Rise of Free Villages and Development of the Peasantry
One of the most important developments in Jamaica in the immediate post slavery period was the
founding of the Free Villages. These were new communities of freed people who lived away from the
estates.
Free Villages were usually large tracts of land purchased by the missionaries and then subdivided into
smaller plots for sale to their members. The church founded free villages were established after the
passage of the Ejectment and Trespass Acts. For the Former, the entire population or any portion of it
could be ejected at a week's notice from the homes in which they had been born and in which they had
lived in while they were slaves.
The Trespass Act allowed the police of any country to catch hold of and to imprison any individual who
was found in his former home after he had received notice of ejectment. This was done to compel the
labourer to work for whatever wages they chose to give and to perform as much work as they required.
The first village that was established was Sligoville, its founder was Rev. James Phillippo, the Baptist
Minister at Spanish Town, on the 10th of July 1835. The following is a list of free villages by parish:
●
St. Ann - Moneague, Clarksonville, Wilberforce, Buxton Bethany, Salem Brown's Town, Happy
Valley, Pleasant Valley, Harmony, Philadelphia, Sturge Town and Endeavour
● St. Thomas - Delvery, Airy Mount (Mount Airy), Navarino, Greenwood, Beldona, Spring Mount,
Elmwood, Bachelor's Hall, Pigeon Hill, Unity Valley, Leith Hall and Bath Castle
● St. Elizabeth - Spring field, Lacovia, Kilmarnock, Cairn Curran, Commer Pen, Lititz, Ipswich,
Carisbrook, Cruze and Ballard's Valley
● Clarendon - Rhyme's Bury, Howell's Content, Halse Hall, Hayes, Mitchell's Town, Farm Colonel's
Ridge, Nairne Castle, Crofts and Cross.
● St. James - Goodwill, Irwin Hill, Mount Carey, Maldon, Shortwood, Sudbury and Salters Hill
● Manchester - Bethabara, Beaufort, Beulah, Vale, Porus, Hillside, Maidstone, Mizaph and
Walderston.
● Trelawny - New Cargen, Albert Town, Stewart's Town, Gilbraltar, Kettering, Clarkson Town,
Granville and Refuge
● Westmoreland - Carmel, Bethel Town and St. Leonard's Gurney
● St. Catherine - Sligoville, Kitson Town, Sturge Town, Victoria Township and Clarkson Town
● Portland - Cedar Valley, Belle Castle and Happy Grove
● Hanover - Mount Horeb and Sandy Bay
● St. Andrew - Trinityville
● St. Mary – Islington
http://www.georgianjamaica.org/blog/a-list-of-free-villages-established-in-jamaica-after-emancipati
on
Free Villages
With full freedom from slavery and apprenticeship in 1838, there was the desire among some blacks for
personal liberty and land of their own. This desire was heightened by the harsh treatment meted out to
the ex-slaves by the planters. In many cases, the planters paid the slaves low wages and charged them
high rental fees, which sometimes led to eviction from plantation dwellings. It was soon realised that
freedom would have little meaning as long as planters controlled both the housing and labour of the
ex-slaves. Free villages emerged as a solution to this problem.
1. Time and Patience - Located in Trelawny this plot of land was chosen a free village after August
1st, 1838.
2. Buxton - established by Rev. John Clark with the support of the philanthropist Mr. Sturge
3. Clarksonville - named by Rev. John Clark, Baptist minister stationed at Brown's Town in St Ann in
1835
4. Goodwill - established after the abolition of slavery and in 1840 it was still in its infancy.
5. Granville - originally 90 acres of land acquired by Reverend William Knibb, a Baptist minister.
6. Kettering - in Duncans Trelawny, named after the birthplace of the late Reverend William Knibb
7. Maidstone - under the direction of the Moravian missionaries was founded in 1840.
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Rise of Free Villages and Development of the Peasantry
8. Salem - born out of the need to relocate the Moravian congregation at New Hope in
Westmoreland.
