West Indies Federation

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Federation of the West Indies
Image:Flag of West Indies.svg
(In Detail) (Full size)
National motto:
Image:West Indies Federation.PNG
Official languageEnglish
Political status Overseas territory of the UK
Capital Chaguaramas
Largest cities Kingston and Port-of-Spain
Queen Elizabeth II
Governor-General Patrick George Thomas Buchan-Hepburn
Prime Minister Grantley Herbert Adams (West Indian Federation Labour Party)
Creation January 3, 1958 (union of most of British West Indies)
Area
 - Total
 - % water 		Ranked 152nd
20,253 km²
n/a
Population


-Total(1960 E)
 - Density



3,117,300
154/km²
Currency British West Indies dollar the "Beewee" dollar (BWI$)
Currency code BWI
Time zone UTC –5 to -4, Summer: UTC –4 to -3
National anthem God Save the Queen
Internet TLD n/a
Calling Code +1-809 (from 1958- )


The Federation of the West Indies, also known as the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived, now defunct Caribbean federation that existed from January 3, 1958 to May 31, 1962. It consisted of several Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom. The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state; however, before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts.

Contents

Prior attempts at Federation: Regional Groupings

The Federation of the West Indies was not the first attempt at a British Caribbean federation (nor would it be the last). The history of the previous attempts at federations and unions, in part, explains the failure of the 1958 Federation

The initial federal attempts never went so far as to try to encompass all of the British West Indies (BWI), but were more regional in scope. The historical regional groupings included the Leeward Islands, Windward Islands and Jamaica with nearby colonies:

The first regional grouping came in the form of the Carlisle proprietorship of 1627 under which Barbados and the Leewards were grouped together. In practice this arrangement was difficlut to administer and Thomas Warner governed the Leeward Islands only. In 1660 Lord Willoughby, as Governor of Barbados, also governed all of the Eastern Caribbean then under British rule. This scheme met with approval from the Leewards as they required the aid of Barbados at the time during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Despite this need from Barbados, the planters on the Leewards and in Barbados were rivals for the greatest share of the sugar trade with Britain and so after the war, Britain gave in to the demands of the Leewards for separate government and in 1671 a Governor-in-chief was put in charge of St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda.

In Sir William Stapleton established the first federation in the BWI in 1674. Stapleton set up a General Assembly of the Leewards in St. Kitts. Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis and St. Kitts sent 2 representatives each. There was one Governor for the Leewards and each island had a Lieutant Governor. Stapleton's federation was active from 1674 to 1685 when Stapleton was Governor and the General Assembly met regularly until 1711. Afterwards it only met once more in 1798. The federation was unpopular and in 1683 a proposal for one government and set of laws was rejected. By the 18th Century each island had kept its own Assembly and made its own laws, but continued to share one Governor and one Attorney-General. Although unpopular, Stapleton's Federation was never really dissolved but simply replaced by other arrangements.

Between 1816 and 1833 the Leewards were divided into 2 groups, each with its own Governor: St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla and Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat (including Redonda). In 1833 all the Leewards were brought together again under the pre-1816 and Dominica was added to the grouping until 1940.

In 1869, Governor Benjamin Pine was tasked with organizing a federation of Antigua-Barbuda, Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands. St. Kitts and Nevis however opposed sharing their government funds with Antigua and Montserrat, which were bankrupt. Governor Pine told the Colonial Office that the scheme had failed due to "local prejudice and self-interest". Thus the only achievement was giving the Leewards a single Governor. All laws and ordinances, however, had to be approved by the each island council.

In 1871 the British government passed the Leeward Islands Act through which all the islands were under one Governor and one set of laws. Each island was called "Presidency" under its own Administrator or Commissioner. Like earlier groupings this federation was unpopular but was not dissolved until 1956 to make way for the Federation of the West Indies. The Federal Colony was composed of all islands organized under Governor Pine's previous attempt.

