Jamaica
control of Jamaica), succeeded in organizing frequent uprisings against the European
landowners. The sugar industry declined in the 19th cent., partly because of the abolition of
slavery in 1833 (effective 1838) and partly because of the elimination in 1846 of the imperial
preference tariff for colonial products entering the British market. Economic hardship was
the prime motive behind the Morant Bay rebellion by freedmen in 1865. The British
ruthlessly quelled the uprising and also forced the frightened legislature to surrender its
powers; Jamaica became a crown colony.
Poverty and economic decline led many blacks to seek temporary work in neighboring
Caribbean areas and in the United States; many left the island permanently, emigrating to
England, Canada, and the United States. Indians were imported to meet the labor shortage on
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