19th-century immigration – Part II
OBJECTIVES
1. Assess migration schemes to the Caribbean, beginning in the post-emancipation period: Chinese, Indians.
2. Assess the impact of immigration on Caribbean societies.
Key words: Indians, Chinese, immigration, Mauritius.
THE CHINESE
The first Chinese immigrants arrived in Trinidad in 1806 from Malaya. They were to be indentured for five years, with a promise of small plots of land afterwards. Most Chinese immigrants came during the period 1859-1886 and went to British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad. They came mostly from the Portuguese colony of Macao and from Canton. Others came as well because of the Teiping Rebellion (1851-1864).
There were several problems with this migration scheme. Planters complained that the Chinese did not make good estate workers and few re-indentured themselves. They preferred to return to China or open retail shops. In addition, this scheme was more expensive than the Indian migration scheme. The Chinese government also insisted that a full return passage be granted after a five-year indenture contract. The planters were willing to pay this only after two five-year contracts. The Chinese government also opposed immigration because they were ill-treated in Cuba. Most Chinese avoided the West Indies, preferring to go to the United States or to find work nearer home in Java or the Philippines. Lastly, race relations between Blacks and Chinese were quite poor.
THE INDIANS
The first Indians arrived in 1838 on Gladstone’s Estate in British Guiana. However, the British government stopped the scheme because of evidence of ill-treatment and the high death rate among the immigrants in Mauritius.
However, due to pressure from the planters, the British reopened the Indian immigration scheme in 1844. It was not difficult to find willing immigrants. Many craftsmen had lost their jobs due to competition from the mechanised factories and mills of England. Issues of overpopulation, land shortage, low wages and famine led to many Indians deciding to participate in the Caribbean schemes.
The Caribbean seemed attractive with high wages, shelter, medical care and a chance to find new occupations beside agriculture. Indians were easily recruited as India was a British colony. British ships and trading costs were already there, and the British government could easily provide British officials to supervise the scheme. Planters were satisfied with the
Indians because they were hard-working, accustomed to tropical agriculture, and re-indentured themselves.
IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION SCHEMES ECONOMIC EFFECT
British Caribbean planters had turned to immigration as a tool of reviving the sugar industry. The hope was that with the steady supply of labour, planters could focus on increasing their output. Immigration, however, did not have its desired impact, especially in a colony like Jamaica. In territories such as Trinidad and British Guiana, we cannot assume that immigration saved their sugar industry. For instance, they introduced mechanisation and placed more lands under sugar cane cultivation. These other factors could have readily accounted as factors that saved their sugar industries. Barbados could be used as another example. Up to 1848, they had seen an increase in their output by 250 per cent.
However, by the end of the 19th century, this had declined. We cannot assume that this was because Barbados was not using immigrant labour that its output declined. During the period, Barbados was plagued by problems such as soil exhaustion and inadequate mechanisation.
The overall conclusion must be that immigration did not cause increased sugar production in the British Caribbean, as many other factors could have been responsible.
OTHER ECONOMIC EFFECTS
1. As a result of Indian immigration, the rice industry was developed in British Guiana and the cocoa industry in Trinidad.
2. They also helped to make central factories profitable by cultivating cane on small farms, then selling it to the central factory.
SOCIAL EFFECTS
Indians were felt to be inferior and they could only find work in poorly paid jobs. They could not settle in the towns, but they lived in the countryside and formed an active peasant class. The employment of Indians mainly as field workers led to the employment of Blacks in better jobs, for example, the police force. Second, the ex-slaves despised the Indians and refused to work alongside them in the fields. They were described as ‘heathens’ because of their speech and clothing. Indians also despised the Blacks because of their alleged low moral standards. Third, immigration led to the expansion of social services, for example, medical facilities and a large police force.
Next week’s topic: Alternate agricultural enterprises