In 1763, Barbados, as the most well established of Britain's Caribbean colonies was placed in charge of new colonies acquired in the Seven Year's War. The Governor of Barbados became Governor-General of Grenada and the Grenadines, St. Vincent and Tobago, with each island having its own Lieutenant-Governor. This arrangement was plagued with the difficulty of west to east communication among the islands in the days of sail.

In 1833 the Windward Islands became a formal union called the Windward Islands Colony. In 1838, Trinidad (acquired in 1802) and St. Lucia (acquired in 1814) were brought into the Windward Islands Colony, but were not given their own assemblies (having previously been Crown Colonies). In 1840 Trinidad left the Colony. The Windward Islands Colony was unpopular as Barbados wished to retain its separate identity and ancient institutions, while the other colonies did not enjoy the association with Barbados (but needed such an association for defence against French invasions until 1815). Thus the individual islands resisted British attempts at closer union. Barbados in particular fought to retain its own Assembly.

This opposition to closer federation was found mainly in the upper class of society. When Governor John Pope-Hennessy was sent in 1875 to Barbados to organize a closer, formal federation, there was bitter opposition from the press, the assembly of white planters and a few influential coloured men. Pope-Hennessy was supported by the cane workers, who believed federation would allow them the opportunity to leave Barbados and work for higher wages or buy their own plots of land elsewhere in the Windwards. The planters and coloured merchants set up the Barbados Defence League to fight federation, which they claimed would end their representative system. In March 1876, estate labourers in southern Barbados rioted in support of the Governor when he tried to force the assembly to reform prisons and hospitals. The Colonial Office then quickly transferred Pope-Hennessy to Hong Kong in 1876 and the federation plans were dropped. The Governor of Barbados remained the Governor-General of the Windwards until 1885 when Barbados left the Windward Islands Colony.

From 1885 to 1958 the Windward Islands Colony consisted of Grenad and the Grenadines, St. Vincent and St. Lucia for the entire period. Tobago left in 1889 when she formed a union with Trinidad. Dominica joined the Windward Islands Colony in 1940 after having been transferred from the Leewards and remained in the Colony until 1958. After 1885 the Windward Islands Colony was under one Governor-General in Grenada and each island had its own Lieutenant-Governor and its own assembly (as before). Attempts at a Federal Colony like in the Leewards were always resisted. The Windward Islands Colony broke up in 1958 when each island chose to join the new Federation of the West Indies as a separate unit.

The remaining British colonies in the Caribbean except for British Guiana and the Bahamas were grouped under Jamaica out of convenience and sometimes for historical and/or geographical reasons. British Honduras was surrounded by hostile Spanish colonies and needed the protection afforded by the Army and Navy based in Jamaica. In addition, Br. Honduras had been founded by loggers and had expanded in population partly by the settlement of Englishmen arriving from Jamaica in the late 1600s and early 1700s (with settlers also arriving from England directly or being born in the colony). So from 1742 Br. Honduras was a dependency directly under the Governor of Jamaica. Then in 1749 the Governors of Jamaica appointed Superintendents for Br. Honduras. In 1862 Br. Honduras became a Crown Colony and was placed under the Governor of Jamaica with its own Lieutant-Governor. In 1884 it finally broke all administrative ties with Jamaica.

The Miskito Coast protectorate was overseen by the Superintendents of British Honduras and thus by extension loosely attached to Jamaica from 1749 to 1787. In 1787 Britain withdrew from the Miskito Coast (then ending administrative links with British Honduras and Jamaica) as a result of the peace agreement ending the American Revolutionary War, however it continued to intervene in the Coast up until 1861 to protect its interests as well as the Miskito nation from Spanish encroachment.

The Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras had begun to have permanent English settlements from 1827 and after having been formally claimed by Britain in 1841 were subordinated to Jamaica in 1852 with The Governor of the Bay Islands being the Governor of Jamaica and the Superintendent of British Honduras acting as Lieutenant-Governor of the Bay Islands. This relationship existed until 1860 when the Bay Islands were ceded to Honduras.

