History Lesson: The Chinese "Coolie" Slave Trade by the British, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Americans-a thread

When Britain "abolished slavery" in the early 1800s, the owners of mines/plantations still needed people, so they came up with "indentured service". They lied to people, telling them that they would lead better lives in the West after serving 8 years of service. But...

Their employers often refused to honor the contracts, or paid them so little that they could never buy passage home. Literally a slave trade. They took them by force , often showing up in their homes and forcing them to sign "contracts" written in English/Portuguese, not Chinese.

They kept them in jails in Macao/Hong Kong and painted their destinations on their chests. IE: P for Peru, C for Cuba, and S for Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). They were substitutes for slave labor. This practice emerged during a time where they were supposedly shifting away from it.

These ships were the same ones used to transport African slaves, and often employed the same brutality and tactics against the Chinese. They kept Chinese people below decks and about 12% of all Chinese people aboard died, similar to that of the African slave trade.

Chinese people were sold off to sugar plantations in Cuba, Hawaii, and Mauritius. Some went to sheep farms and mines in Australia. Worse even, many were shipped to Peru to work in guano mines. From 1849-1875, over 60,000 Chinese people died-a survival rate of 30%.

When the 8 year contracts expired, they were often forced to resign new contracts. Most never returned back to China. In 1873, the China Mail published this quote: "Once they are deceived into becoming slaves, the Chinese are treated like the blacks."

Finally, a Chinese official was allowed to visit Cuba in 1874. His report helped end this trade, but the western countries just turned to India to continue their barbaric practices up until World War One. In total, about 1M people were transported.

The Coolie Trade is not to be confused with the Gold Rush of the 1900s, though. Chinese men immigrating to America faced just as harsh conditions on ships, but were treated as free people when they landed. However, women were stolen from China to meet the "needs" of men.

This piece of history is an insight to America/China's relationship is today. But, this is just another example of how schools do not teach Asian history besides the communist revolution in China. To put this thread together, I had to do extensive research on my own people.