Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardCauses of Global Migration

The following passage is from a British parliamentary report on immigration to the colony of Mauritius, published in 1840:

'The immigrants are generally satisfied with their condition, but many complain of the high cost of provisions and the difficulty of returning to India. The demand for their labor on the sugar estates continues to be urgent, particularly since the total cessation of apprentice labor. Without a regular supply of these immigrants, the cultivation of sugar cane in this colony must have been entirely abandoned, as the liberated population refuses to engage in field labor on any terms.'

Which of the following developments in the nineteenth century best explains the migration pattern described in the passage?

  1. A
    The growth of domestic factory systems in South Asia that displaced local artisans and compelled them to seek industrial employment abroad.
  2. The legal end of enslavement and forced apprenticeship within the British imperial system, which compelled plantation owners to recruit contract workers from other regions.Answer
  3. C
    The enforcement of mercantilist monopolies by the British East India Company to restrict the export of cash crops from South Asia.
  4. D
    The popularity of Social Darwinist arguments that led imperial governments to sponsor the voluntary relocation of working-class families to settler colonies.

Answer

The legal end of enslavement and forced apprenticeship within the British imperial system, which compelled plantation owners to recruit contract workers from other regions.
The legal end of enslavement and forced apprenticeship within the British imperial system is correct because the abolition of slavery in 1833 and the subsequent termination of the apprenticeship system in 1838 created a critical labor deficit on plantation colonies like Mauritius. Because the newly liberated population resisted working on plantations under the planters' terms, imperial authorities and plantation owners established contracts to recruit and transport South Asian indentured laborers to Mauritius to maintain sugar production.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the historical source text for key context clues.
Identified that the colony of Mauritius is experiencing a severe agricultural labor shortage following the 'cessation of apprentice labor,' threatening the sugar cane industry.
Understanding the immediate labor crisis mentioned in the document is necessary to identify the root cause.
2
Relate the clue 'cessation of apprentice labor' to nineteenth-century global history.
Linked the end of the apprenticeship system to the aftermath of the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act in the British Empire, which formally ended the transitional apprenticeship period in 1838.
This establishes the historical timeline and explains why former slaves (the 'liberated population') refused to continue plantation labor under low-wage conditions.
3
Identify the migration system established to resolve this labor crisis.
Recognized the rise of the global indentured labor system, where millions of Indian and Chinese contract workers were transported to tropical plantations worldwide.
Connecting the labor shortage to the migration of Indian laborers to Mauritius provides the direct cause of the migration pattern.

Key Concept

The transition from slave labor to global indentured labor networks in the nineteenth century.
Rate this question

Topics

Causes of Global Migration

More questions from this topic