The Cayman Islands were too small to justify a separate administration and having been settled mainly by English from Jamaica, had always been regarded as under the control of the Governor of Jamaica. In addition, the Caymans had been ceded as part of Jamaica to England from Spain in the 1670 Treaty of Madrid. They were formally attached to Jamaica in 1863 and were rather like a parish of Jamaica with noimated justices of the peace and elected vestrymen in their legislature (named the Justices and Vestry). The Justices and Vestry assisted a Commissioner appointed by the Governor of Jamaica to administer the islands. All laws passed in the Caymans had to be approved by the Governor of Jamaica. This relationship lasted until 1959. From 1959 to 1962 the Governor of Jamaica remained Governor of the Cayman Islands and had reserve powers over the islands. Also, all laws passed by the Jamaica legislature specifically for the Cayman Islands had to be enforced. Otherwise the Cayman Islands had their own Administrator and Legislative Assembly. The final administrative link to Jamaica ceased upon Jamaica's independence in 1962 (although the Cayman Islands continued to use Jamaican currency for a further 10 years).

The Turks and Caicos Islands had in 1848 broken their association with the Bahamas due to the insufficient means of communication between the islands and the government in Nassau (this was due to the lack of major shipping routes running in that direction). Being too small to have a separate administration, the islands requested to be placed under Jamaica due to the regular communication from Kingston to the islands along the Kingston to London shipping route. The British government agreed to this and from 1848 to 1873 the Turks and Caicos Islands were governed by Superintendents/Council Presidents appointed from Jamaica. In 1873 the islands were then made into a dependency of Jamaica with a Commissioner and a Legislative Board. In 1959, the islands were made more autonomous along the lines of the Cayman Islands with the Governor of Jamaica having reserve powers over the Turks and Caicos Islands. This relationship ceased when Jamaica obtained independence in 1962.

Provinces

The provinces of the West Indies Federation were:

Historically "West Indian" nations The Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands and Guyana opted not to join because they believed that their future lay with association with North America, Central America, the United States Virgin Islands and South America respectively.

Legal status

The Federation was an internally self-governing, federal state made up of ten provinces, all British colonial possessions. The federation was created by the United Kingdom in 1958 from most of the British West Indies. Britain intended that the Federation would shortly become a fully independent state, thus simultaneously satisfying the demands for independence from all the colonies in the region. However, the project was doomed by political squabbling among the provinces, and the Federation never achieved full sovereignty, either as a republic or as a Dominion within the Commonwealth.

The legal basis for the federation was the British Caribbean Federation Act 1956, and the date of formation -- January 3, 1958 -- was set by an Order-in-Council proclaimed in 1957.

As with all British colonies of the period, Queen Elizabeth II was the head of state, and she was equipped with the legislative authority for matters concerning executive affairs, defense and the financing of the Federation. Her representative, Patrick Buchan-Hepburn, 1st Baron Hailes, was given the title of governor-general rather than the title of governor more typical for a British colony. The title may have reflected the federal nature of the state, or indicated the expectations that the Federation would soon become independent. This representative also had the full power by the Queen to veto any laws passed by the Federation.

Population and geography

The total population of the West Indies Federation was between 3 and 4 million people, with the majority being of mixed descent (mainly Afro-European, but also Afro-Indian, Euro-Indian and mixed-Chinese). Minorities included Europeans, Chinese, Indian (or “East Indians” as they were called) and Caribs. In terms of religion, most of the population was Protestant, with significant numbers of Catholics and some Hindus and Muslims (both almost exclusively from the East Indian population).

The proposed site for the capital city was Chaguaramas, a few miles west of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, but the site was part of a United States naval base. In practice, Port of Spain served as the federal capital for the duration of the Federation's existence.

The West Indies Federation (or just “West Indies”) consisted of around 24 main inhabited islands and approximately 220-230 minor offshore islands, islets and cays (some inhabited, some uninhabited). The largest island was Jamaica, located in the far northwest of the Federation. To the southeast lies the second largest island, Trinidad, followed by Barbados, located at the eastern extremity of the Federation.

