Freedom at last?
On 1 August 1834, slavery ended officially in the British Caribbean. But the newly freed people of the West Indies greeted the news with a mixed response.
Some celebrated – in parts of Jamaica, people sat down for feasts, attended church and danced in the streets. But on other islands, there were riots. Although the British government had granted them their freedom, it came with a twist – they had to spend the next six years in enforced apprenticeships.
Find out what the end of slavery really meant for the people of the West Indies.
INTERACTIVE: Slavery vs Apprenticeship
Find out how life changed when enslaved people became apprentices in 1834. Click on the items below to reveal more about life during slavery and Apprenticeship.
Images: Getty, Topfoto and Bridgeman.
The fight continues
Apprenticeship abolished
Apprenticeship came to an early end in 1838, thanks to campaigning by abolitionists in Britain and the growing threat of resistance from apprentices angered by what they believed was an unfair system. To this day, in the West Indies, emancipation is officially celebrated from the end of apprenticeship in 1838, not from the end of slavery in 1834.
Morant Bay rebellion
Many of the black population of the Caribbean felt unjustly treated in the years following Apprenticeship. In Jamaica, those who continued to work on plantations were often paid irregularly and their wages were low. They felt unfairly treated by the island's judicial system and were deprived of free access to the land they had cultivated as slaves.
Many people even feared re-enslavement, 30 years after emancipation.
In 1865, a small group of protesters attacked the court house at Morant Bay in Jamaica. Armed forces brutally repressed the uprising, executing nearly 500 people and flogging another 600. News of the ruthless reprisals spread to England and the governor of Jamaica, Edward John Eyre, was dismissed. He returned to England disgraced and was expected to stand trial.
However, high profile members of the establishment, including Charles Dickens and John Ruskin, publicly supported Eyre. With their support he was spared a criminal trial and was instead forced into an early retirement.
But the impact of Morant Bay was keenly felt by the black population of Jamaica and other islands across the West Indies. Local parliaments were disbanded and many islands became Crown Colonies directly ruled by British governors.This made it even more difficult for black people to participate in local politics and gain representation. Race relations between white and black communities became worse and it would be many years before the black people of the West Indies felt able to protest against their circumstances.
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