Slaves, Convicts, Abolitionism and the Global Origins of the Post-Emancipation Indentured Labor System

Recent research challenges long-held assumptions about the origins of the post-emancipation indentured labor system, revealing that it emerged 25 years earlier than previously believed and was initially centered on Chinese rather than Indian workers. The British East India Company played a pivotal role in this global migrant labor system's development during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with its influence extending beyond the Indian Ocean region. This study sheds new light on the interconnected free and forced labor trades that shaped colonial plantation economies, drawing from international conferences and supported by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund.

Allen, R. B. (2014). Slaves, Convicts, Abolitionism and the Global Origins of the Post-Emancipation Indentured Labor System. Slavery & Abolition, 35(2), 328–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144039x.2013.870789