his throat in December 1848. This took place after a period of severe mental depression and immediately following the destruction of his megasse house at Stanton by the work of an arsonist. (i) It drove British West Indian planters to implore the British Gos well as the duty on rum and (ii) abolish the Navigation Acts which forced them to use British ships to transport their products. Planters believed that they could reduce their freight charges and secure staves (wooden strips for making barrels) and provisions at cheaper rates by using American ves- nment to (i) remove the restrictions, as sels. In response, the tax on rum was lowered and the Navigation Acts were removed on January 1, 1850. (k)_ It. motivated the members of the local government to demand, unsuccessfully, drastic reduction in gov- ernment spending and salaries. In 1849 and 1853, the Jamaican assembly refused to vote any taxes, and the governor was so short of money, that he was forced to pardon one hundred (100) prisoners for whom no food was available. () The Sugar Duties raged the large-scale importation of indentured labour, and the introdu tion of labour-saving devices to help to solve the labour problem and to increase sugar production. The problems that confronted the planters during the early years of emancipation all had a bearing on the state of the sugar Benween 1835 and 1865, sugar production fell by half This indus in the Windward Islands and by sixty per cent in Jamaic was because of the following reasons: @ ge and/or the unreliability of workers; partly “the result of emancipation. This affected the ability of Scanned with CamScannerLest You Forget «to increase, OF maintain iy planters in several colonies ‘ production. pre-emancipation level of (ii) The lack of money to. pay WaBe® made it difficul: ty attract workers. (ii) Tn Jamaica, the availabilit cultivate attracted them in ofvacant land for ex-slaves jg. preference to low estate, oo “y Go)" The sll farmers prefered 10 Took act is peviton grounds ands, since the busiest ime ip the provision red coincided with rop sme on the eats wa imposible for most planters in the colonies where cull viable Land was realy availble, co have a ready supply at workers during the periods when they needed it most () The lack of capital co invest in technological improye- ments hindered the productivity of the estates. “The lack of capital also limited planters’ ability to import large numbers of immigrant workers, and planters in Jamaica refused to consider sharecropping as (vi) a viable alternative, (vii) Natural disasters, for example drought in Jamaica, undermined production, Between 1838 and 1846, one crop in three was virtually destroyed in the parish of Vere. Twickenham Park, a large, partly irrigated planta tion in St. Catherine which combined sugar production with cattle ranching, made no crop in 1846 and ponds | chat supplied its stack deied up during a period of eight months when no rain fell. | (viii) The exhaustion of the soil, due to many years of culti- ‘vation, resulted in lower yields, — (ix) The passing of the 1846 Sugar Duties Act opened up the British market to sugar from all sources, at the same rate of import duties. The British West Indian colonies, therefore, lost their preferential treatment on that mar- ket and since their production cost was generally higher Scanned with CamScannerEffects of crise apt there ay eran &) (xi) (aii) (xisy (xv) (x4) The faibure oA Adjustments to Emancipation BW 9 than that of producers such as Cuba, Mauritius, India and Brazil, they found ic difficult to compete. The price of sugar decreased on the British market, in. response to the inflow of sugar attracted by the reduced ant - Many plantations were abandoned. In northeastern Jamaica, of the forty-eight (48) estates operating in Portland and Sc. George in 1434, only seven (7) remained in 1254 and together they produced less than five hundred (300) hogsheads of sugar. The Sugar Duties Act led to a financial crisis in Britain and the colonies. Many former sources of credit for the planter: were now bankrupt, «0 planters no longer had zecess to credit to carry on their businesses. Some Jamaican planters took land out of sugar cultiva- tion completely, Parishes such as Portland and St. Mary crentaally stopped producing sugar. The decline in pro- duction which warted in the pre-emancipation days, continued, Production fell from 34,225 tons in 1EIA-1 434, ws 27 AT4 tons in 1444-1456, and to 25,168 tons in 1456-1466. Subsidised European beet suyar, wold cheaper than its cone of pretuction, posed 4 threat to the prenperity of Brivish West bs gat during the second half of the 19th century, as it found its way to the British market, ft