9. Sligoville - located about 10 miles north of Spanish Town, was the first Free Village in Jamaica.
10. Sturge Town - named after Joseph Sturge, established in 1839 by Reverend John Clark, a Baptist
missionary.
http://www.jnht.com/free_villages.php
Development of the Peasantry
The second half of the 19th Century was a major step in the lives of the ex-slaves. They struggled to
make an existence for themselves in a society that still had many of the prejudices of the
pre-emancipation era. Indeed despite the fact that their legal position had changed, their socioeconomic positions changed very little.
The ex-slaves recognized that their economic futures depended on their own efforts and began to
purchase parcels of land and squat on others in order to grow crops that they had grown on slave plots.
The peasantry grew out of this effort as the black population sought economic freedom from the sugar
estates.
The development of the free village system ensured that the black population could become increasingly
independent and self-sufficient. The numerous crops that were planted on a large scale by the emerging
peasant population in the Caribbean were crops that had been in existence before the abolition of
slavery. However, after slavery several of these crops became the main income earners for the peasants
as they tried to make money planting crops on a small to medium scale.
Peasant farming by ex-slaves and later by east Indian indentured labourers is what led from sugar cane
Monoculture (planting of one cash crop) to Agricultural Diversification (planting of a variety of cash
crops. This agricultural diversification was seen immediately after the abolition of slavery because of the
peasant farming of the ex-slaves. (n.b. The diversification into manufacturing came in the early to
mid-20th Century.)
For the purpose of peasant farming, ex slaves sought out the only land available, in the hills and
mountains. Unfortunately, this land is unsuitable for crop agriculture, having thin and erodible soils.
Individual peasant farms average less than 5 acres (2 hectares) in area, often in disconnected plots. A
variety of crops are raised, including fruits such as mangoes, plantains, ackee, and breadfruit; vegetables
such as yams, potatoes, and okra; sugarcane; and coffee.
The islands in the British West Indies mainly grew the same crops. However, only a few were able to
emerge as leaders. Islands such as Jamaica had adequate shipping arrangements as well as enough
peasants and plantations supplying banana for export. The export figures for this fruit continued to rise
into the early 1900s and it was established as an important industry. The island of Barbados was still
fairly concentrated in sugar. Trinidad and St Kitts did not put as much acreage into these other crops for
several reasons. The islands' sizes as well as the smaller size of their peasantry were also deterrents.
Factors that encouraged peasant farming in the Caribbean
1. Availability of land in larger colonies such as Trinidad, Jamaica and British Guiana
2. Ex-slaves pooled their money to purchase plots of land.
3. Missionaries bought large tracts of land and divided it into smaller plots and sold it to the
ex-slaves at a lower price. This also acted as an incentive to ex-slaves to convert to Christianity
and to become members of the Christian churches
4. Many ex-slaves squatted on Crown land where available
5. Some estates were abandoned and the land sold at a low cost to the ex-slaves.
Experience as 'small scale farmers' during enslavement
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Rise of Free Villages and Development of the Peasantry
Enslaved Africans were allowed to cultivate provision grounds and this experience may have helped
convince them to move away from the plantations.
Some had sold their produce in the Sunday markets and were able to save small sums of money which
helped to buy land when they became free.
Work of missionaries.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Missionary groups assisted in the acquisition of land
They helped in the growth of the free villages
In Jamaica, Baptist ministers assisted by bargaining with landowners to get land at a lower cost.
n.b. Blacks acquired land despite all hindrances. In Jamaica by 1860, nearly 40% of land was
owned by blacks. In St Vincent by 1857, 485 hectares of land was owned by blacks.
Factors that hindered the development of a West Indian peasantry
1. There were problems with the acquisition of land due to high rents, lack of Crown Land and
planters' reluctance to sell land.
