On 12 March 1917, recruitment of Indian laborers for overseas indenture was suspended. Trinidad had received many thousands of Indian workers for plantation labor after emancipation. The suspension followed decades of criticism and anti-indentureship organizing in India, and was also connected to the First World War’s demands on shipping. Imperial authorities made the decision while India and Trinidad remained under British rule. Recruitment stopped, but existing contracts continued until they were formally terminated in 1920.
On 1 August 1838, apprenticeship ended and full legal emancipation took effect in Trinidad, two years before the originally scheduled end of the longest apprenticeship terms in much of the British...
On 2 August 1838, a crowd of about 200 people, mostly women, protested in Trinidad and demanded full freedom. The colonial militia suppressed the demonstration. Their action came one day after...
On 30 May 1845, the Futtle Rozack, commonly known as the Fatel Razack, arrived in Port of Spain carrying 225 adults from India. They were contracted to work on sugar plantations after emancipation....
On 4 March 1853, the ship Australia landed 432 Chinese immigrants in Trinidad. Colonial records say they were distributed among estates across several counties. The records also document workers...
On 30 October 1884, police and military forces fired on participants in the Hosay procession near San Fernando after colonial authorities restricted its route and movement into town. The procession...
👉 Recruitment of Indian indentured laborers is suspended
Current
12 March 1917
On 12 March 1917, recruitment of Indian laborers for overseas indenture was suspended. Trinidad had received many thousands of Indian workers for plantation labor after emancipation. The suspension...
On 22 April 1917, the S.S. Ganges arrived at Nelson Island carrying the last group of Indian indentured immigrants to Trinidad. The National Archives’ register lists 421 arrivals, including men,...
On 1 January 1920, remaining Indian indenture contracts in the British colonies were ended, formally closing the system after recruitment had stopped and the last ship reached Trinidad in 1917....
Trinidad held its first Legislative Council election on 7 February 1925. Only a small minority of the population could vote under property, income, and other qualifications. Elected members such as...
On 19 June 1933, the National Unemployed Movement (NUM) organized a hunger march in Port of Spain. Demonstrators demanded relief work for unemployed people and restoration of rent controls. The action...
The Trade Unions Act, 1932 (Act No. 20) came into force on 1 July 1933. It provided legal recognition for trade unions, but did not by itself give workers equal power against employers or the colonial...
