Independence

and Integration
Movements in the
British Colonised
Caribbean
1930s Riots

2
LESSON OBJECTIVES

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LESSON OBJECTIVES
◈ To describe the causes of the 1930s riots in
the British West Indies.
◈ To examine the effects of the 1930s riots in
the British West Indies.
◈ To assess the implications of the 1930s riots
for independence movements in the British
Caribbean from 1940 to 1962. 4
INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY

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VIDEO - JAMAICA 1930s
◈ Watch the video below on Jamaica during
the 1930s.
◈ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOR2g
Cn2acg

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QUESTIONS
◈ To what extent was the island a paradox of
progress and poverty? Provide specific
examples to support your response.
◈ To what extent is the narrator sympathetic to
the plight of ordinary Jamaicans?
◈ Does his commentary reflect the harsh
realities of life in Jamaica? 7
BACKGROUND

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BACKGROUND
◈ During the 1930s all of Britain’s prominent
island and mainland colonies in the Caribbean
erupted into a series of labour riots.
◈ Only Grenada and Dominica were unscathed by
the upheavals due to their peasant-based
economies and absence of a defined urban
working class.
9
BACKGROUND
◈ Against the backdrop of the Great
Depression the riots involved mass strikes
and anti-colonial revolts.
◈ These events were central in the making of
the Caribbean working class and reached
their climax in Jamaica from late April to
June 1938. 10
TIMELINE OF EVENTS

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12
13
CAUSES

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COLONIAL NEGLECT AND LIVING CONDITIONS
◈ Colonial authorities, mainly the white planter,
merchant class, controlled the Legislative
Councils and Assemblies and passed laws that
supported their enterprises.
◈ The authorities were extremely slow in creating
programs for the following: slum clearance,
health care facilities, housing, and education.
15
COLONIAL NEGLECT AND LIVING CONDITIONS
◈ The lack of educational facilities led to
illiteracy and discontent, resulting in
rebellion.
◈ Poor housing also led to hardship and
discontent, especially when the lower classes
compared their housing to those of the upper
classes. 16
IMPERIAL NEGLECT
◈ Britain, as colonial power, had a
responsibility to provide for the social and
economic development of the colonies and
its people.
◈ Britain provided commissions to investigate
the problems of the colonies, but did not
advance grant funding. 17
QUESTION
◈ Name two commissions
that investigated some
issue or conditions in the
British West Indies
during the 19th century.

18
IMPERIAL NEGLECT
◈ The lack of grant funding contributed to the
poverty that existed, as this could have gone
a long way in building schools and hospitals,
which had a direct impact on the lives of the
poor.

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LABOUR GRIEVANCES
◈ Some issues highlighted by labour leaders
included:
◆ The payment of wages far below the cost
of living (20 cents per day for
agricultural workers in Barbados) and the
refusal of the employers to give wage
increases even in the Trinidad oil field 20
where enterprises were more viable.
LABOUR GRIEVANCES
◈ The absence of legally recognized trade unions.
◈ The long working hours (12) for drivers and
conductors.
◈ The absence of workmen’s compensation
legislation, particularly in an environment (sugar
factories and oil field) where workers were
sometimes killed or injured.
21
LABOUR GRIEVANCES
◈ A negative reaction to those demands
created demonstrations which eventually led
to open conflict.

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IMPACT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION IN THE UNITED STATES
◈ The Depression, 1929-1934, resulted in the
rise of commodity prices in the US.
◈ Thus the price of beef, flour, fish and butter
increased in the 1930s, causing more
hardship for Caribbean workers.

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IMPACT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION IN THE UNITED STATES
◈ The Depression led to a falloff in demand for
products exported from the Caribbean to the
United States such as coffee, molasses,
sugar, bananas.
◈ When exports dropped, employers in the
Caribbean resorted to lay-offs, causing
hardship for workers. 24
IMPACT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION IN THE UNITED STATES
◈ The Depression in the United States resulted
in about 12-15 million people being
unemployed there.
◈ This led to the return of many Caribbean
migrants.
◈ High US unemployment also led to the
decline in remittances from the US. 25
RACE CONSCIOUSNESS
◈ The rebellions were spurred by events which
raised race and labour consciousness.
◈ The establishment of Garvey’s Universal Negro
Improvement Association created race
consciousness.
◈ Workers were conscious of the huge material
differences between the races in the Caribbean,
26
and interpreted this as racial domination.
RACE CONSCIOUSNESS
◈ The war between Italy and Ethiopia in
1935/1936 was seen as a white country
trying to destroy defenceless Africans.
◈ Caribbean people received the news of this
conflict on a daily basis and it annoyed
them.
27
RACE CONSCIOUSNESS
◈ In Caribbean societies racism was practiced
in schools, recreational clubs and in large
white-owned companies.
◈ Workers fought in the 1930s to put an end to
this.