aarket thereby shutting, off of Wen Indian cane sugar. alees satisfied British re-exp cornmnion, Mary owners were tot te reforms, of to preside leadership. ge of Jamnaics, (Marquis of Sligo), com- 486 that the Jarraica House of Asernbbly ieoone extively of attorneys and over nandeeds of plantations in the port-ernancipa- tion period afecued ex-alaeves in the following, ways @ fe Sed to the lowering of wages on plantations that Scanned with CamScanner10 BL Lest You Forget Planters’ efforts 0 maintain prof. Itoble production during the early years of emanci- pation During the carly postcmaneipation years, concerted effders were made by planters to make their estates profitable. The Ske lowing were some of the things that they aid w ww (ii) ww) W remained, thus reducing the ex-slaves ORY iy and isolating them from the European culture ¢ -alaves lost their jobs when the work force Man abandoned. reduced and plantations were Some ex-slaves left the estates fOr other enterprise a would provide them with a better income ‘The decline in taxable foreign trade made it Emposay for the government to obtain the revenue needed improve public cilities and social services that woggy Slaves. & benefit the As wage-abour opportunities shrank, many exding had little money, so they were unable 60 contrat gy mnissionary chapels and schools that relied upon thes contributions. Many of these buildings fll into pair. Some Jamaican missionaries lamented the decti chunel attendance and the rextuced interest in cde tion, Mhey «ried to prevent the ov enslaved fount leavings the estates atid establishing tise villages Mhey: tuted ta. (tin wages whieh accounted foe the SmsHtest portion of the gost of prtnctiony (This atgeMNpe war generally Met With Hlewe reastatee) hey amportod workers thom overseas 40 helpy Ay solve their labour problons i Mu Bartsatorsnut Antigua, more land wats tangle amater cane caltwation, as plant ouipply ot eh waticod thew sagan, thew richest soit SY AN these Catomies had an alog, " Sap labour In Jamiarea, planters Aereaes counting cattiwation. Miterest in seientitic agriculture spread ny y ly Choough- one the Caribbean in the o ‘ ‘tly Yeats of tivedomn ana Scanned with CamScannerAdjustinents to Kamanciyation 9 agricultural sucteties were established wo facibnate the exchange of information on all aspects of sugar produc: Hon and to encouraye the inpre mnent of apriculeural skills. A Royal Agricultural Society was estabhehed yn Jamaivs in the early 1840's, (vi) Intensive manuring was used to amprove ouput A hyde ly Wansported fertilizer, Guano, was inttoduced ane tially in Barbados, By the mid-1#50's, Barbaclian planters were purchasing an average of fifty thousand pounds (£50,000) worth of Guano a year; (probably close to 7,000 tons). (vii) In British Guiana, planters invested some of the com- pensation money in steam engines for the sugar sills: ‘These were also adopted in Trinidad & Tobago, Jamnaica and St. Kitts. By 1854, 108 of Jamaica’s 300 estates were using, steam mills. However, Barbados and Antigue retained their windmills because in Barbados, strong easterly winds over the island were most reliable during crop time. A severe shortage of fresh water prevented che introduction of steam power in Antigua. (viii) Improved techniques were used to gain the greatest pos- sible yield from the land under cultivation: for example on many estates in Jamaica, the distance between plants was lengthened from four and a half (4"/2) feet to six (6) feet. Because each plant was given more space, 2 larger number of healthy shoots could be obtained from fewer cane tops; canes received more sunlight; they grew rapidly and matured more quickly. The vacuum pan and the centrifugal dryer were adopted in British Guiana by the 1840's. In 1846, 2 uum pan was introduced at Retreat Estate Westmoreland, Jamaica, at a cost of three thousan’ pounds (£3,000). (This machine provided a quick and efficient means of separating molasses from sugar after boiling.) (0) Two railway lines were built, one in British Guiana and Scanned with CamScannerthe other in Jamaica to offer great savings om tr tion cost. The first one was opened in 1845 Kingston and Spanish Town in Jamaica. By 1852 (16) miles of track had been laid in British Guisn, Th Barbados legislature also helped to ease the transpony| tion burden of the planters by providing twelve thns sand five hundred pounds (£12,500) to repair colony's two hundred (200) miles of public roads. ABABAAR Differences During the period 1838-1846, there were some notable gi between sugar ferences between sugar production in Antigua and Britis Production in Guiana. The key ones are outlined below. Antigua and British Guiana, @) a. Antigua did not