The Federation spanned across all the island groupings in the Caribbean:

At its widest (west to east), from the Cayman Islands to Barbados it spanned some 2, 425 kilometres (and across approximately 22 degrees of longitude) and from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the north, to the Icacos Point, Trinidad in the south it extended 1,700 kilometres (and across 12 degrees of latitude). However, most of the area along either of these distances was taken up by open water (with the exception of some of the other islands lying in between). By comparison Great Britain stretches across nearly 10 degrees of latitude and Spain extends across almost 20 degrees of longitude. Even though the West Indies was spread across such a vast area , most of its provinces were mostly contiguous and clustered fairly close together in the Eastern Caribbean, with the obvious exceptions of Jamaica (and the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands).

Most of the islands had mountainous interiors surrounded by narrow coastal plains. The exceptions were Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands (which were all fairly flat), and Trinidad ( which had a large mountain range in the north and a small central mountain range in the interior of the otherwise flat island). The narrow coastal plains as well as historical trade is the main reason why almost all of the major settlements (cities and towns) of the Federation were located on the coast. Chief towns included Kingston, Port-of-Spain, Bridgetown, Spanish Town, Montego Bay, Mandeville, Castries, Roseau, St. George’s, Kingstown, St. John’s and Basseterre.

The climate in all the islands was tropical, with hot and humid weather, although inland regions in the larger islands had more temperate climates. Regions falling within the rain shadows (southern coasts of Jamaica and Trinidad and eastern coasts of the Lesser Antilles) are relatively drier. There are two seasons annually: the dry season for the first six months of the year, and the rainy season (also known as the hurricane season) in the second half of the year. All of the islands fell within the traditional Hurricane Belt, with the exception of Trinidad (although it occasionally experiences low latitude hurricanes) and thus are at risk from potential wind and flood damage.

The Federation was considered to be part of the North American continent as all of its islands are in the Caribbean, even though Trinidad is located just off-shore from South America and lies on the same continental shelf as South America. See Bicontinental countries.

The first elections

In preparation for the first federal elections, two Federation-wide parties were organised as confederations of local political parties. Both were organised by Jamaican politicians: the West Indian Federation Labour Party by Norman Manley, and the Democratic Labour Party by Alexander Bustamante. In broad terms, the WIFLP consisted of the urban-based parties throughout the Federation, while the DLP consisted of the rural-based parties

The Federation's internal government was, typically for British colonies, based on the Westminster system. Federal elections were held on March 25, 1958. The WIFLP won the election and Sir Grantley Adams of Barbados became Prime Minister. The election of Adams as Prime Minster was indicative of the problems the Federation would face. The expected leader of the WIFLP was Norman Manley, Premier of Jamaica, and the next logical choice was Dr. Eric Williams, Premier of Trinidad and Tobago. However, neither had contested the Federal elections, preferring to remain in control of their respective island power bases. This suggested that the leaders of the two most important provinces did not see the Federation as viable. Similarly, Alexander Bustamante, the Jamaican founder of the DLP, also declined to contest the Federal election, leaving the party leadership to the Trinidadian Ashford Sinanan. The absence of the leading Jamaican politicians from any role at the federal level was to undermine the Federation's unity.

Other members of Adams' cabinet included:

  • Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry: The Hon. Dr. C.G.D. La Corbiniere
  • Minister of Finance: The Hon. R.L Bradshaw
  • Minister of Communications and Works: The Hon. W. A. Rose
  • Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture: The Hon. F.B. Ricketts
  • Minister of Labour and Social Affairs: The Hon. Mrs. P.B.S. [Phyllis Byam Shand] Allfrey
  • Ministers without Portfolio: The Hon. N.H. Richards, The Hon. Mr. V.B Vaughn, Senator A.G.R. Byfield, Senator J.W. Liburd, and Senator J.L. Charles

Federal problems

The politics of the embryonic Federation were wracked by struggles between the Federal government and the provincial governments, and between the two largest provinces (Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago) and the smaller provinces.

