University of Vorona Press

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The University of Vorona Press (UVPress) is an academic publishing house that is part of the University of Vorona. The UVPress publishes numerous academic journals, monographs, edited volumes, literary books and scholarly proceedings across a wide range of disciplines. Its principal mandate is to advance scholarly research on issues of national and regional importance, with particular emphasis on Vorona. 

University of Vorona Press – Journal Catalogue

1. Journal of Voronan Economic Studies
   
2. Journal of Voronan Science and Environment
   
3. Journal of Voronan Health and Society
   
4. Voronan Education Quarterly 
   
5. Voronan Arts and Cultural Studies
   
6. Law and Society in Vorona
   
7. Voronan Global Affairs Review
   
8. Journal of Voronan History and Thought
   

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The formal abolition of slavery in Vorona and the subsequent emancipation of the enslaved created a profound labour market crisis within the colony, largely as a result of the sudden withdrawal of the often overlooked, yet essential part of the plantation system’s success: slave labour. Despite the assurances of colonial authorities (in the metropole) about the ostensible freedoms to be enjoyed in post-emancipation Vorona, the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation did not automatically translate into economic independence and land equity for the formerly enslaved. In actuality, the plantation elite, deeply invested in the racial and economic power structures which had underpinned their dominance, fiercely resisted the full implications of emancipation. Historians have long recognised that the transitional apprenticeship system, which was implemented a mere three months following the proclamation, served largely as a mechanism to prolong planter control over labour by legally binding formerly enslaved persons to their former masters under slightly improved (waged) yet still restrictive conditions. This, when coupled with Raktavani indentureship, which despite its brutality, nonetheless provided indentured labourers a formalised pathway to land ownership through contractual agreements, created a dichotomy in post-emancipation access to economic opportunity. This disparity, a creature of both the intentional obstruction of economic independence for the formerly enslaved and the advantages afforded to indentured labourers, has, to their detriment, entrenched a pattern of landlessness among Esinsundu-Voronans, which has had a profound impact on the socioeconomic landscape of Vorona to this day.

The Esinsundu-Voronan Experience (Post-Emancipation)
The period following emancipation had been inextricably marked by concerted efforts of the planter class to maintain control over the labour force and land resources. The apprenticeship system, which preceded full emancipation, served as a transition phase, compelling emancipated Voronans to continue working on the plantations which, for the better part of four centuries, had deprived them of both their humanity and independence. Planters, particularly those in what is now Eastern Vorona, openly opposed the Emancipation Proclamation, leveraging their control over the territory’s Executive Council to implement measures that might tie the formerly enslaved to the plantations as a means of ensuring continued production before the full implications of emancipation could manifest. Among the tactics employed under the apprenticeship system, the planter class remanded apprentices to decrepit dependencies, inflated appraisal prices for freedom purchases and sponsored the ordinances that criminalised vagrancy and idleness, thus coercing freedpersons into returning to estate labour under threat of imprisonment.

Outside of the apprenticeship system, particularly among those who were fortunate enough to have purchased their freedom from their former master, the opposition to emancipation extended to matters related to land ownership. Following emancipation, much of the arable land within Vorona had been largely concentrated in the hands of the plantation owners, who believed that the development of a black land-owning class would be a direct threat to the racial and social order within the plantocracy. To this end, numerous obstacles were placed in the way of the then progressive march towards black landownership. These included raising land prices to unaffordable levels, with land sometimes being purchased “out of spite” at exorbitant rates. They often resorted to selling non-arable land, often without clear titles. In addition to these economic barriers, both crown lands and plantation sections were only sold in large, expensive portions, effectively excluding small-scale subsistence buyers. Tenancy agreements, which allowed individuals to cultivate plots for a fixed period and meet specific production quotas in exchange for eventual ownership, were drafted to keep tenants in perpetual dependency via unrealistic production quotas.

