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Solomon Islanders withdraw from colonialism (“Maasina Rule”), 1944-52

Country
Solomon Islands
Time period
1944 to 1952
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
William Lawrence, 12/3/2011

As on many Pacific islands, the British colonial rulers of the Solomon Islands set up an economy based on an inter-island trade in indigenous labor. Islanders were often just as happy to avoid the labor trade and continue living in their traditional subsistence economy, so the British instituted coercive methods to encourage people to work on plantations and, during World War II, in military industries. One of these methods was a strict indentured labor system that prohibited laborers from removing themselves from contracts once signed.