Outsourcing African Labor
Kru Migratory Workers in Global Ports, Estates and Battlefields until the End of the 19th Century
By the late eighteenth century, the British need for local labor in West Africa led to the establishment of free wage labor contracts with Kru workers from Liberia. The Kru's long-standing familiarity with European trade on the Kru Coast significantly influenced their willingness to seek wage-earning opportunities with the British. The founding of Freetown in 1792 allowed the Kru to engage in systematic work for British merchants and naval officers, leading to the creation of their first permanent labor community outside their homeland. This community, known as Krutown, provided a steady labor pool for British commercial ships and Royal Navy vessels. The Kru also established networks of settlements in various Atlantic ports, including Cape Coast and the British Caribbean. The migration of Kru workers across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans represented a significant movement of free wage labor, transforming the Kru Coast into a hub of diasporas and workplaces. As they formed both permanent and transient communities, the Kru experienced social, political, and economic innovations that ultimately increased employment opportunities in their diaspora, countering declines in their homeland by the end of the nineteenth century. Characterized by a predominantly male workforce, the Kru stood out in the history of Atlantic trade, particularly during an era marked by the abolition of the slave trade, as they were free and skilled
