The Demography of Labor

        The sugar cane industry in Barbados took off in 1645 when the planters discovered it could be used for more than feeding livestock. They realized that it could be a “truly profitable staple” (Beckles, 21). The main source of labor used to maintain the sugar cane in the beginning was indentured servants but that changed to enslaved Africans near the end of the seventeenth century. The white European indentured servants were the preferred laborers because they were Christian and deemed morally superior. The amount of work done by the indentured servants was equal to that of enslaved Africans. The Scottish laborers were preferred over all other white Europeans and the Catholic Irish were seen as a last resort. These indentured servants were preferred because of a cost benefit analysis comparing them with enslaved Africans. England was seen as overcrowded and this was seen as the basis for the decline of social order. Therefore, the surplus of servants and laborers were encouraged to immigrate to the English colonies in the Caribbean; specifically Barbados before Jamaica became prominent. This allowed for the price of indentured servants to remain relatively low because of the subsidies offered by the English government. The price was dependent upon the sex, skills, and nationality of the servant but it was relatively uniform for men and women if two of the three traits were the same. The demand for the white servants was so great that the price was driven up. The government intervened and limited the price the intermediaries could charge. Unfortunately, England was soon deemed under populated and laws were enacted to prevent the immigration of servants to the Caribbean. Merchants were soon charged with kidnapping and coercion for enticing servants to immigrate to the Caribbean. The indentured servants were not treated as badly as the enslaved Africans. There was a time limit on their servitude which made it easier to mentally and physically survive their contract. The plantations owners treated them better because they were white Christian laborers. The enslaved Africans did not have it as easy.

Ashford Plantation, Barbados, 1830s-1840s

The white planter class believed that the Africans were more suited to working in the tropical climate than white, Christian laborers. Another reason that the planters preferred African workers is that they could never find an adequate supply of white European laborers. Once laws were enacted to prevent the immigration of indentured servants to the Caribbean, the African slaves became cheaper which drove up the profit the planters could potentially reap. The enslaved Africans were bought from rival chiefs who had captured or kidnapped them from the continent. At the end of the seventeenth century, the slave trade had been streamlined. The slave traders were more efficient, and arrived more regularly at the Caribbean ports. This allowed for a cheaper market for the planters to buy the enslaved Africans. The planters would then get the same amount of work that they did from the indentured servants for less expense. Another perk from using enslaved Africans is that there was no time limit on their servitude. This meant that the plantation owners’ labor costs were significantly lower. The plantation owners had racial prejudices that meant that they did not hold themselves responsible for treating the enslaved Africans very well. The planters were supported in their efforts at keeping the slaves subdued by militia regiments, imperial troops and navy (Beckles, 33). Special legal codes were also used to restrict slave movement and social behavior. The slaves were restricted from owning land which prevented their upward mobility. The enslaved Africans were treated as less than human and underwent inhuman punishments.

     The labor used to work the sugar cane fields were indentured servants and slaves who were bought and traded like commodities. There was a certain amount of kidnapping and coercion used on the indentured servants near the end of the seventeenth century due to the laws preventing their immigration to the Caribbean. The enslaved Africans were to a certain extent kidnapped from Africa or bought from the rival chiefs who captured them. However they got there, the treatment they underwent was radically different. The indentured servants got treated better because they were white Christians. The enslaved Africans were treated brutally because they were seen as heathens. Voluntary labor did not really play a part in the sugar cane industry in Barbados. 

Bibliography

Hilary Beckles, A History of Barbados: From Amerindian Settlement to Nation-State (New York: Cambridge, 1990), 20-33.

“Ashford Plantation” via The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas.http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/details.php?categorynum=8&categoryName=Plantation%20Scenes,%20Slave%20Settlements%20and%20Houses&theRecord=42&recordCount=83