There have been several attempts at political unions in the history of the British West Indies. These attempts have occurred for more than 300 years, from 1627 to 1958, and were carried out, or sometimes imposed, first by the English and then the British government. During this time, some of the attempted unions were true federations of colonies and others involved attaching various colonies to a major nearby colony for the purposes of cheaper, efficient government or because the attached colonies were too small to justify a governor and administration of their own.
Many of the national government efforts to unify the region were met with opposition from influential groups within the various colonies, and by opposition from the wealthier colonies, Jamaica and Trinidad. In addition, the poor development of communication links and travel links among the separated island colonies contributed to the insularity and development of separate identities of each colony, even after emancipation of the slaves and more widespread participation in political life.
The British had believed that a unified federation of all states would constitute better insurance for a positive result for all after decolonisation. They worked on the strategy for over ten years, and the West Indies Federation was finally established in 1958. Unfortunately, the Jamaicans had discovered substantial deposits of bauxite in the central mountains of the island, which would have made them very prosperous. They were not willing to share this wealth with the whole Federation, and so they withdrew from it in 1962. This prompted the next wealthiest state, Trinidad, to fear that it would be left to support the others, and so it also terminated membership.
Slavery
In 1823, abolitionists formed the Society for the Migration and Gradual Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Dominions to call for the emancipation of all those enslaved in the colonies. Among the Society's members were Wilberforce and the MP Thomas Fowell Buxton.
The Society worked to ensure that abolitionist candidates were elected in the general election of 1832, and the Slavery Abolition Act was passed by Parliament the following year.
This created a fund of £20 million raised by the Rothschilds to compensate the planters and established an apprenticeship system, whereby those formerly enslaved would still be bound to work for their former masters for several years.[1]
On 1 August 1834, 750,000 slaves in the British West Indies formally became free. The apprenticeship system was unpopular among former slaves and their masters, and it was not implemented in Trinidad: Antigua and Bermuda freed their slaves immediately.
Under pressure from Westminster, the legislative assemblies in the colonies abolished the apprenticeship system, and full freedom was granted to all former slaves on 1 August 1838.
The Bahamas' first British arrivals came from Bermuda in the 1640s and settled on the Island of Eleuthera, they are known as the Eleutheran Adventurers. By 1670 the Bahama Islands were granted to the Lord Proprietors of the province of Carolina. By the early 1700s The Bahamas was largely known as a haven for pirates, especially on the island of New Providence. Piracy became a serious concern for the British and they had acquired the Bahama Islands back from the Lord Proprietors making the Bahamas a British Crown Colony for the first time in 1717. By 1718 Woodes Rogers became the first royal governor of the Bahama Islands and by 1729 he established the House of Assembly. The Privateer business brought prosperity to the island of New Providence for the first time. Around the time of the American Revolutionary War many British Loyalist fled from main land colonies and settled in the Bahama islands bringing with them many slaves turning the black population in the Bahamas into the majority for the first time. On 10 July 1973, the Bahamas gained independence from Britain, becoming a sovereign state.[2]
Under the Carlisle proprietorship of 1627, Barbados and the Leewards were grouped together. In practice, this arrangement was difficult 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 English rule. This scheme was approved by the Leewards as they needed the military aid of Barbados at the time during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
Otherwise, the planters on the Leewards competed with those in Barbados as rivals for the greatest share of the sugar trade with England. After the war, England gave in to the demands of the Leewards for a separate government. In 1671, the Crown assigned a governor-in-chief to manage St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda.
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 two representatives each. One governor had responsibility for the Leewards and a lieutenant governor was appointed for each island. Stapleton's Federation was active from 1674 to 1685, during his term as governor; the General Assembly met regularly until 1711. Afterwards, it only met once more in 1798. The federation was unpopular, and in 1683 the islands rejected a government proposal for one government and set of laws. By the 18th century, each island had kept its assembly and made its laws, but continued to share one governor and one attorney-general. Although unpopular, Stapleton's Federation was never really dissolved but was simply replaced by other arrangements.
Colonial period 1816–1869
Between 1816 and 1833 the Leewards were divided into two groups, each with its 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 assigned to organize 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 each island council.
Federal colony 1871–1956
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 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 Years' War. The Governor of Barbados became Governor 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.
Colonial period 1833–1958
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 assemblies (having previously been British 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 the upper-plantocracy, and a few influential coloured men. 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 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 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 Grenada 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 lieutenant-governor and its 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 separate provinces.
Jamaica and its dependencies
The remaining British colonies (as outlined in this section) in the Caribbean except for British Guiana and the Bahamas were grouped under Jamaica at various points in time 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, British Honduras had been founded by loggers and had expanded in population partly by the settlement of Englishmen arriving from Jamaica in the late 17th and early 18th centuries (with settlers also arriving from England directly or being born in the colony).
From 1742, British Honduras was a dependency directly under the Governor of Jamaica. In 1749, the Governors of Jamaica appointed superintendents for British Honduras. In 1862, British Honduras became a Crown Colony and was placed under the Governor of Jamaica with its lieutenant-governor. In 1884, it finally broke all administrative ties with Jamaica although legal appeals from British Honduras went to the Supreme Court in Jamaica even after 1884.
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 1670 Treaty of Madrid. They were formally attached to Jamaica in 1863 and were rather like a parish of Jamaica with nominated 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.
