THEME 8: CARIBBEAN PLOITICAL DEVELOPMENT UP TO 1985

OBJECTIVE 1 : EXPLAIN THE REASONS FOR THE FAILURE OF THE MAJOR

ATTEMPTS AT UNIFICATION IN THE BRITISH COLONIZED CARIBBEAN
BEFORE 1939
The idea that all the British Caribbean islands should be under one government has been around
since the 19th century. Early attempts at unification included:

Leeward Islands (1674)

Leeward Islands (1871)
Windward Islands (1874- 1876)

However these early attempts at unification failed because:

1. The planters, merchants and other interest groups refused to share profits from trade or
the costs of government
2. The legislature on each island preferred to keep their own authority rather than share it in
a federation. They feared they would lose their influence if the centre of government
went to another territory.
3. Difficulties in communication between the islands and financing also made them
unwilling to integrate.
4. Diversity of culture was also a main barrier to unification. Each island was different, with
its own history, laws and customs which all made for pride in their own country.
5. Nationalist movement also undermined the idea of a regional government.
6. The products of the islands competed with one another rather than support each other.
For example different islands produced sugar rather than one producing sugar and
another coffee.

OBJECTIVE 2: ASSESS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POPULAR PROTEST

AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CARIBBEAN BETWEEN 1935- 1958

The great economic depression of the 1930s was worldwide. In the industrialized countries,
factories closed and unemployment was experienced by millions of workers. Between 1929 and
1932, world production fell by a third and world trade by two thirds. The depression was felt
hardest in places like the British Caribbean, which depended on one or two major export crops.
Governments lost their spending money as the income from export duties slumped. So they
suspended public works programmes, which had always given work to many part time labourers.
The depression led to a rise in the number of unemployed and ultimately to there was a rise in
the number of strikes in the British Caribbean.
The table below lists protests action that took place between 1935 and 1938
Year

Island

Event

1935
1935
1935
1937
1937
1937
1937
1937
1938

St Kitts
St Vincent
British Guiana
Trinidad
Barbados
British Guiana
St Lucia
Jamaica
Jamaica

Strike by sugar workers

Demonstrations against custom duty hikes
Labour disputes on sugar plantations
Strike by oil workers
General strike
Uprising on sugar estates
Strike by sugar workers
Protests by sugar workers
Strike by dockworkers

Caribbean workers started organizing themselves in labour organizations/ trade unions. Some of
the trade unions and trade union leaders included:
Trade union
British Guiana Labour Union
Bustamante Industrial Union
British Empire Workers
Barbados Workers Union
Trinidad Workingmens Association

Trade union leader & country

Herbert Crichlow (British Guiana)
Alexander Bustamante (Jamaica)
Tubal Buzz Uriah Butler (Trinidad)
Grantley Adams (Barbados)
Arthur Andrew Cipriani

In 1938 , largely because of these protest actions, a Royal Commission headed by Lord Alfred
Moyne was appointed to analyze and report on the conditions causing unrest in the West Indies.
Among the conditions which were reported included:

Inadequate medical services

Many persons suffered from diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, worm infestations,

yaws , and leprosy

High infant mortality rate
Widespread poverty
High crime rate
Breakdown of family life
Poor housing (houses made of rusty corrugate iron, and unsound boarding, poor

sanitation aand water supply)

Poor development of education (not enough schools, lack of equipment, school buildings

in a state of disrepair, lack of teachers, underpaid teachers)

Poor working conditions (no laws against the use of unsafe machinery or the exploitation
of women and children, sick leave, holidays or time off

Some of the recommendations of the Moyne Commission included:

The entire medical service of the English speaking Caribbean should be reorganized

under one central authority

Caribbean leaders should establish a public works programme of slum clearing, backed

up by the building of suitable low priced buildings

Educational programmes which are more closely related to the life and experiences of the

residents of the British West Indies

Implementation of laws on labour conditions and the rights of trade unions, for example,
the trade unions laws should allow unions to picket peacefully and protect them against
being sued by a company for the money it lost during a strike.