The West Indies Federation had an unusually weak federal structure. For instance, its provinces were not contained in a single customs union. Thus, each province functioned as a separate economy, complete with tariffs, largely because the smaller provinces were afraid of being overwhelmed by the large islands' economies. Also, complete freedom of movement within the Federation was not implemented, as the larger provinces were worried about mass migration from the smaller islands. In this sense, the current European Union can be said to have implemented a more unified economic space than the West Indian attempt.

Nor could the Federal government take its component states to task. The initial federal budget was quite small, limiting the federal government's ability to use its financial largesse as a carrot. It was dependent upon grants from the United Kingdom and from its member states. The provincial budgets of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were both larger than the federal budget. This led to repeated requests for those states to provide greater financing to the federal government. These requests were not well received, as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago together already contributed 85 percent of the federal revenue, in roughly equal portions.

Furthermore, the post of prime minister was a weak one. Unlike other Westminster system prime ministers, the West Indian PM could not dissolve parliament or appoint Senators.

Relationship with Canada

The Federation maintained a particularly close relationship with the nation of Canada, which had a similar past in that it was a confederation of several former British colonies. In the early years, several Caribbean leaders suggested that the West Indies Federation should investigate the possibility of becoming a Canadian province, though this was never more than a fleeting interest.

Despite the break down in talks, in May, 1961 Canada presented the West Indies Federation with two of the region's most important gifts: two merchant ships, named "The Federal Palm" and "The Federal Maple." These two vessels visited every island in the federation twice monthly and were a crucial sea-link between the islands.

Dissolution

Many reasons have been put forward to explain the demise of the federation, some of them detailed in "Problems" above. These include the utter lack of local popular support, competing island nationalisms, the weakness of the federal government, prohibitions on federal taxation and freedom of movement, inadequacies in the Federal constitution, fundamental changes made to the constitution very early in its existence, political feuds between the influential leaders, the decision of the three most influential politicians not to contest Federal elections, friction between these leaders and the Federal government, the overwhelming concentration of population and resources in the two largest units, geographic and cultural distance between the units, the lack of a history of common administration, and the impact of the period of self-government that followed the promotion from Crown Colony system.

However, the immediate catalyst for the dissolution of the Federation was Jamaican discontent. By 1961, there were a number of reasons for Jamaica's dissatisfaction with the state of affairs:

  • Jamaica was fairly remote from most of the other islands in the Federation, lying several hundred miles to the west.
  • Jamaica's share of the seats in the federal parliament was smaller than its share of the total population of the Federation.
  • It was believed that the smaller islands were draining Jamaica's wealth.
  • Many in Jamaica were upset that Kingston had not been chosen as the federal capital.

The most important reason for Jamaican dissatisfaction was the Federation's continuing colonial status. Jamaica had joined the Federation because its leaders had believed that the West Indies would quickly be granted independence. Nearly three years after the formation of the Federation, this had not occurred; meanwhile, smaller British colonies, like Cyprus and Sierra Leone, had gained independence. Thus, many Jamaicans believed that the island could and should seek independence in its own right.

The Bustamante-led Jamaica Labour Party (the local component of the West Indian DLP) successfully forced Manley to hold a referendum in September 1961 on political secession from the Federation. It passed, with 54 percent of the vote, despite the opposition of Manley, the province's Premier at the time. Manley himself lost the subsequent island elections in April 1962, and Bustamante became the first Prime Minister of an independent Jamaica on August 6, 1962.

After Jamaica left, there was an attempt to salvage a new federation from the wreckage of the old. Much depended on Premier Williams of Trinidad and Tobago, who had stated previously that he wanted a "strong federation." Premier Vere Bird of Antigua responded that his province would only be in a federation with Trinidad as an equal partner, not as "a little Tobago." He did indicate that a strong federation was acceptable provided that no attempt was made to create a unitary state.

Negotiations on this new federation began in September 1961; however, they indicated that Trinidad would have to provide 75 to 80 percent of the new Federation's revenue. Also, even though Trinidad would now represent 60 percent of the new Federation's population, the proposals under consideration would give it less than half of the seats in parliament.

