on the machine after long days of labour and severely flogged. The disruptive effects of forced labour on the families of freed slaves, colonial officials' inability to effectively regulate the labour system, and the apprentices' poor living and working conditions are issues that Williams also discusses. The narrative does not include any information about James Williams' early life and focuses solely on his time as an apprentice. Its narrow focus and centring of violence is likely a result of the narrative's political purpose and intended British audience and may suggest that abolitionists and the amanuensis who worked with Williams influenced what themes and details were included. Yet, despite the emphasis on violence, Williams describes how he attempted to resist exploitation through truancy, theft and appealing to magistrates for protection against his masters' abuses. Narrative of Events was popular, widely circulated and positively received by the British public. However, it also produced a considerable backlash in the West Indies. The Jamaica Despatch, a pro-planter Jamaican newspaper, criticized James Williams and Joseph Sturge and insisted that the narrative was propaganda and its claims unfounded. In response, anti-apprenticeship proponents published select apprentice interviews in the local newspapers to bolster Williams' claims. Historian of the Caribbean Diana Patton has suggested that the extent of planter resistance indicates the political efficacy of the narrative. Williams' narrative was particularly helpful in the anti-apprenticeship campaign because it includes specific names and places which made his claims verifiable. As a result, In 1837, after receiving and reviewing the publication, the Colonial Office tasked Sir Lionel Smith, the governor of Jamaica, to investigate the allegations made in Williams' narrative and to establish a commission to interview the apprentices, magistrates, and workhouse overseers in St. Ann's and other Jamaican parishes. The commission consisted of Sir Special Magistrate Daughtrey and local justice Gordon. It commenced its investigation on 20 September 1837. The Gordon & Daughtrey Commission corroborated many of Williams' claims though there were some discrepancies. Their findings were printed in a special report and in the 1837–1838 Parliamentary Papers. Abolition of apprenticeship Narrative of Events, other damaging accounts and investigations of the West Indian workhouses, local fears of rebellion and pressure from the British public led the colonial assemblies to prematurely abolish the apprenticeship system and all had done so by 1838. Full emancipation British policy The political and citizenship status of newly freed slaves was thoroughly debated among colonial