The colonies should immediately set up workmens compensation schemes,

unemployment insurance and guidelines for minimum wages

The colonies should have labour departments to see that these improvements were carried

out and to protect the rights of trade unions

The introduction of adult suffrage (the right to vote for all men and women over a certain

age)
Increased democratization of government
Giving the right to vote to women and to people who did not own land
Self government
It also recommended Federation of all the colonies

Universal adult suffrage spurred the formation of political parties. However, many Caribbean
political parties were formed out of the trade union movement. This is why nearly every party
has the word labour or people in its title. The table below shows some of the major political
parties of the Caribbean.
Decade
formed

Country

Main political parties

1930s
1930s
1950s
1950s

Barbados Labour Party, Democratic Labour Party

Peoples National Party, Jamaica Labour Party
United Workers Party, St Lucia Labour Party
Peoples Political Party, St Vincent Labour Party

1950s

Barbados
Jamaica
St Lucia
St Vincent and the
Grenadines
St Kitts and Nevis

1950s

Dominica

1950s

Guyana

1960s

Trinidad and Tobago

1960s

Antigua

St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party, Peoples Action

Movement
Dominican Labour Party, Peoples National
Movement
Peoples national Congress, Peoples Progressive
Party
Peoples National Movement, Democratic Labour
Party
Antigua Labour Party, Progressive Labour
Movement

OBJECTIVE 3: Explain the reasons for the establishment of a federation of the British
West Indies between 1945 and 1958
By 1958, many Caribbean leaders began to support the idea of a Federation of the English
speaking Caribbean territories.

Reasons for the Federation

Political independence: the Federation would give them a stronger voice in world affairs

and more bargaining power to demand political independence

A united British Caribbean would also answer the Colonial Offices views that some

territories were too small to survive if they became self governing

Federation would not solve the Caribbeans economic problems, but it was a necessary

condition to do so
A strong central authority was needed, rather than delegation by other agencies
A federal authority would be responsible for public order, education and agriculture

In January 1958, after 11 years of discussions, debates and conferences, the Federation of the
West Indies was finally formed. The capital was in Port of- Spain and the Prime Minister
was the Barbadian Grantley Adams. The Federation had 10 members:
1. Antigua and Barbuda
2. Barbados
3. St Kitts and Nevis and Anguilla
4. Dominica
5. Grenada
6. Montserrat
7. Jamaica
8. St Lucia
9. Trinidad and Tobago
10. St Vincent and the Grenadines

The Federation lasted just four years and was dissolved on 31 May 1962, after Jamaica withdrew
following a referendum held in that island in September 1961.

OBJECCTIVE 4: EXPLAIN THE REASONS FOR THE FAILURE OF THE

BRITISH WEST INDIES FEDERATION IN 1962
Reasons for the failure of the Federation

The federal budget was insufficient. The British government agreed to give 500,000 for
the establishment of the Federation. This was not enough in the view of the Caribbean

leaders.
There was lack of popular support for the federation from the majority of the Caribbean

people
There was disagreement among federal leaders in the following areas:
(a) Location of the capital of the Federation: the choice of Barbados for the capital of the
Federation was opposed by Caribbean critics. They felt that the British bureaucrats
preferred Barbados because it had remained a British possession, even keeping its Old
Representative System. The question of where to put the capital produced jealousies.
Finally, the location of the capital of the Federation was located in Port of Spain

Trinidad.
(b) freedom of movement; some territories especially Trinidad feared that they would

face unlimited immigration of persons from the smaller islands

Jamaica and Trinidad felt disillusioned by the idea of the Federation and were interested

in the full independence

The idea of a common Caribbean people had not yet developed fully and each
territory had its individual identity. People did not think of themselves as Caribbean
people but only as Jamaicans, Antiguans, Grenadians etc

The problems of communication between territories separated by sea, of having one

currency and unifying customs duties

The various Caribbean leaders did not want to give any power to regional government
There was a disagreement over the rules for electing members to a federal parliament
The larger territories feared that their development would be retarded by the smaller, and

generally poorer colonies.

Many of the leaders objected to a customs union with each territory setting the same
duties on imports and exports. Jamaica argued strongly that this would take away a
territorys power to encourage manufacturers or businesses .(Customs union: a
government department responsible for taxes on all goods imported into a country)

The end of the Federation

Jamaicas withdrawal from the Federation in 1961 made it impossible to bring about the strong,
unified federation that Dr Eric Williams called for in the Economics of Nationhood. Ten minus
one equals nothing he declared and announced that Trinidad and Tobago would also withdraw
and seek independence. That meant the end of the Federation. The British dissolved it in May
1962. In August, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica became fully independent states and
members of the Commonwealth in their own right.
OBJECTIVE 5: DESCRIBE THE CONTRIBUTIONS MADE TO CARIBBEAN
INTEGRATION BY OUTSTANDING PERSONALITIES (MALEA ND FEMALE) IN
THE ENGLISH SPEAKING TERRITORIES
Personalities involved in integration:
Arthur Cipriani ( 1875-1945)
He revived the Trinidad Workingmens Association.

