Question 1
Apprenticeship involved the emancipated slaves working for the planters, but as a way of learning. They were paid for their work, and they had better-working conditions; they would not be mistreated by the master as they wished. Contratacion involves contracting the workers for a full wage while Patronato was a form of forced labor. The former owners had patronage over them in that they would not leave the plantation without permission, and they were paid a meager wage.
The most efficient labor system for the slave owners in retaining a labor source for the plantations was the apprenticeship; this is because it created a better relationship with slaves and the former slave owner (Thierens, 2009). They were paid a considerable amount of their work, and they had better-working conditions. They were well motivated. Hence, the former slave owners would achieve the labor source for their plantations.
Question 2
Most of the slave owners had to cover the expenses for their plantations, and they had to sell part of their land to the Black peasantry (Folte, n.d). Some of the former enslaved had land, and they cultivated it to get food and some of which they sold. Some became shopkeepers, hucksters, and petty traders. The development of the peasantry helped them get involved in income generating activities. Hence, they were independent of the plantations.
Most of the peasantry were farmers and hence they faced massive crop infestations, they suffered losses during natural calamities, they lacked capital for their improvements. They lacked good transport infrastructure for their produce (Stewart, 1992). They lacked a proper supply chain for their products. Despite the fact that they were emancipated; they still faced many hardships during the years.
References
Folte, S. (n.d.) Emancipation: The Caribbean Experience. Scholar.library.miami.edu. Retrieved 20 February 2016, from http://scholar.library.miami.edu/emancipation/whites1.htm
Stewart, R. (1992). Religion and society in post-emancipation Jamaica. Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press.
Thierens, C. (2009). History this week - Reasons for the rapid growth of a Black peasantry in British Guiana and Trinidad immediately after 1838 - Stabroek News. Stabroek News. Retrieved 20 February 2016, from http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/features/04/09/history-this-week- reasons-for-the-rapid-growth-of-a-black-peasantry-in-british-guiana-and-trinidad- immediately-after-1838/
