Jadee St.

Hill-Pinder
Caribbean Studies
2007- Describe the contribution of peasant groups to
the development of Caribbean society in the period of
emancipation.
(20 marks)
The peasant groups have made a significant
contribution to the development of Caribbean society in
the period after emancipation. The peasantry may be
described as a class of people who owned small plots of land from
which they gained a livelihood They contributed in several
ways including diversification of export crops in the
period after slavery, establishment of free villages
which played a major role in post-emancipation
Caribbean society and the development of roads and
markets in the interiors of the larger islands.
One of the ways in which peasant groups contributed to
the development of Caribbean society is through the
diversification of the export crops. Sugar was king in
the period of slavery but after 1820s it experienced
increasing competition from extra-regional countries
including India, Brazil and USA. These countries had
vast amounts of land and resources. The introduction of

European beet sugar also gave the Caribbean

competition and this could also be grown more cheaply
and was more affordable. Exports of sugar were
decreasing drastically, harming the economies as sugar
prices plummeted and, therefore forcing planters to
abandon their plantations. The establishment of free
villages by the peasants allowed several varieties of
crops to be produced including arrowroot, cotton, citrus,
bananas and logwood. The establishment of the
peasantry reduced the need for imported food as they
grew food crops for the local market and for their families. This
enabled the movement from the monoculture of the
planters to multi-crop farming. These crops were soon
adopted by the planters and were very important in the
export trade in the 1850s. The value of export crops in
1850 was estimated to be 1 089 300 of which the
peasantry contributed 10%. By 1890, they contributed
29% of the exports.
The peasantry also developed the interior especially
the mountainous interior. Roads and markets were
established in areas where planters had avoided,
expanding the populated areas. A system of direct and
middlemen trading developed in places like Jamaica,
where not all the peasants who produced came to
market. For example, farmers who lived in the

mountainous regions traded with those on the coast

who brought such produce to the towns.
The peasants also attempted to build local selfgenerating communities. The ex-slaves often pooled
resources to create drainage systems and to buy lands,
which could often only be brought in cash. They tried to
extend the educational facilities, improve the
communications and start local co-operative movement
as saving societies were sent up for example the
Peoples Co-operative Loan Bank of Jamaica. Villages
and markets were established while schools and
churches were built. Education played an important role
in the upward movement of many free citizens. Many
young men and women attended the schools that
sprang up around the island. Some went on to become
teachers and educate the next generation. Others
became ministers and preached in the local
churches. This was a step up from the labour their
parents performed. Some were able to obtain jobs
tending to business matters on the island. Without the
establishment of the peasantry this would not have
occurred.
The villages, although largely independent, provided a
potential labour pool that could be attracted to the

plantations. Many peasants would work their lands and

work in the plantations, providing viable labour. The
growth of these free villages immediately after the
emancipation of the slaves was astonishing. In Jamaica,
black freeholders increased from 2,014 in 1838 to more
than 7,800 in 1840 and more than 50,000 in 1859. In
Barbados, where land was scarcer and prices higher,
freeholders of less than 2 hectares each increased from
1,110 in 1844 to 3,537 in 1859. In St. Vincent, about
8,209 persons built their own homes and bought and
brought under cultivation over 5,000 hectares between
1838 and 1857. In Antigua, 67 free villages with 5,187
houses and 15,644 inhabitants were established
between 1833 and 1858.
In short, the peasant groups contributed significantly to
the development of Caribbean society in the period
after emancipation as they provided through the
establishment of schools social mobility, diversification
of export crops in the period after slavery,
establishment of free villages and the development of
the interiors infrastructure.