Legacy

Apprenticeship


Image: An Interior View of A Jamaica House of Correction (An Interior View of a Jamaica House of Correction, 1834).

The apprenticeship period aimed to bring slavery to a gradual end in 1840, but instead mimicked slavery, until its early termination in 1838 due to frequent conflict between former slaves and owners.


Apprentices totaled ~800,000 across British colonies (Macaulay, 1836).

“I abominate the apprenticeship system. At best, it is only improved slavery.”
— Rev. Mr. Crookes, Jamaican Wesleyan missonary (Thome, 1837).
“Those English devils say we to be free, but if we is to free, he will pretty well weaken we, before the six and the four years done; we shall be no use to ourselves afterwards.”
— James Williams, a former slave (Williams, 1837).
“During the Apprenticeship Period, 1834-1838 (originally, designed by the British government to last until 1840) planters and apprentices (ex-slaves) came into constant conflict despite the presence of stipendiary magistrates.”
— Barbara P. Josiah, The Journal of Negro History (Josiah, 1997).
Apprentices were still effectively slaves, even with mediator magistrates.

Image: (Slaves Cutting the Sugar Cane, Antigua, 1823).

“These magistrates functioned mainly to arbitrate disputes between the ex-slaves and planters or their representatives during this transitory period between slavery and freedom...The abortion of the Apprenticeship Period occurred because of its close resemblance to slavery, a condition which the apprentices were no longer prepared to endure.”
— Barbara P. Josiah, The Journal of Negro History (Josiah, 1997).
Former slaves wanted complete emancipation... Image: Slaves making sugar in Antigua (Clark, 1823).

“With complete emancipation in 1838, the former slaves, understanding the dynamics of their changed status, exercised some of their options and left the plantations. Inter-group relations revolutionized, precipitating the creation of villages by the workers and the coming of a new group of Africans.”
— Barbara P. Josiah, The Journal of Negro History (Josiah, 1997).
...and to live their own lives. Image: Slaves celebrate passage of 1833 Slavery Abolition Act (Munday, 1833).

“Former slaves had their own ideas about how to live their lives once free. These included a strong drive towards independent landholding and religious beliefs that drew in part on African influences.”
— Christer Petley, University of Southampton (Petley, 2011).
The apprenticeship system, a failed consequence of the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act, proved unpopular among apprentices and abolitionists. The period highlights the slaves' desire for complete emancipation.

Political Turmoil The Turning Point

(Slaves Cutting the Sugar Cane, 1823).