Raktavani Indentureship and Beyond
The arrival of indentured labour within Vorona was one of the responses made by colonial authorities to the labour vacuum created by the emancipation of enslaved Esinsundu-Voronans. These labourers, largely originating from both Malivia and Vascania, were explicitly imported to work on the colony’s sugarcane and rice plantations. Contemporary studies have revealed that life on the plantations for the indentured labourer was often no better than the conditions they had left behind in Vascania and Malivia, with some describing them as “virtually enslaved, constrained by a web of rules and restrictions that claimed dominion over their labour and freedom”. As a requirement of their contractual obligations, indentured labourers were required to live on the estate lands, meet definite work quotas and endure long, often taxing hours harvesting sugarcane. The initial, deceptive contracts which had enticed many to make the voyage from Vascania and Malivia to Vorona stipulated a five-year labour term, with an option for a return voyage to either Malivia or Vascania after an “extended period” of residency in the colony, a cost which would be partially financed by the plantation owner.

In establishing the distinction between slavery and indentureship beyond the conditions of the systems themselves, historians point to the Estate Allotment Ordinance by Governor David Asquith, which offered crown lands to indentured labourers in lieu of their return passage, as a factor that positioned indentureship as comparatively less oppressive. The ordinance, which offered a small amount of money and small parcels of land (often 5 to 10 acres), proved popular among indentured labourers, as historic data from the National Archives revealed that around 2,000 labourers had commuted their passage in exchange for money and/or land. Raktavanis often pooled resources to buy parcels of land in specific areas and had been largely seen as a means of etching out communities to establish a sense of “homeliness” similar to the villages man had left in Malivia and Vascania. Opportunities for land ownership beyond crown lands arose amidst the early crisis within the sugarcane sector. The advent of beet sugar in Luthori and Lourenne ultimately made sugarcane cultivations increasingly unprofitable, and thus, numerous estates were put on the market as their owners either shifted to other ventures or left Vorona entirely. These estates were divided into smaller, more affordable parcels, allowing more to access land.

Raktavani women, in particular, played a key role in these land acquisition moves. A unique circumstance of their condition: the non-recognition of religious marriages by the colonial authorities meant that Raktavani women in unregistered unions could legally own, inherit and transfer property without the consent of their husbands. This, when coupled with their accumulated savings (both from indentured labour and Governor Asquith’s scheme), created a pathway for economic independence among Raktavani women and men by extension, which had not been open to Esinsundus.

On Land Tenure Security
Secure, formal land titles provided Raktavanis with an asset that could be leveraged for generations. The concept of “dead capital” suggests that assets lacking formal titles cannot be formally utilised for productive investment. Conversely, clear, enforceable titles allow for land to be used to obtain credit, facilitate land exchange, leading to the establishment of recapitalised farmlands. It is this concept that has allowed for land to be viewed as not merely something to be lived on or cultivated, but as a stable, appreciating asset which can be passed from generation to generation. For many Esinsundu-Voronans, the prevalence of informal or insecure tenure (squatting, etc) limited their ability to leverage land to their advantage. Without formal titles, individuals faced substantial obstacles when it came to accessing credit and transferring property. The lack of regal recognition of their landholdings meant that their “assets” remained largely “dead capital”, unable to generate the same appreciating generational wealth as formally titled land. It is out of this that the prevailing notion of Raktavanis being “richer” as a result of their relationship with land as opposed to Esinsundu-Voronans arises.

Conclusion
To this end, the dichotomy in land access and ownership between Raktavani-Voronans and Esinsundu-Voronans cannot be simplified to a matter of happenstance. Although emancipation had brought about the legal emancipation of enslaved Esinsundu-Voronans, its failure to deconstruct the control over land and labour by the plantation elite ensured that freedom did not equate to economic independence. The disparity which emerged cemented a long-term socioeconomic divide, wherein Raktavanis could transform land into appreciating assets, while many Esinsundu-Voronans remained locked in cycles of landlessness and “dead capital”.

This post was made using numerous sources. Message for footnotes and sources