Dr Rita Pemberton

The nature and structure of Tobago's society underwent a process of transformation during the closing years of the 19th century as a result of the economic changes that occurred during the second half of the century. These changes were related to the decline and ultimate demise of the sugar industry, and the inability of the large landowners to find a replacement export crop that would generate sufficient profits to eliminate planter indebtedness and resuscitate the island's economy. Contrary to their hopes and expectations, these negative economic forces facilitated growth within the group that constituted the labouring class.

The single most important development on the island during this period was the creation of a society of landowners. The maintenance of antiquated methods of production, increasing production costs and falling prices, led to declining profits and the inability of planters to meet their commitments and pay taxes. The decrease in trade on the island led to a reduction of revenue from customs duties, which further reduced income to the island's treasury and rendered it unable to meet its operating costs.

Like its planters, the island was itself heavily indebted, and with an empty treasury was forced to seek aid and loans from the imperial government, without success. Investors lost interest in the impoverished island which was not considered an ideal place to expend their money. Indebted estates failed to attract buyers and several of them were simply abandoned and reverted to ownership by the Crown.

With its focus on extracting benefits from the colonies, the imperial government was not prepared either to underwrite costs or provide any financial support to the island's ailing economy. Instead, it advocated a slew of cost-cutting measures which did not help to resolve the island's problems.

What it did was relieve itself of the responsibility of paying the salaries of those administrators which it traditionally paid, and in the process, aggravated the island's financial problems.

The imperial government was also not prepared to accept any responsibility for the welfare of the labouring class, and adopted a policy based on the belief that creating a peasant class would allow this group to be able to take care of itself. Thus, crown land was sold in small plots on easy terms to create a class of self-supporting peasants. This was the stroke that made the planting fraternity's greatest nightmare become a reality. Despite the implementation of a relentless policy to frustrate black land ownership during the second half of the 19th century, the white planting community had failed. The crown-land policy resulted in what was inconceivable to the traditional white landowners: an increase in the number of black landowners on the island.

Along with the growth of the number of black landowners came an increase in the number of black-owned estates and a reduction in the numbers of the old white land-owning class, consistent with the decline in the number of operatin