Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• In the British Caribbean this came between 1834, when a law was
passed by the British Parliament to abolish slavery throughout the
empire, and 1838, when the apprenticeship system collapsed
prematurely.
APPRENTICESHIP
• The apprenticeship system was designed to ease the transition from slavery
to freedom by forcing the ex-slaves to remain on their plantations. Its main
purpose was to prevent the immediate large-scale abandonment of estates
by the workers.
Conditions:
Slaves legally obligated to work without compensation for their former maste
rs for up to forty‐five hours per week.
Compulsory labour depended on their status; former field slaves
(praedials) were to be apprenticed for six years while skilled
apprentices and domestics (non‐praedials) were to be fully free after four years.
The system of Apprenticeship was an additional form of
compensation.
Increasing debts
Amalgamation of estates
Similar estates were joined together to form larger ones. This
allowed for more efficient use of factory equipment and generally
better management of estates. It also meant that labour was more
readily available and estates could share marketing facilities.
West Indian planters attempted to establish newer markets
Some planters turned to the USA to export their sugar. As the USA is
relatively close to the West Indies, transport costs were lower and
prices were better than when supplying to Britain for example.
Technical advice
Departments of agriculture were established by some governments.
Outcome of these improvements to the sugar
industry