2. Planters charged high rents on land and the peasants could not afford those.
3. Planters used legislation, such as the Squatters Act and the Tendency Act, to make it difficult for
peasants to acquire land.
Reasons for the Rapid Growth of a Black peasantry in British Guiana and Trinidad immediately after
1838
By Clyde W. Thierens
With full emancipation from enslavement in 1838, many of the ex-slaves hoped to “make freedom
meaningful”. As they saw it, one of the best methods of achieving this desire was for them to free
themselves as much as they possibly could from the plantations. Economic and social independence of
the planters was, to many, a state worthy of being aspired to. This desire, combined with many other
factors, caused ex- slaves to leave the plantations in significant numbers in search of a better life. In
British Guiana and in Trinidad – both relatively undeveloped colonies with large amounts of uncultivated
land – there was a marked exodus of ex-slaves from the plantations. Many of those who left became
peasants, small freeholders, shopkeepers, petty traders and hucksters.
This article seeks to explain why these two colonies experienced the rapid growth of a Black peasantry
immediately after 1838, while some other British Caribbean territories did not. The focus is on the
immediate post-Emancipation period when there was the initial movement of the ex-slaves off the
plantations onto their own land.
Sidney Mintz defines the peasantry as “small-scale cultivators who own or have access to land, who
produce some commodities for sale, and who produce much of their own subsistence”. This definition
serves as a useful starting point for a discussion on the Caribbean peasantry as it generally describes
many of the ex- slaves who initially left the plantations just after Emancipation and settled in villages.
Interestingly, Walter Rodney adopts a more rigid view of what constitutes a peasantry by asserting that
the nineteenth-century Creole labourers were incorrectly classified as peasants. He insists that it is
‘‘essential to distinguish between self-employed farming and estate wage labour”. Somewhat similarly,
Frucht differentiates Caribbean peasants who combine production for subsistence and for sale, with
occasional estate work to boost their income, from those who mainly depend upon earning wages but
still do some subsistence farming.
It is clear that, in defining the Caribbean peasantry, some degree of ‘flexibility’ is adopted in an effort to
accommodate the peculiar Caribbean context. This position is exemplified by Woodville Marshall who, in
applying the term to “small farmers, peasant farmers and peasant cultivators”, contends that the
Caribbean peasantry has its own peculiarities. A number of these peculiarities he identifies as its recent
beginnings, its intricate relationship to the plantation and its adoption of additional economic pursuits
for survival, inter alia (among other things). In similar vein, Mintz further describes Caribbean
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Rise of Free Villages and Development of the Peasantry
peasantries as ‘reconstituted’ ones in that they originated in slavery not as peasants, but eventually
became so in order to resist what he identifies as “an externally imposed regimen”.
After Emancipation not all of the ex-slaves chose to leave the plantations. Some of them remained to
‘enjoy’ the amenities they traditionally had become accustomed to. Others bought enough land in an
effort to become self-sufficient, while there were those who combined working on the estates with
cultivation of their land. In addition to the acquisition of land, a successful Caribbean peasantry could
only have evolved in the context of the ex-slaves possessing the requisite agricultural skills for successful
cultivation of chosen crops. Additionally, the availability of markets for the sale of surpluses was also
necessary.
During their enslavement, although Africans did not own their own land, they cultivated provision
grounds to supplement their food requirements. In addition to satisfying their longing for freedom,
Emancipation also provided opportunity and scope for the ex-slaves to utilize their farming skills. In
those colonies where the prevailing conditions allowed, the ex-slaves made every attempt to exercise
their freedom of choice to shape their future. For many, agriculture provided opportunity for the
creation of a foundation for a new life. In this regard, their involvement in agriculture as ‘proto-peasants’
during enslavement provided them with an invaluable tool for the realization of their dreams.
