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Caribbean Islands The West Indies Federation, 1957-62
As part of its decision to push modified self-government, the
British authorities encouraged the experiment in confederation. The
idea had been discussed in the Colonial Office since the later
nineteenth century, but it was brought to new life with a regional
conference held at Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1947. The British were
interested in administrative efficiency and centralization. The
West Indians talked about political independence. At the
conference, a compromise was worked out. The West Indian
Meteorological Services and the University of the West Indies, as
a College of London University, were set up, and plans were made
for the creation of a political federation that would unite the
various territories and eventually culminate in the political
independence of the region. These new regional organizations joined
others already in existence, such as the Caribbean Union of
Teachers, established in 1935; the Associated Chambers of Commerce,
organized in 1917; and the Caribbean Labour Congress, inaugurated
in 1945.
The federation began inauspiciously with the leading
politicians in Jamaica--Norman Manley (then prime minister) and
Alexander Bustamante--and in Trinidad and Tobago--Eric Williams--
refusing to contest the federal elections. This uneasy federation
of ten island territories (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados,
Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia,
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, and Montserrat) lasted
from 1957 to 1961, when Jamaica opted to leave. Doomed from the
start by lukewarm popular support, the federation quickly foundered
on the islands' uncompromisingly parochial interests, especially
those of the principal participants, Trinidad and Tobago and
Jamaica. The former would not accept unrestricted freedom of
movement; the latter would not accept a binding customs union. On
September 19, 1961, some 54 percent of the Jamaican electorate
voted to end their participation. It was the lowest popular vote in
any Jamaican election, but the government accepted the decision and
initiated the plans to request complete independence for the state.
Attempts by Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados to salvage the
federation after the withdrawal of Jamaica failed.
In 1962, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago became the first
Anglophone Caribbean countries to achieve independence. Barbados
gained its independence in 1966; the Bahamas in 1973; Grenada in
1974; Dominica in 1978; St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the
Grenadines in 1979; Antigua and Barbuda in 1981; and St. KittsNevis in 1983. In late 1987, Montserrat, the British Virgin
Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands
remained crown colonies with limited internal self-government.
Anguilla, having broken away unilaterally from St. Kitts-Nevis in
1967, became an Associated State of Great Britain in 1976. The
proliferation of mini-states in the Caribbean will most likely
continue. The five remaining British dependencies may yet seek
independence. Moreover, it is not inconceivable that one or more
multiple-island states, such as St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Vincent and
the Grenadines, or even Trinidad and Tobago, might split into
separate entities.
Data as of November 1987
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