Today Guyana observes Arrival Day. Originally, this holiday was known as Indian Arrivals Day and celebrated specifically the first indentured laborers from India to Guyana on May 5th, 1838. However, the meaning of the holiday was later broadened to include all ethnic groups that came as indentured servants to replace slave labor on the sugar plantations after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire.
Arrivals Day is a day when the people of Guyana remember their diverse heritage but also their nation’s motto: ONE PEOPLE, ONE NATION, ONE DESTINY!
Guyana became a British territory in 1831 when the British took control of the Dutch colonies during the Napoleonic Wars.
On August 1st 1834, slavery was abolished in almost all parts of the British Empire. This caused an issue with the labor-intensive sugar plantations having relied on the slaves to provide the necessary workforce. An apprentice scheme to keep the former slaves employed only lasted four years.
To replace the slaves, Britain started a process of using indentured labor. Effectively indentured workers would work as slaves, but only for the term of their contract, after which they would be freed and, in many cases, given some land.
Many Chinese and other immigrants soon also came to Guyana as indentured servants, but the bulk came from India. The Indian subcontinent proved to be a plentiful source of laborers, looking to escape poverty and forge a new life overseas.
On May 5th 1838, 396 workers arrived in British Guiana (Guyana) from Calcutta, India in order to work in sugar plantations. These first workers were known as the “Gladstone Coolies” as they were brought over by the plantation owner John Gladstone.
By the time the indentured system ended in 1920, British Guiana had received 238,909 workers from India. Today their descendants comprise 44% of Guyana’s population of over 750,000.
Location, location, location
Today is the birthday, in 1942, of Colin Earl, Mungo Jerry, who had the 1970 UK No.1 & US No.3 single ‘In The Summertime’ as well as the hits ‘Baby Jump’ and ‘Lady Rose’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvUQcnfwUUM
