After slavery was abolished throughout European colonies in the Caribbean during the 1800’s, many poorly-paid laborers various parts of Asia were brought in as a new source of labor. As a result, many Caribbean countries have significant South and East Asian populations today, with Indians composing a plurality of the population of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
Nothing like this really happened in the United States, though. That said, such proposals were discussed at various times. @David T once noted that Wendell Phillips feared that Southern slaveholders would start pushing for the importation of “apprentices” as a euphemism for effectively restarting the international slave trade, though in that case he assumed that the “apprentices” would be brought in from Africa, not Asia. Though I do not have the source right now, I think I read once that, in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War and the end of slavery in the United States, some Southerners considered bringing in large numbers of Chinese laborers to fill the former economic role of African-American slaves. Remember, this was around the same time that many poorly-treated Chinese workers came to American to work on railroad construction.
Ultimately, nothing like this ever really came to pass. Indeed, the United States government and legal system actively worked to bar immigration from East and South Asia during much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
So, with any point of divergence in the 19th century (so, no scenarios where the American colonies remain part of the British Empire), either before or after the abolition of slavery, what scenario could ultimately lead to Southern planters bringing in a significant number of Asian workers to their region? What country or countries in Asia would most of these workers likely come from? Depending on the answer to the preceding question, what would be the likely long-term economic, political, and social impact on the United States generally and the South specifically?
Nothing like this really happened in the United States, though. That said, such proposals were discussed at various times. @David T once noted that Wendell Phillips feared that Southern slaveholders would start pushing for the importation of “apprentices” as a euphemism for effectively restarting the international slave trade, though in that case he assumed that the “apprentices” would be brought in from Africa, not Asia. Though I do not have the source right now, I think I read once that, in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War and the end of slavery in the United States, some Southerners considered bringing in large numbers of Chinese laborers to fill the former economic role of African-American slaves. Remember, this was around the same time that many poorly-treated Chinese workers came to American to work on railroad construction.
Ultimately, nothing like this ever really came to pass. Indeed, the United States government and legal system actively worked to bar immigration from East and South Asia during much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
So, with any point of divergence in the 19th century (so, no scenarios where the American colonies remain part of the British Empire), either before or after the abolition of slavery, what scenario could ultimately lead to Southern planters bringing in a significant number of Asian workers to their region? What country or countries in Asia would most of these workers likely come from? Depending on the answer to the preceding question, what would be the likely long-term economic, political, and social impact on the United States generally and the South specifically?