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Guyana Political and Social Changes in the 1900s
The 1905 Ruimveldt Riots rocked British Guiana. The severity of
these outbursts reflected the workers' widespread dissatification
with their standard of living. The uprising began in late November
1905 when the Georgetown stevedores went on strike, demanding
higher wages. The strike grew confrontational, and other workers
struck in sympathy, creating the country's first urban-rural worker
alliance. On November 30, crowds of people took to the streets of
Georgetown, and by December 1, 1905, now referred to as Black
Friday, the situation had spun out of control. At the Plantation
Ruimveldt, close to Georgetown, a large crowd of porters refused to
disperse when ordered to do so by a police patrol and a detachment
of artillery. The colonial authorities opened fire, and four
workers were seriously injured.
Word of the shootings spread rapidly throughout Georgetown and
hostile crowds began roaming the city, taking over a number of
buildings. By the end of the day, seven people were dead and
seventeen badly injured. In a panic, the British administration
called for help. Britain sent troops, who finally quelled the
uprising. Although the stevedores' strike failed, the riots had
planted the seeds of what would become an organized trade union
movement.
Even though World War I was fought far beyond the borders of
British Guiana, the war altered Guianese society. The AfroGuyanese who joined the British military became the nucleus of an
elite Afro-Guyanese community upon their return. World War I also
led to the end of East Indian indentured service. British concerns
over political stability in India and criticism by Indian
nationalists that the program was a form of human bondage caused
the British government to outlaw indentured labor in 1917.
In the closing years of World War I, the colony's first trade
union was formed. The British Guiana Labour Union (BGLU) was
established in 1917 under the leadership of H.N. Critchlow. Formed
in the face of widespread business opposition, the BGLU at first
mostly represented Afro-Guyanese dockworkers. Its membership stood
around 13,000 by 1920, and it was granted legal status in 1921
under the Trades Union Ordinance. Although recognition of other
unions would not come until 1939, the BGLU was an indication that
the working class was becoming politically aware and more concerned
with its rights.
After World War I, new economic interest groups began to clash
with the Combined Court. The country's economy had come to depend
less on sugar and more on rice and bauxite, and producers of these
new commodities resented the sugar planters' continued domination
of the Combined Court. Meanwhile, the planters were feeling the
effects of lower sugar prices and wanted the Combined Court to
provide the necessary funds for new drainage and irrigation
programs.
To stop the bickering and resultant legislative paralysis, in
1928 the British Colonial Office announced a new constitution that
would make British Guiana a
crown colony (see Glossary)
under tight
control of a governor appointed by the Colonial Office. The
Combined Court and the Court of Policy were replaced by a
Legislative Council with a majority of appointed members. To
middle-class and working-class political activists, this new
constitution represented a step backward and a victory for the
planters. Influence over the governor, rather than the promotion of
a particular public policy, became the most important issue in any
political campaign.
The Great Depression of the 1930s brought economic hardship to
all segments of Guianese society. All of the colony's major
exports--sugar, rice and bauxite--were affected by low prices, and
unemployment soared. As in the past, the working class found itself
lacking a political voice during a time of worsening economic
conditions. By the mid-1930s, British Guiana and the whole British
Caribbean were marked by labor unrest and violent demonstrations.
In the aftermath of riots throughout the British West Indies, a
royal commission under Lord Moyne was established to determine the
reasons for the riots and to make recommendations.
In British Guiana, the Moyne Commission questioned a wide range
of people, including trade unionists, Afro-Guyanese professionals,
and representatives of the Indo-Guyanese community. The commission
pointed out the deep division between the country's two largest
ethnic groups, the Afro-Guyanese and the Indo-Guyanese. The largest
group, the Indo-Guyanese, consisted primarily of rural rice
producers or merchants; they had retained the country's traditional
culture and did not participate in national politics. The
Afro-Guyanese were largely urban workers or bauxite miners; they
had adopted European culture and dominated national politics. To
increase representation of the majority of the population in
British Guiana, the Moyne Commission called for increased
democratization of government as well as economic and social
reforms.
The Moyne Commission report in 1938 was a turning point in
British Guiana. It urged extending the franchise to women and
persons not owning land and encouraged the emerging trade union
movement. Unfortunately, many of the Moyne Commission's
recommendations were not immediately implemented because of the
outbreak of the World War II.
With the fighting far away, the period of World War II in
British Guiana was marked by continuing political reform and
improvements to the national infrastructure. The reform-minded
governor, Sir Gordon Lethem, reduced property qualifications for
officeholding and voting, and made elective members a majority on
the Legislative Council in 1943. Under the aegis of the Lend- Lease
Act of 1941, a modern air base (now Timehri Airport) was
constructed by United States troops. By the end of World War II,
British Guiana's political system had been widened to encompass
more elements of society and the economy's foundations had been
strengthened by increased demand for bauxite.
Data as of January 1992
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