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IMPACT OF RETURNING MIGRANTS
◈ The return of the war veteran and the Panama
migrants also helped to raise political
consciousness.
◈ War veterans such a Captain Arthur Andrew
Cipriani returned to establish a political party;
while Clennel Wickham of Barbados returned
and became a newspaper editor, championing
the cause of the workers. 29
IMPACT OF RETURNING MIGRANTS
◈ The veterans were aware of better conditions for
work in the US and UK and wanted to achieve
this for the Caribbean.
◈ The Panama migrants had worked for higher
wages in Panama under a US company regime.
◈ They felt that trade unions would help to
improve conditions in the workplace.
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THE CASE OF BARBADOS
◈ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYKIod
hWeMI
Questions
◈ Who was Clement Payne?
◈ How does his story highlight some of the
causes of the rebellion?
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ARREST OF LABOUR LEADERS
◈ Arrest of labour leaders. Labour leaders such as
Soberanis, Butler, and Bustamante who clashed
with the local authorities.
◈ They were the ones to hold political meetings
before large crowds.
◈ They had formed trade union organizations,
which the oil field employers, the planters and
32
the merchants deemed a threat.
ARREST OF LABOUR LEADERS
◈ Crowds prevented the arrest of leaders because
they felt that they were placing their grievances
on the agenda of the government.
◈ When leaders were arrested or deported, crowds
rushed to their assistance, sparking outbreaks.
◈ The elite viewed these labour leaders as political
agitators who wished to stir up trouble.
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THE RIOTS

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THE RIOTS
◈ During the rebellion, rioters attacked police
officers because they tried to protect the
property of the business class.
◈ Police officers were also attacked because
they were responsible for the arrest of
popular leaders such as Soberanis, Payne
and Butler. 35
THE RIOTS
◈ Rioters attacked and destroyed buildings in the
cities (Kingston and Bridgetown) and oilfields in
Trinidad.
◈ In Bridgetown, for example, the rebels
attempted to burn the Barbados Mutual Life
Assurance Society Building.
◈ This represented an attack on wealthy class 36
whom for their socio-economic plight.
THE RIOTS
◈ Rioters raided shops for food such as flour
rice, corned beef and ham.
◈ Some of these rioters were hungry, while
others took the opportunity to plunder the
shops.
◈ Others believed that the prices at the grocery
shops were unaffordable. 37
THE RIOTS
◈ The rebels also attacked sugar plantations.
◈ They appropriated yams and potatoes and well
as stock – cows and sheep - owned by the
plantations.
◈ They did this because the plantations had
resorted to a low-wage regime for nearly 100
years.
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◈ Plantation equipment was removed in Belize.
EFFECTS OF THE 1930S
RIOTS

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THE MOYNE COMMISSION
◈ Royal Commission of enquiry that visited
several territories, took statements and
collected evidence.
◈ Commission completed its report in 1940,
the British Government did not release it to
the public until July 1945 after World War II
ended. 40
THE MOYNE COMMISSION
◈ Commission exposed the horrible conditions under which
people of the British Caribbean lived.
◈ It pointed to the deficiencies in the education system, and
economic and social problems of unemployment and
juvenile delinquency.
◈ It also sharply criticised the poor health conditions and
expressed concern over the high infant mortality rate.

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THE MOYNE COMMISSION
◈ It was especially critical of the plight of
sugar workers and small farmers, and
condemned unsafe conditions at workplaces.
◈ It was also very concerned over the use of
child labour and the discrimination against
women at workplaces, especially since they
worked long hours for less pay than men 42

received.
THE MOYNE COMMISSION
◈ It found, too, that the interests of the workers
were virtually unprotected since there were
no collective labour agreements, while only
the employers decided on what wages should
be.

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THE MOYNE COMMISSION
◈ The Commission also looked at the political
system operating in all the territories.
◈ It recommended the expansion of the
franchise, and extending the opportunities
for people other than the financially
influential to stand for election.
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THE MOYNE COMMISSION
◈ It recommended the reduction of the margin
between the qualifications for registration as
a voter and those for membership of the
Legislative Council.

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THE MOYNE COMMISSION
◈ It recommended compulsory registration of
trade unions and audit of their funds.
◈ With regard to the fixing of wages, it stated
that in each territory a wages board should
be established to carry out this process.

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THE MOYNE COMMISSION
◈ The Commission also proposed the
establishment of unemployment insurance
and adequate and regular factory inspections
to reduce accidents.
◈ Its recommendation for the establishment of
a Labour Department was acted upon in
1942 and a Commissioner of Labour was 47

appointed.
THE MOYNE COMMISSION
◈ Establishment by the British Government of the
Colonial Government and Welfare Act in 1940.
◆ Special fund to help economic and social
schemes throughout the empire.
◆ West Indian share of 1 million dollars a year.
◆ Caribbean wide Colonial Development and
Welfare Organisation set up in Barbados to
administer the funds. 48
CLOSING
Discussion Questions
◈ Do you believe that the riots were
successful?
◈ What were the implications of the 1930s
riots for nation-building in the BWI?

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Sources
◈ Caribbean Examinations Council. 2017. CAPE History
Syllabus
◈ Hilary Beckles & Verene Shepherd. Freedom Won:
Caribbean Emancipations, Ethnicities, and Nationhood.
◈ The Moyne Commission -
http://www.guyana.org/features/guyanastory/chapter108.h
tml
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◈ Timeline of the 1930s Riots - Brian Dyde,
Robert Greenwood, & Shirley Hamber.
Caribbean Certificate History:
Decolonisation and Development

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