Guyana POLITICAL AND SOCIAL AWAKENINGS
The Umana Yana Benab, a traditional meeting place built by the
Waiwai, Georgetown
Courtesy Embassy of Guyana, Washington
Nineteenth-Century British Guiana
The constitution of the British colony favored the white
planters. Planter political power was based in the Court of Policy
and the two courts of justice, established in the late 1700s under
Dutch rule. The Court of Policy had both legislative and
administrative functions and was composed of the governor, three
colonial officials, and four colonists, with the governor
presiding. The courts of justice resolved judicial matters, such as
licensing and civil service appointments, which were brought before
them by petition.
The Court of Policy and the courts of justice, controlled by
the plantation owners, constituted the center of power in British
Guiana. The colonists who sat on the Court of Policy and the courts
of justice were appointed by the governor from a list of nominees
submitted by two electoral colleges. In turn, the seven members of
each College of Electors were elected for life by those planters
possessing twenty-five or more slaves. Though their power was
restricted to nominating colonists to fill vacancies on the three
major governmental councils, these electoral colleges provided a
setting for political agitation by the planters.
Raising and disbursing revenue was the responsibility of the
Combined Court, which included members of the Court of Policy and
six additional financial representatives appointed by the College
of Electors. In 1855 the Combined Court also assumed responsibility
for setting the salaries of all government officials. This duty
made the Combined Court a center of intrigues resulting in periodic
clashes between the governor and the planters.
Other Guianese began to demand a more representative political
system in the 1800s. By the late 1880s, pressure from the new
Afro-Guyanese middle class was building for constitutional reform.
In particular, there were calls to convert the Court of Policy into
an assembly with ten elected members, to ease voter qualifications,
and to abolish the College of Electors. Reforms were resisted by
the planters, led by Henry K. Davson, owner of a large plantation.
In London the planters had allies in the West India Committee and
also in the West India Association of Glasgow, both presided over
by proprietors with major interests in British Guiana.
Constitutional revisions in 1891 incorporated some of the
changes demanded by the reformers. The planters lost political
influence with the abolition of the College of Electors and the
relaxation of voter qualification. At the same time, the Court of
Policy was enlarged to sixteen members; eight of these were to be
elected members whose power would be balanced by that of eight
appointed members. The Combined Court also continued, consisting,
as previously, of the Court of Policy and six financial
representatives who were now elected. To ensure that there would be
no shift of power to elected officials, the governor remained the
head of the Court of Policy; the executive duties of the Court of
Policy were transferred to a new Executive Council, which the
governor and planters dominated. The 1891 revisions were a great
disappointment to the colony's reformers. As a result of the
election of 1892, the membership of the new Combined Court was
almost identical to that of the previous one.
The next three decades saw additional, although minor,
political changes. In 1897 the secret ballot was introduced. A
reform in 1909 expanded the limited British Guiana electorate, and
for the first time, Afro-Guyanese constituted a majority of the
eligible voters.
Political changes were accompanied by social change and
jockeying by various ethnic groups for increased power. The British
and Dutch planters refused to accept the Portuguese as equals and
sought to maintain their status as aliens with no rights in the
colony, especially voting rights. The political tensions led the
Portuguese to establish the Reform Association. After the
anti-Portuguese riots of 1889, the Portuguese recognized the need
to work with other disenfranchised elements of Guianese society, in
particular the Afro-Guyanese. By the turn of the century,
organizations including the Reform Association and the Reform Club
began to demand greater participation in the colony's affairs.
These organizations were largely the instruments of a small but
articulate emerging middle class. Although the new middle class
sympathized with the working class, the middle-class political
groups were hardly representative of a national political or social
movement. Indeed, working-class grievances were usually expressed
in the form of riots.
Data as of January 1992
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