Since the first of August – and indeed the whole of the month – acco
mmodate observances to commemorate the 1838 Emancipation, or full freedom, of African slaves from the British plantations in Guyana, I thought that I would share a few reflections with the readers of the Caribbean TRAKKER.
Students of history, Pan Africanists and African Rights activists, wherever they may be, will be familiar with the basics. But since human history is interwoven with the behaviour, and its consequences, of all humans, so too should the history of Emancipation and its consequences be of interest to all Guyanese and Caribbean people.
So firstly, a few significant and pivotal basics: Guyana’s 1823 East Coast Rebellion, along with others elsewhere, HAD to be one of the more influential events to fast-forward the freeing of slaves by the British plantocracy. That’s because the (then unusual) death of the Rev. JOHN SMITH, accused of assisting the 1823 Demerara Rebels, caused a stir amongst the British abolitionists and their sympathisers in the British Parliament.
So the 1st August 1938 “full freedom” happened in British Guiana. After the 1833-1834 attempt to half-employ the slaves as “apprentices” did not really distinguish the “apprentices” from actual slavery.
POST – 1838
What were some of the more lasting consequences of the 1838 Emancipation therefore?
Well, it should be known by now that the freemen had established Guyana’s village system by the last 1800’s. They had dug the irrigation canals and laid the foundation for land development schemes, the towns and the capital. They turned from the land, after official dom’s sabotage of their agriculture, and joined the police force, the military, all the professions and thus provided the basis of the real “Civil” or Public Service of Guyana.
By then, of course, they had been joined by the immigrant workers from Asia (India and China) and Portugal. The Amerindians continued to keep away or to be kept away from the colonial mainstream. The freed Africans and the Indian Immigrants, especially, quickly accounted for the new demography of the (Guyana) Colony. And that is what this brief commentary wishes to re-iterate – JUST WHY ALL GUYANESE SHOULD HAVE AN INTEREST IN EMANCIPATION – the freedom of 173 years ago.
It is because of the socio-historical reality: HAD THERE BEEN NO EMANCIPATION, THERE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN NO ARRIVAL!
The British Planters, knowing that emancipation was inevitable, made active plans to import labour from other sources. Hence the “arrival” of Portuguese from Madeira, East Indian and Chinese. Today’s Guyana. Emancipation, therefore, had the most profound effect on Guyana’s population and demographic character. Up to today!
Think about it.
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