adopt the apprenticeship system, x 1838-1846 the island was small and densely populated with ver; little available, unused land, so most ex-save: returned to the estates. b. Unused land was readily available in British Guiana so many ex-slaves chose to settle away from the estates on land that they purchased, or occupied ille gally. This resulted in a shortage of workers on the estates. (i) a. Sugar production increased in Antigua during the period. Within ten years of emar labourers were producing nearly twice sugar as was produced during sl b. The sugar industry in British Guiana de about forty per cent (40%) during the period, mov- ing from 45,000 tons during the pre-entancisin} period, to 25,000 tons during the next decade. | (iii) Planters in British Guiana had to devise ways of mait- taining, viability in the industry, such as importing work” ers from overseas and introducing the use of labou™ saving, devices such ay the plough and the harrow: By the 18604, the important British sugar producing colo were Antigua, Barbados, British Guiana, St. Kitts and Trinidat Scanned with CamScannerAdjustments to Emanctyation Wh 13 ‘The combination of (a) land, (b) labour, (c) credit and (d) tech- nology helped them to increase their sugar production between 1838 and 1876. A. (i) Gi) (i) B. (i) Gi) c. @ British Guiana and Trinidad had large tracts of virgin land which were brought under cultivation. These possessed great natural fertility, which, in Trinidad, permitted cane crops to be produced from ratoons for ten to twenty years. St. Kitts also possessed very rich soil that contributed to the increase in production. In Barbados, thousands of acres formerly planted in provisions were converted to cane. Planters in Barbados reduced their commitment to foodstuff after emancipation and this relieved them of direct personal responsibility for the sustenance of their workers. A similar, though more limited expansion of cane acreage occurred in Antigua. Efficient, reliable labour was available at low cost in ‘Antigua, Barbados and St. Kitts. The large and disci- plined pool of wage labourers greatly offiet the cost of annual re-planting and permitted the planters to expand their cultivation, to preserve the quality of their product and maintain the profitability of their plantations. Planters in Trinidad and British Guiana imported foreign workers, especially East Indians. The steady supply of these workers enabled the sugar estates to expand production which rose from 20,000 tons in Trinidad in 1850 to 67,000 tons in 1879, and in British Guiana, production rose from 38,000 tons in 1851 to 92,000 tons in 1871. In 1848 and 1853, the British government offered the colonies loans. Trinidad and British Guiana accepted them and used them to finance immigra- tion schemes, while Barbados used its share to Scanned with CamScanner‘ou Forget improve its estates, thus helping t0 maintain ity yy, tively low-cost production. (i) Because the planters in Barbados remained relay debr-fiee, they were also able to attract investi, capital for plantation maintenance and developmen, D. (Superior technology was also a vital factor in ¢he increase of production. Planters in British Guian, used some of the compensation money to invest in steam engines. In addition, sophisticated boiling equipment such as the vacuum pan, the centrifuga dryer for separating molasses from sugar crystals steam engines for grinding and drainage were intro. duced in both Trinidad and British Guiana, (ii) The Colonial Sugar Company bought sugar proper. ties in British Guiana and Trinidad and amalgamated properties in each colony. It established the first cen- tral factory in the English speaking West Indies at St, Madeleine in Trinidad in 1872. Amalgamation and centralization contributed to greater efficiency and increased production. Central factories reduced the cost of production by about fifty per cent, (50%), (ii) British Gui bota and Barbados appointed government ts to advise planters on improved manufac turing technique: (iv) The use of fertiliser w: 1. High fertilization, combined with the increased acreage under cultiva s adopte tion, enabled planters in Barbados to more than double their sugar exports in the first three decades of emancipation, that is, production increased fom 19,000 tons in 1834, to 41,000 tons in 1865. ; EB, The planters in Barbados combined the two most : superior | important criteria of good business practic management and the maintenance of quality cont skill cultivation. Their estates were properly tended and el fice of weeds, The Antiguans had also established th selves as good f ‘They were praised for their perseverance 3 farmers and estate managers. Scanned with CamScanner