Essay Topic

Essay Topic: How did the rise of African Caribbean Peasantry differ from the rise of the Indian Caribbean Peasantry? Peasantry or peasant farming can be defined as a system where crops were cultivated and animals were reared on a small scale without the aid of hired labour and for subsistence purposes.In the Caribbean, peasantry was a common practice among the ex-slaves and immigrants after they were freed and left to sustain themselves.Although both the Africans and Indians were able to establish themselves as peasants, the rise of African Peasantry and Indian Peasantry have some significant differences. African Caribbean Peasantry began during the post emancipation period in the nineteenth century.After emancipation, the ex-slaves recognized that their economic futures depended on their own efforts and began to purchase parcels of land and squat on others in order to grow crops that they had grown on slave plots. The peasantry grew out of this effort as the black population sought economic freedom from the sugar estates.The high wages received by freed Africans immediately after Emancipation also helped to stimulate the rapid growth of a Black peasantry in British Guiana and Trinidad. This enabled them to earn substantial sums which they saved up to purchase available lands in the colonies.The rapid growth of a Black peasantry in Trinidad and British Guiana was also stimulated by the weakened economic state of the sugar industry in the two colonies.Many planters found it difficult to cope with the loss of labour and many tried in different ways to hinder the Africans from purchasing land.There were problems with the acquisition of land due to high rents, lack of Crown Land and planters ' reluctance to sell land.Planters charged high rents on land and the peasants could not afford those.Planters used legislation, such as the Squatters Act and the Tendency Act, to make it difficult for peasants to acquire land.However,the Africans were assisted

Bibliography: Dr.Yvette Taylor- Kanarick,(2001).Caribbean History: Core Course For CSEC.Caribbean Educational Publishers. Robert Greenwood,Shirley Hamber & Brian Dyde.(2003).Emancipation to Immigration.Macmillian Publishers Limited.