Coolie

The term "coolie" refers to unskilled laborers from Asia in the 1800s to early 1900s who were sent to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, North Africa and the West Indies. The term usually referred to Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Korean laborers and was often used in a derogatory way.

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The word may derive from the Chinese word ?? k? l? which literally means "bitterly hard (use of) strength". However, Webster's New World Dictionary of the English Language traces it back to the Hindi q?l?, which means "hired laborer." Other forms occur in the Bengali, kuli and the Tamil, kuli, "daily hire." The following statement explains why coolie labor was imported for colonial enterprises: "In tropical countries where white labor is impossible, there arose with the abolition of slavery a need for cheap labor capable of doing the heavy tasks of plantations, factories, and shipping."

Asia: Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia and world's largest continent. Defined by subtracting Europe from Eurasia, Asia is either regarded as a landmass of its own or as part of Eurasia....

United States: :For other uses, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation)....

North Africa: North Africa is a region generally considered to include:...