The Silver Men

It is generally known that emigrants from the British West Indies provided much of the labour needed to construct the Panama Railroad during the 1850s and the Panama Canal between 1881 and 1914. However, no comprehensive study of the background against which the movement took place, the numbers involved, the conditions under which the emigrants had to labour under the Isthmus, and the effects of emigration on the West Indian islands and Panama has been published. This study highlights the role of West Indians in building the Panama Railroad and Canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It also shows that migration to Panama had more far-reaching demographic and economic consequences on the British West Indies than is generally realised and that the movement contributed to the still popular conception of extra-regional migration as one of the best avenues to economic and social betterment. It also examines the social position of Panamanians of West Indian descent and concludes that their assimilation was still not complete, even up to the end of the 20th century.