19th Century Colony
A decade after slavery was abolished in 1834, the British government gave permission for the colonies to import indentured labor from India to work on the plantations. Throughout the remainder of the century, Trinidad's population growth came primarily from East Indian laborers. By 1871 there were 27,425 East Indians, approximately 22 percent of the population of Trinidad and Tobago; by 1911 that figure had grown to 110,911, or about 33 percent of all residents of the islands. Small numbers of Chinese, Portuguese, and other groups also immigrated, contributing to the multiracial character of the islands.
By the late nineteenth century, Trinidad and Tobago were no longer profitable colonies because sugar was being produced more cheaply elsewhere. In 1889 the British government united Trinidad and Tobago in an effort to economize on government expenses and to solve the economic problems of the islands. In 1898 Tobago became a ward of Trinidad, thereby losing its local assembly, which was not reinstated until 1980. Subsequently, Britain ruled Trinidad and Tobago as a crown colony until 1956. Between 1889 and 1924, the government of Trinidad and Tobago included, in addition to its governor, a wholly appointed Legislative Council. The first step toward self-government was taken in 1925 when there were limited elections to the Legislative Council and to the governor's Executive Council.
The populations of both Trinidad and Tobago owe their main origins to massive eighteenth- and nineteenth-century importations of African slaves and East Indian indentured servants who were needed to work on the sugar plantations. When the sugar industry declined, unemployment became widespread. In the early twentieth century, oil replaced sugar as the major export; oil is a capital-intensive industry, however, and it did not solve the problem of unemployment in Trinidad and Tobago.
A volunteer force was established in 1879, and soon consisted of infantry, garrison artillery and three companies of Light Horse stationed in Port of Spain, San Fernando and St Joseph. Free education is given, chiefly in the state-aided schools of the different denominations, but there were a number of entirely secular schools, managed by the government. The Presbyterian schools were conducted a Canadian mission. Instruction was free, but in some few schools fees were charged. Agriculture was a compulsory subject in all the primary schools. Higher education was provided by the Queen's Royal College, a secular institution, to which the Presbyterian Naparima College and the Roman Catholic St Mary's College are affiliated. Attached to these colleges were four scholarships of the annual value of £150 for four years, tenable at any British university. The religious bodies, both Christian and pagan, were exceedingly numerous. The Roman Catholics (with an archbishop at Port of Spain) and the Anglicans, with the bishop of Trinidad at their head, were the more powerful bodies.
Of the inhabitants of the island, one-third are East Indians. Immigration from India was conducted under government control, and the prosperity of Trinidad was due to the contract labor obtained under this system. Of the rest, the upper classes were creoles of British, French and Spanish blood, while the lower classes were of pure or mixed African origin, with a few Chinese. English was spoken in the towns and in some of the country districts, but in the north and generally in the cocoa-growing areas a French patois prevailed, and in several districts Spanish was still in use.
English money was legal tender, as also was the United States currency. Accounts were kept in dollars by the general public, but in sterling by the government. There was a complete system of main and local roads constructed or under construction; there were about 90 m. of railways, and practically all the towns of any size can be reached from Port of Spain by rail. Steamers plied daily between Port of Spain and the islands at the northern entrance to the Gulf of Paria and between San Fernando (the southern terminus of the railway) and the south-western ports of the island, while two steamers of the Royal Mail Company under contract connected Port of Spain with the other parts of Trinidad and Tobago.
Port of Spain was also in direct communication with Southampton. The harbor was an open roadstead, safe and sheltered, but so shallow that large ships had to lie at anchor half a mile from the jetties. It was, nevertheless, the place of shipment not only for the produce of the entire island but also for that of the Orinoco region. The population in 1900 was about 55,000. The other towns are San Fernando (pop. 7613), also on the Gulf of Paria, about 30 m. south of the capital; and Arima (pop. 4076), an inland town 16 m. by rail east of Port of Spain.
The colony (Trinidad and Tobago) was administered by a governor assisted by an executive council and a legislative council of twenty members of whom ten were officials sitting by virtue of office and ten were unofficials nominated by the Crown. Port of Spain, the capital, is situated on the west coast on the shores of the Gulf of Paria. It was considered one of the finest towns in the West Indies, its streets were regular and well shaded, its water supply abundant, and an excellent service of tramways connects the various quarters of the town. It had two cathedrals, a fine block of public buildings containing the principal government departments, the courts of justice and the legislative council chamber, many other large government buildings, a public library, and many good shops, while one of its most beautiful features was its botanical garden, in which the residence of the governor was situated.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
