In 1834, after several more slave revolts, the British made the 'Emancipation Act' law. This act allowed all slaves under the age of 6 to be immediately freed; all other slaves would serve an apprenticeship to learn helpful skills for several years. This was not a welcome announcement to the many British landowners who relied on slave labour to produce huge cash crops. Planters imported 35,000 indentured servants from India and later China to fill this gap (Hence the Motto, Out of many we are one).



In 1830 the mulattoes –or 'mixed-race' people – of the island were allowed political power and began fighting for the poor ex-slaves in the 1860s. Again the American political situation affected Jamaica, and the naval blockade during the American Civil War brought economic strife to the island. The Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865 by many blacks was put down aggressively by Jamaica’'s Governor, Edward Eyre. However, the violence of his response was not well-received in England, and the next series of governors chosen were much more liberal.



By 1838, the production of sugar was no longer the island’'s most useful export. The colonists soon realized that bananas and coffee were more economically sound alternatives. However, the biggest hit Jamaica’'s economy received was in 1846 with the 'Sugar Duties Act', which forced Jamaica to compete with other sugar producers in terms of price. The advent of beet sugar in Europe further hurt the island’'s sugar trade. Bananas, however, bolstered the island economy until the Great Depression of the 1930s.



Source: http://jamaica-guide.info/past.and.present/history/index.html