AAST 205 - The Minimum Wage in Carribean Time, 1838-1938

Semester Offered: First Semester, Second Module
Half Course
Credits: 2 Credits
Attribute: 2SS, CD

The termination of African slavery in the British West Indian colonies was followed by a post-emancipation era in which major struggles developed, on a regional basis, between the newly freed men and women and their former masters over the terms on which labour would continue to be offered and rewarded without the enabling existence of legalized slavery. The course will look at three phases of these ongoing struggles. First, it will examine the impact of the dawn of freedom on the new contractual relationships between ex-masters and ex-slaves, and the outcome of those conflicts. Second, it will look at the large scale resort to indentured labour, as a device for side-stepping interminable and seemingly intractable conflicts surrounding the wage problem, and the impact of indentureship on the struggle for a decent wage. And, thirdly, it will reflect on the prolongation of the battle over wages (and other working conditions) well into the early decades of the 20th century, and its consequences.
Enrollment Limit: 12
Instructor: J. Millette