THE ABOLITION ACT

When William Pitt died, the new

Prime Minister, Charles James Fox
was a keen supporter of abolition
and The Abolition Act was passed in
1807. It was passed by Charles
James Fox, the new Prime
Minister. 

The Act caused:

Ÿ The slave trade was to end in1808

Ÿ British warships were to hunt down

captains who ignored the law

Ÿ They stopped any ships belonging

to any nation who was at war with
England and freed their slave cargo.
Ÿ Several nations followed like the US
–
1808, Holland 1814, France – 1818
and Spain – 1820.

REGISTRATION SCHEME

Many abolitionists thought that after

the slave trade ended slavery would
disappear. They were wrong. Many
planters were breaking the law and
still buying slaves. 

To put an end to this they tried a

registration scheme in 1812 to have
all enslaved in Trinidad and Guyana
to have their names registered –
that is to enter them on a register
and it would be illegal to own an
unregistered African. However, this
failed as planters did not abide.
Planters still owned unregistered
enslaved Africans.  This was an
attempt to spot
 which enslaved had been illegally
shipped to new colonies. This too
would check on ill-treatment which
would cause deaths, accidents and
runaways. It failed:

Ÿ Some governors in Trinidad allowed

unregistered Africans. 

Ÿ In Trinidad the registrar was a

landowner and gave extra time to
import enslaved.

Ÿ It was still legal to bring an enslaved

from another island.

Ÿ  The island governors protested

saying it was interfering with their
rights to make local laws.

Ÿ Planters simply failed to take notice

AMELIORATION

Why Amelioration?

The failure of registration caused

abolitionist to push more to end the
trade.

New men entered parliament like

Thomas Buxton as William
Wiberforce had become old and
frail. Thomas Buxton had the
support of many anti-slavery
campaigners. In 1823 they formed
the London Society for the
Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of
Slavery, in which 220 branches
opened up throughout Britain.

Faced with such strong anti-slavery

movements the west India
committee had no choice but to try
to head of the attacks. They agreed
that they would put forward some
proposals to improve the conditions
 of the enslaved. One minister,
George Canning, promised that if
the ‘Amelioration Proposals’ were
passed in Parliament, he would ask
parliament to agree to emancipation
in the near future.

The Amelioration Proposals of 1823

Ÿ Female enslaved should not be

whipped

Ÿ Overseers and eslaved drivers

should not carry a whip on the fields

Ÿ The punishments/lashes given to

males should be recorded

Ÿ Punishments should be put off for at

least 24 hrs
Ÿ Enslaved should be taught religious
 instructions

Ÿ Enslaved should be allowed legal

marriages 

Ÿ Enslaved should have time off on

Saturday to go to the market so
they would be free to attend church
on Sunday

Ÿ Enslaved families should not be

broken up

Ÿ Enslaved should not be sold to

relieve debts

Ÿ Colonies should set up saving

schemes for slaves so they could
buy their freedom

Ÿ An enslved could testify in court

 against a free person once a
minister supplied him with a
character of reference.

The failure of Amelioration

Ÿ The governor of Demerara refused

to publish them right away for fear
of rioting.

Ÿ In Trinidad the planters asked for

them to be withdrawn.

Ÿ Other assemblies in other islands

greeted the proposals with an
outburst of anger.

Ÿ Dominican planters threatened to

gain independence from Britain.
Ÿ Jamaica threatened to join with the
U.S.

The end result was that few

assemblies passed them and only
the least important ones were
passed.

Although it failed Amelioration was

an important landmark in the
struggle for Emancipation. The
failure only made the campaign for
abolition only made stronger.
Clearly Amelioration was an attempt
to delay Emancipation.
THE REFORM ACT OF 1832

 After a long campaign and many

riots the Reform Act of 1832 was
passed by the British Parliament.
This was passed mainly because
many people in parliament wanted
an end to the Navigation Act which
gave the British colonies protected
markets in Britain. They wanted free
trade with other colonies (who were
not British) However, the Act only
changed a few things in the old
system. This was when the British
house of Commons was reformed.
It changed the following:
Ÿ The number of people in the
colonies
 who could vote increased

Ÿ Many of the members of parliament

who were now in the House of
Commons were against slavery

Ÿ The MP’s were only against slavery

because the colonies had protected
markets in Britain and they instead
wanted free trade so that they could
sell their goods abroad cheaply.
 THE EMANCIPATION ACT , 1834

Debates in parliament were finally

over and MP’s passed the
Emancipation Act. The Act outlined
the following:

Ÿ Slavery was to end at midnight first

August 1834.

Ÿ Planters were to be compensated

for their slaves.

Ÿ All children under six years were to

be freed immediately

Ÿ Everyone over the age of 6 had to

serve a period of
APPRENTICESHIP if the
assemblies saw it necessary. 
Ÿ The praedials or field workers were
to serve a period of 6 years and
non-praedials for 4 years

Ÿ Apprentices were to work for 40 ½

hrs a week without pay, but any
overtime had to be paid.

Ÿ Apprentices could not be sold

unless the estate was sold

Ÿ An apprentice could buy his

freedom for a price agreed between
the special magistrate and the
master.

THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM

The slaves had gotten emancipation
on August 1 1834 but as the day
drew to an end they realized that
only their young children under 6
years was to be completely free.
The praedials or fieldworkers were
to serve a period of Apprenticeship
for 6 years and the non-praedials
for four years. 

Only Antigua and Bermuda had

decided on immediate
emancipation.  

Antigua did not adopt the

apprenticeship system because the
planters believed that immediate
freedom would be cheaper than
having free labour for 40 ½ hrs per
week, while having to care for the
old, unfit and the children. This
turned out to be the wiser decision
as the workers were more willing to
work and the island
 increased its output of sugar during
the years of apprenticeship.

The Terms of Apprenticeship

Ÿ Praedials or field slaves were to

serve their former masters for 6
years.

Ÿ Non – praedials were to serve for 4

years

Ÿ Apprentices would work for 40 and

a half hrs a week without pay. Any
overtime work done they were paid
for

Ÿ Apprentices could not be sold

unless the estate was sold
Ÿ Special magistrates were sent from
 England to ensure that planters
were treating slaves fairly.

Ÿ An apprentice could buy his

freedom at a price agreed by the
masters.

Why Apprenticeship?

Ÿ The British implemented the system

because they feared the freed
people would immediately leave the
plantations and the sugar trade
would be ruined.

Ÿ Many planters in the heavily

populated areas believed because
there was more people and less
land the
 freedmen would have nowhere to
go and have no other choice but to
stay and work on the plantation.
They would gain more from the 40 
½  hrs a week each slave had to
work than they would lose by still
having to support the elderly, unfit
and the children.

Ÿ In the less populated colonies

where there was much unused land
available, the planters wanted to
avoid a mass movement away from
the plantations. They feared that the
freed men would occupy the lands
and plant provision grounds and
become independent.

Ÿ Many feared that the freed men

would move to join the Maroon
settlements like the Bush Negroes.
 THE WORK OF SPECIAL
MAGISTRATES

The colonial office wanted to ensure

that the apprenticeship system was
carried out fairly so they sent
special magistrates to the
Caribbean to ensure this.

They had to enforce the following:

Ÿ That vagrancy laws were abide by : 

Ÿ Apprentices could not leave the

plantation without a written
permission from master

Ÿ Laws made it difficult for

apprentices to buy their freedom
Ÿ That the high charges were paid  for
 licences to carry out trade as
carpenters, coopers, masons and
blacksmiths

Ÿ Heavy taxes were paid on small

retail shops and fishing boats

Ÿ High fees were paid for haggling

and the use of local markets

Ÿ A trading licence was needed for

every parish

THE DIFFICULTIES THE SPECIAL

 MAGISTRATES FACED

AND

THE DIFFICULTIES OF THE

APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM FOR
THE APPRENTICES

Ÿ That vagrancy laws were abide by : 

Ÿ Apprentices could not leave the

plantation without a written
permission from master

Ÿ Laws made it difficult for

apprentices to buy their freedom

Ÿ That the high charges were paid  for

licences to carry out trade as
carpenters, coopers, masons and
 blacksmiths

Ÿ Heavy taxes were paid on small

retail shops and fishing boats

Ÿ High fees were paid for haggling

and the use of local markets

Ÿ A trading licence was needed for

every parish

Ÿ The special magistrates appointed

by governors were usually planters
who were in support of the slave
system and also biased toward the
interest of the apprentices.

Ÿ There were too few magistrates to

handle all the grievances between
the masters and the apprentices
Ÿ The pay for the special magistrates
were too small 400 pounds a year
and planters offered them food and
lodgings as bribes which further
increased the chances of bias
judgment against the apprentices.

Ÿ Although the emancipation Act had

forbidden physical punishment on
the plantation, during
apprenticeship each colony had set
up workhouses where punishment
was to be carried out. Forms of
punishment included 

-tied to a bar hanging over the

treadmill.

-hard labour

-wearing chains and iron collars

-Barbados – females’ heads were
shaven
Ÿ Those who became independent
and resisted the master’s demands
for overtime work had their rations
cut or stopped – rum, sugar, saltfish

Ÿ Many apprentices were ‘fined in

time’ and had to do work over in the
time they would normally work for
wages.

Ÿ When they were finished with their

40 ½ hrs of unpaid labour they
sought to do other things to acquire
money, but the planters tried to
hinder their ability to save:

-many owners stopped importing

food for them

-planters cut down fruit trees

-forbade them to keep livestock

-owners rearranged the 40 ½ hrs

work and spread it across for 5 days
to give them little time on provision
grounds on Fridays to prepare for
Saturday market.

-masters found excuses to withdraw

licenses from them from selling in
the markets 

THE END OF APPRENTICESHIP

Some colonies did have honest

magistrates. Each month a report
was sent to the Colonial Office.
Members of the anti-slavery
movement built up a picture of the
sufferings of the apprenticeship
system.
- the workhouses were taken away

-flogging was prohibited

Many planters began to feel

apprenticeship was no longer
useful, especially since the non-
praedials were going to leave the
plantations in 1838.

ON AUGUST 1ST 1838

APPRENTICESHIP
ENDED.