The West Indies Federation was a short-lived federation that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 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—possibly similar to the Australian Federation, or Canadian Confederation; however, before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts.
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 Commonwealth realm or as a republic within the Commonwealth.
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†Physiographically, these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically.
#Bermuda is an isolated North Atlanticoceanic island, physiographically not part of the Lucayan Archipelago, Antilles, Caribbean Sea nor North American continental nor South American continental islands. It is grouped with the Northern American region, but occasionally also with the Caribbean region culturally.
The Eastern Caribbean dollar is the currency of all seven full members and one associate member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The successor to the British West Indies dollar, it has existed since 1965, and it is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $ or, alternatively, EC$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. The EC$ is subdivided into 100 cents. It has been pegged to the United States dollar since 7 July 1976, at the exchange rate of US$1 = EC$2.70.
The Lesser Antilles are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. They are distinguished from the large islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc which begins east of Puerto Rico and swings south through the Leeward and Windward Islands almost to South America and then turns west along the Venezuelan coast as far as Aruba. Barbados is isolated about 100 miles (160 km) east of the Windwards.
The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire, including Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and those on the Leeward and Windward Islands, came together to form the Federation, with its capital in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state — possibly similar to Canada, the Federation of Australia, or the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts over how it would be governed or function viably. The formation of a West Indian Federation was encouraged by the United Kingdom, but also requested by pan-Caribbean nationalists.
The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east.
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In English, the term Leeward Islands refers to the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. The more southerly part of this chain, starting with Dominica, is called the Windward Islands. Dominica was originally considered a part of the Leeward Islands, but was transferred from the British Leeward Islands to the British Windward Islands in 1940.
The British West Indies (BWI) were colonised British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, British Honduras, British Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago. Bermuda was also included as one of the territories.
The British West Indies dollar (BWI$) was the currency of British Guiana and the Eastern Caribbean territories of the British West Indies from 1949 to 1965, when it was largely replaced by the East Caribbean dollar, and was one of the currencies used in Jamaica from 1954 to 1964. The monetary policy of the currency was overseen by the British Caribbean Currency Board (BCCB). It was the official currency used by the West Indies Federation. The British West Indies dollar was never used in British Honduras, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, or Bermuda.
The Commonwealth Caribbean is the region of the Caribbean with English-speaking countries and territories, which once constituted the Caribbean portion of the British Empire and are now part of the Commonwealth of Nations. The term includes many independent island nations, British Overseas Territories and some mainland nations.
The governor-general of the West Indies Federation was a post in the government of the West Indies. The federation, also known as the British Caribbean Federation, consisted of Antigua, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks & Caicos Islands. The federation was formed on 3 January 1958, and was formally dissolved on 31 May 1962.
British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, and the successor British Empire, in the Americas from 1607 to 1783. These colonies were formally known as British America and the British West Indies immediately prior to thirteen of the colonies seceding in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and forming the United States of America.
The British Windward Islands was an administrative grouping of British colonies in the Windward Islands of the West Indies, existing from 1833 until 31 December 1959 and consisting of the islands of Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines, Barbados, Tobago, and Dominica, previously included in the British Leeward Islands.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) is the governing body for cricket in the West Indies. It was originally formed in the early 1920s as the West Indies Cricket Board of Control, but changed its name to West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in 1996. In November 2015, the Board resolved to rename itself as Cricket West Indies as part of a restructuring exercise that would also see the creation of a separate commercial body. This rebranding formally occurred in May 2017.
This article describes the history of West Indies cricket to 1918.
The British Leeward Islands was a British colony from 1671 to 1958, consisting of the English overseas possessions in the Leeward Islands. It ceased to exist from 1816 to 1833, during which time it was split into two separate colonies. It was dissolved in 1958 after the separation of the British Virgin Islands, and the remaining islands became parts of the West Indies Federation.
The Caribbean bioregion is a biogeographic region that includes the islands of the Caribbean Sea and nearby Atlantic islands, which share a fauna, flora and mycobiota distinct from surrounding bioregions.
In the sport of cricket, the West Indies is a sporting confederation of fifteen mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries and territories, many of which historically formed the British West Indies. It consists of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States Virgin Islands. The governing body for the confederation is Cricket West Indies (CWI), which is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC); beneath the CWI are six territorial governing bodies covering different nations and regions of the confederation. The CWI organises the West Indies cricket team, which represents the confederation in international cricket, as well as administering domestic cricket competitions across the West Indies.
The Caribbean is a subregion of the Americas that includes the Caribbean Sea and its islands, some of which are surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some of which border both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean; the nearby coastal areas on the mainland are sometimes also included in the region. The region is south-east of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and north of South America.
This is a timeline of the territorial evolution of the Caribbean and nearby areas of North, Central, and South America, listing each change to the internal and external borders of the various countries that make up the region.
The region known as the British West Indies included British Guiana on the South American mainland, British Honduras in Central America, Bermuda, The Bahamas, and Jamaica, along with its former dependencies of the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It also included the Eastern Caribbean territories of Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands.
The Caribbean Link for Guiding is a consortium of 21 Girl Guide Associations from throughout the Caribbean. These include associations from independent countries as well as from British Overseas Territories, coordinated by Girlguiding UK. It was created in 1958.
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