Immigration of Africans into the British Caribbean

Abstract

Summary This paper discusses the immigration of Africans into the British West Indies which began in 1841 and continued until 1867. The course of this movement was closely linked with the Atlantic slave trade. Most of the immigrants were African slaves liberated by the British navy. Moreover, the immigration was greatest during periods when slave importations into Brazil and Cuba were intensified. Early in the movement full government supervision was introduced. The British Government, acting mainly through the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission, supervised the transportation. At first the cost was borne by the receiving colonies. But as part of its programme of assistance to the colonies following the removal of protection on West Indian sugar, the British Government from 1849 defrayed the whole cost of transportation. The total number introduced was only 36,100, or less than one-tenth of the total East Indian immigration. Most of the Africans entered the West Indies before 1853. As a consequence of the small numbers involved and the fact that one-third of the immigrants returned to Africa, the effects of African immigration on population growth in the West Indies were extremely small.