What was indenture system and why was it introduced in Fiji?
The system was based on five years’ indenture, during which a labourer was bound down to the estate manager in such a way that he could be criminally prosecuted if he left the estate. 2 Under this system a large number of Indian indentured labour immigrated to Fiji.
What is the meaning of indentured system?
Indentured labour was a system of bonded labour that was instituted following the abolition of slavery. Indentured labour were recruited to work on sugar, cotton and tea plantations, and rail construction projects in British colonies in West Indies, Africa and South East Asia.
Why was indentured labour migration abolished?
Nineteenth-century indenture has been described as a new system of slavery. Living and working conditions were harsh, and there were few legal rights. From the 1900s Indias nationalist leaders began opposing the system of indentured labour migration as abusive and cruel. It was abolished in 1921.
Why was the Indentureship system introduced?
This experiment was initiated by the British Government, after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834, to demonstrate the superiority of ‘free’ over slave labour in its plantation colonies.
What is Indentureship system?
Indentureship is an economic system that controls every aspect of your life, even social. Indentured labourers were brought into the Caribbean to provide a work force that would replace the African slaves.
What is indentured in history?
Indentures are agreements between two parties about long-term work. The length of servitude might be a specified number of years or until the servant reached a certain age. Some people indentured themselves in order to gain passage to America or to escape debt and poverty.
Why was the indentured system abolished?
However, the British-led Indian indenture system for other colonies finally ended in 1917. According to The Economist, When the Imperial Legislative Council finally ended indenture because of pressure from Indian nationalists and declining profitability rather than from humanitarian concerns.
When did Indentureship occur?
In relation to the British Empire, the largest and most concerted expression of indenture occurred between 1834 and 1920, when two million Indians, and thousands of others from across Asia, Africa, and Oceania were exploited under a system intended to replace enslaved African labour in the Caribbean and Mauritius.