 He won the post of mayor of Port of Spain eight times

He was one of the earliest Caribbean voices pushing for West Indian federation.
He criticized Crown Colony government as anti democratic calling it a glorified
autocracy and argued that this form of government did not serve the Caribbean people.
He campaigned for reforms that would benefit the working class population, such as the
right to trade unions, workmens compensation, old age pensions and a minimum wage.
Alexander Bustamante (1884- 1977)
He was a trade unionist and politician
He formed the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union
In 1942 he was jailed for sedition because of his strong criticisms of the colonial
system
He formed the political party called the Jamaican Labour Party which won the 1944
general elections
He became the islands first Chief Minister in 1953
He campaigned for Jamaica to pull out of the Federation through a referendum in
1961
In 1962 the Jamaica Labour party won the general election and Bustamante became
Jamaicas first Prime Minster
Grantley Adams (1898- 1971)
Studied law at the Oxford University in England
He entered politics in Barbados in the 1930s and got elected to the House of
Assembly in 1934
He was president of the Barbados Progressive League which later became the
Barbados Labour Party
He argued that the Caribbean territories should have self government
He became the first Prime Minister of the West Indian Federation
He was head of the government from 1946 to 1958, but never won an election after
that.

Theophilus Albert Marryshow (1885- 1958)

He was a journalist and politician
He founded a periodical called The West Indian through which he campaigned for
representative government and federation
He was lead speaker for the Federation
He was elected to the Grenadian legislature in 1924
He is seen as the key Caribbean figure behind the Federation and is nicknamed the Father
of Federation

William Demas (1929- 1998)

Studied economics at Cambridge University in England
Appointed Head of the Carifta Secretariat in 1967, President of the Caribbean
Development Bank in 1974
In his book Economics of Development in Small Countries, he argued that
integration was essential for the regions economic survival, since this was the
best way to overcome the limits of size
He also argued that political integration would allow the Caribbean to have more
influence on international affairs.
Norman Manley
Believed in regional unity. He believed that people of the Caribbean should come
together to face the adverse social and economic conditions which they faced.
He participated in plans for the first Conference of the Caribbean Labour Congress.
He joined Grantley Adams on the six day lecture tour of the US to secure funding to
offset the cost of hosting the Second Caribbean Labour Congress.
He attended meetings after meetings in the series of conferences that lead to the creation
of the West Indies Federation

OBJECTIVE 6: DESCRIBE THE CONSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS USED BY

NON ENGLISH SPEAKING CARIBBEAN TERRITORIES AS ALTERNATIVES TO
INDEPENDENCE
Some Caribbean countries have chosen to remain politically linked to the metropoles which
colonized them. we will look at three different arrangements for these islands.
PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth in free association with the USA. This means that its
residents are US citizens.
According to its constitution of 1952, the governor is equivalent to the Prime Minister in
the British Caribbean countries. The Governor is elected by a vote from the citizens for
a term of four years.
The Puerto Rican parliament is divided into two bodies: a Senate and a House of
Representatives. Members of both houses are elected for a four year terms.
Puerto Rico is represented in the US Congress by a resident commissioner who is directly
elected for a four year term. Although the commissioner can make the islands views
known to Congress, he or she cannot vote.
The USA is responsible for Puerto Ricos defence.
Puerto Rico benefits from most US federal social and welfare programmes.
NETHERLAND ANTILLES
The Netherland Antilles is a tripartite kingdom in which executive authority is vested in
the sovereign of the Netherlands.
The sovereigns authority is exercised by a governor nominated by the local government
and appointed by the Crown.
There is a Council of Ministers responsible to the Legislative Assembly which is
appointed by the governor.

 In matters that affect the islands, central government makes all decisions.
There are local governments for Curacao, Bonaire and the northern group of islands.
The metropolitan government only exercises its authority in international issues affecting
the Netherlands.
GUADELOPE, MARTINIQUE AND ST MARTIN

Guadeloupe, Martinique and St Martin are departments of France.

Executive authority is represented by a commissioner and other officials.
There is an elected legislative council.
There are smaller bodies called communes, each of which is administered by an elected

municipal council.
The islands are represented in the French National Assembly, French Senate and on the
French Economic and Social Council.
The courts in France have authorities over the islands.