Where did the indentured labourers settle?

Between 1834 and 1920, approximately 1,500,000 indentured labourers, of whom 85% were from India, were sent to British colonies, one third to Mauritius, one third to the British West Indies, and the rest to Natal.

What were the living conditions of the indentured labourers?

The conditions at work were harsh, with long working hours and low wages. Given the weak physical condition of the labourers after the long voyage, this took its toll.

Why were indentured labourers brought to Natal?

The majority of Indian South Africans are the descendants of indentured workers brought to Natal between 1860 and 1911 to develop the sugar industry in this province.

Who are the indentured labourers that came to the Caribbean?

Indentured labourers were brought into the Caribbean to provide a work force that would replace the African slaves. These labourers were Chinese, Africans again, Whites, Portuguese, Syrians, Lebanese and East Indians, in chronological order.

What were the main destinations of Indian indentured migrants?

The main destinations of Indian indentured migrants were the Ca’fribean islands mainly Trinidad, Guyana, Surinam, Mauritius and Fiji. Closer home, Tamil migrants went to Ceylon and Malaya. Indentured workers were also recruited for tea plantations in Assam.

How did the Labourers travel from the port of entry to the plantations?

On arrival, the labourers were given one suit of clothing, agricultural tools and cooking utensils. Divided into groups of 20 and 40 they were then sent first by mule cart and later by overcrowded freight trains to plantations in Portland, St. Thomas, St. Mary, Clarendon and Westmoreland.

What kind of jobs do you think they could do if they settled in Natal after working on the sugar fields?

The Indians were sent to work on the sugar cane fields, railways or to work as special servants, ayahs (Nannies) for the White children, waiters or cooks. The Indians lived in atrocious conditions , their wages were low and sometimes they were not paid. They had become slaves to the White man.

Where did Indian indentured servants go?

Indians were shipped to Mauritius, La Réunion, the Strait Settlements, Fiji, Natal, South Africa, British Guiana, Trinidad, Suriname, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Jamaica, Belize, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Kitts, and St.

Which ethnic group came to Jamaica first?

Jamaica’s first inhabitants, the Tainos (also called the Arawaks), were a peaceful people believed to be from South America. It was the Tainos who met Christopher Columbus when he arrived on Jamaica’s shores in 1494.

Where did the Irish go when they became indentured servants?

The Irish went to Barbados, Jamaica and the Leeward Islands. Irish indentured servants were Irish people who became indentured servants in territories under the control of the British Empire, such as the Caribbean (particularly Barbados, Jamaica and the Leeward Islands ), British North America and later Australia .

Were there ever Irish indentured servants in Barbados?

Barbados. Irish indentured servants were a significant portion of the population throughout the period when white servants were used for plantation labor in Barbados, and while a “steady stream” of Irish servants entered the Barbados throughout the seventeenth century, Cromwellian efforts to pacify Ireland created a “veritable tidal wave”…

What does Beckles say about Irish indentured servants?

Beckles has referred to some Irish indentured servants as “temporary chattels” who were kept in “slavelike conditions” and lived in a state “nearer to slavery than freedom.” Beckles stops short, however, of suggesting that Irish servants were “‘slaves’ in the sense that blacks were.”.

Were the British deported to the Caribbean slaves or indentured servants?

In contrast, scholars of the period agree that those who were forcibly deported from Britain and Ireland to the Caribbean in the mid-seventeenth century cannot be accurately described simply as ‘slaves’ but as indentured servants. Where does the truth lie and is this simply a question of semantics?