The ownership of their own land was perceived by many of the ex-slaves as the method of choice for the
demonstration of their new status as independent people. Ownership was also viewed as a means of
ensuring their economic survival. The ‘land hunger’ that developed among the ex-slaves provided the
fuel that generated the rapid growth of a Black peasantry in British Guiana and Trinidad, as well as in
Jamaica. In Barbados, Antigua and St Kitts the freedmen’s desire for land of their own remained
unsatisfied. The major reason for this was that, in those colonies, the long-established sugar industry had
appropriated almost all of the best lands. In British Guiana and Trinidad the very low population density
and the availability of land outside of sugar cultivation allowed the ex- slaves to satisfy their land hunger.
In the Leeward Islands, especially in Nevis, despite the development of a ‘proto- peasantry’, the lack of
available land prevented the rapid growth of a Black peasantry. The result of this was that the ex-slaves
were forced to work wages and to become sharecroppers.
In addition to seeking land for the realization of economic independence, the ex- slaves also desired land
for residential purposes. They wanted a place where they could settle their families. With opportunities
for this to be done in Trinidad, by 1846, about 5,400 ex-slaves lived in villages they had acquired near to
Port of Spain and San Fernando. By 1859, nearly five-sixths of the migrants from the estates owned one
to ten acres, cultivating vegetables and provisions for subsistence and for sale. The villagers also
cultivated some cocoa, coffee and sugar cane.
In British Guiana there was what has been described by Brian Moore as “one of the greatest expressions
of land hunger” by the ex- slaves. By 1850 they had spent in excess of one million pounds to purchase
land. More than one and a half million pounds had also been spent on agricultural development and on
the building of more than 10,500 homes. This meant that in twelve short years after 1838 formerly
enslaved Africans had spent the amazing sum of 2.5 million pounds on property! This clearly
demonstrated that the newly freed Africans did not only manifest a desire to acquire their own land but
also applied themselves fervently to the development of their properties. This movement of freed
Africans away from the plantations, and their awe-inspiring accomplishment in acquiring their own
properties, has been described by Rawle Farley as “having no parallel in the history of the world”.
Newly freed Africans in Jamaica also took steps to acquire their own land after Emancipation. By 1842,
nearly two hundred free villages covering 100,000 acres of land had been established at a cost of 70,000
pounds. Holdings of up to ten acres were owned by 19,000 freedmen. However, in a number of the
Windward Islands, many of the ex-slaves continued to occupy the estate houses and the provision
grounds that they had occupied during their enslavement. The rapid growth of a Black peasantry was not
realized in these colonies because of the migration of almost one-third of the labour force. Many of the
ex-slaves emigrated from St Vincent and from Grenada in search of high wages in Trinidad. Additionally,
former labourers on the estates left to seek employment in other areas.
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Rise of Free Villages and Development of the Peasantry
In Trinidad the plantocracy could not prevent the Black labourers from acquiring and cultivating parts of
the more than one million acres of available Crown and private lands in the colony. Here, the labourers
pioneered the development of the cocoa industry, while cultivating other crops for sale. In British
Guiana, the estates provided outlets for the produce of the small farmers. Also, villages near to urban
centres capitalized on their proximity to take advantage of the urban clientele. This was to the extent
that many imported consumer goods were substituted, leading to an almost thirty per cent decrease in
consumer imports between 1838 and 1842.
It is clear that the peasantry in both British Guiana and Trinidad grew as a result of opportunities to
satisfy new consumer demands it had created through expanding marketing and distribution networks.
The productivity of the provision grounds generated the income for some degree of economic
independence and this provided impetus for more of the ex-slaves to move off the plantations and join
the ranks of the peasantry.
In both British Guiana and Trinidad the Africans cooperated by combining their resources to purchase
and develop abandoned estates. This was also evident in Jamaica with the formation of cooperative
financial and agricultural enterprises, in addition to Friendly and Burial Societies. These initiatives
enabled the Black peasantry to grow rapidly as the newly freed Africans became empowered to
successfully undertake projects that they would not have been able to accomplish individually.
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