By November, Williams indicated that he was now in favour of the idea of a unitary state. Failing that, he resolved to take Trinidad and Tobago into independence. In this, he was buoyed a by his re-election as Trinidadian leader on December 4, 1961. Later that December, Premier Errol Barrow of Barbados met with Williams, but failed to persuade him to keep Trinidad in the Federation.

On January 14, 1962, the People's National Movement (the Williams-led Trinidad component of the WIFLP) passed a resolution rejecting any further involvement with the Federation. Williams himself stated that "one from ten leaves nought" -- in other words, without Jamaica, no Federation was possible. Trinidad and Tobago became independent on August 31, 1962.

Without Trinidad and Jamaica, the remaining "Little Eight" attempted to salvage some form of a West Indian Federation, this time centred on Barbados. However, these negotiations ultimately proved fruitless. Without its two largest states, the Federation was doomed to financial insolvency. Barbados now refused to shoulder the financial burden, and Antigua and Grenada began toying with the idea of merging with Jamaica and Trinidad, respectively.

The West Indies Federation was legally wound up with the Parliament of the United Kingdom's West Indies Act 1962. The remaining "Little Eight" provinces once again became separate colonies supervised directly from London, most of which became independent later on, as follows:

Montserrat remains an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands had been separated from Jamaica upon the latter's independence in 1962; Anguilla was separated from Saint Kitts and Nevis in 1980. All three remain UK territories as well.

Legacy

The federation's currency was the West Indies dollar, which was later succeeded by the East Caribbean dollar, the Jamaican dollar, the Barbados dollar, and the Trinidad and Tobago dollar. Successor organisations included the West Indies Associated States and CARICOM.

Some see the West Indian cricket team as a legacy of the Federation, although the side was actually organised many years prior to 1958. The Windies still compete under the Federation's flag.

Another lasting regional fixture, officially created before the Federation, is the University of the West Indies. During the Federation, the University pursued a policy of regional expansion beyond the main Jamaica campus. Two other campuses were established: one in Trinidad and Tobago, established in 1960, and one in Barbados, established a short time after the Federation dissolved in 1963.

Stamps

During the Federation's existence, each member continued to issue its own postage stamps as before; but on April 22, 1958, each of the members (except for the Cayman Islands) issued a set of three commemorative stamps. All of these stamps used a common design depicting a map of the Caribbean and a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, with an inscription at the top reading "THE WEST INDIES / FEDERATION 1958" at the top and the name of the member at the bottom. All of these stamps are quite common in both mint and used condition.

See also

References

  • Carmichael, Dr. Trevor A. 2001. Passport to the Heart: Reflections on Canada Caribbean Relations. Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston 6, Jamaica. ISBN 976-637-028-1 The book's Forward passage
  • Fraser, Cary. 1994. Ambivalent anti-colonialism : the United States and the genesis of West Indian independence, 1940-1964. Greenwood Press
  • Ghany, Dr Hamid 1996. Kamal: a Lifetime of Politics Religion and Culture Multimedia Production Centre, University of the West Indies.
  • Gonsalves, Ralph E. 1994. History and the Future: A Caribbean Perspective. Quik-Print, Kingstown, St. Vincent.
  • Hoyes, F. A. 1963. The Rise of West Indian Democracy: The Life and Times of Sir Grantley Adams. Advocate Press.
  • Mahabir, Dr Winston 1978 In and Out of Politics Inprint Caribbean.
  • Mordecai, John, Sir. 1968. Federation of the West Indies Evanston, Northwestern University Press
  • Wickham, P.W. 1997 "Factors in the Integration and Disintegration of the Caribbean" published as part of Issues in the Government an Politics of the West Indies, edited by JG LaGuerre ,Multimedia Production Centre, University of the West Indies.
  • Williams, Eric. 1964. British Historians and the West Indies. P.N.M. Publishing Company, Port-of-Spain.
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