Demographic Composition of Trinidad

289 Words2 Pages
Demographic composition of Trinidad during the period of enslavement I did from 1725 to 1797 * After the disaster of the cocoa crop in 1725, the non-Indian population declined to only 162 adult males only 28 were white (Spanish). * Small pox disease in 1739 further declined the Spanish and Indian population * In 1765, the population was estimated 2503 of which 1277 were Christianised Indians * In the 16th century the population was halved from about 30000 – 40000 in 1498 to 15000 – 20000 in 1592 which was a great decline in little under a century. This decline was due to diseases, age, attacks by the Spaniards, carrying the enslaved Indians to the greater Antilles or Cubagua and margarita and also raids by kalinago (caribs) who established settlements on the north coast and some moved inland. * In 1592, the encomenderos founded St. Joseph and were granted a handful of Spaniards and four major encomiendas were established which had only about 600 Indians out of its whole Indian population * By the year 1783 the Spanish accepted the principle of foreign immigration to Trinidad because French planters had slaves, capital and expertise in the cultivation of staples so they had to get them to the island which came in 1783 which brought about the failure of the Spanish colony and led to the islands being ceded to Britain in 1762. By 1784 there were French and African immigrants in the country, but by 1784 there were more white French than Spaniards but most were African slaves * In 1784 – 7 there was a large increase of slaves brought in from Africa and the lesser Antilles * By 1797 the population reached 17,718. 10009 were slaves, 1082 were indians and 6627 were whites and coloured
Open Document