Constitutional Steps Towards Independence in the British-Colonized Territories

In the British West Indies, the movement towards independence was by
evolution and not by revolution. This movement was constitutional in that it
involved the changes made in the laws by which a country was governed,
thus giving local people an ever-increasing share in their own government.

Stages in the Constitutional Evolution of the British West Indies:
1. Old Representative System
2. Crown Colony Government
3. Representative Government
4. Responsible Government
5. Internal Self-Government
6. Independence

Proprietary Government and the Old Representative System

Between 1627 and 1660, the first English colonies were proprietary colonies
which were administered by proprietors who were chosen by the King of
England. These proprietors such as the Earl of Carlisle sent out settlers,
provisions, appointed Governors and carried out the King’s instruction for the
colonies. In return, they hoped to benefit when the colonies started
production. They were encouraged to summon free men of the colony to an
assembly to help make laws by the ‘’Letters Patent’’ issued by the King in
1627. Thus, the representative system government is very old in the
Caribbean, e.g. the Barbados Assembly which was first called in 1639. The
assembly was elected whereas the legislative council was nominated by the
Governor from among leading citizens.
The Proprietary System of government was abandoned on the restoration of
King Charles II in 1660 except in the Bahamas. The former proprietary
colonies were handed over to a committee of the Privy Council which
appointed governors who in turn called the assemblies and councils of the
representative principle already established. Hence, the representative
system continued.
From 1663 to 1673, the constitution of a British West Indian colony involved
a Governor or Lieutenant-Governor who represented the King; a Legislative
Council consisting of members nominated by the Governor on account of
their property corresponded with the House of Lords which acted as a Court
of Appeal; and an Assembly which made minor laws and agreed on taxation
corresponded with the House of Commons.
The Crown wanted the colonies put into groups for administrative
convenience but the colonies resisted because they valued their
independence, e.g. Nevis refused a union with St. Kitts in 1723. Colonies
such as Dominica, Grenada and St. Vincent were acquired by Britain in 1763
and encouraged to set up representative assemblies. However, Trinidad,
British Guiana and St. Lucia were acquired between 1802 and 1815, and
were made Crown Colonies because the Representative System was thought
to be inappropriate.

Crown Colony Government 1866-1898
Crown Colony Government was introduced in 1866 after the Morant Bay
Rebellion in Jamaica so that the Crown could assume direct and full
responsibility for the administration of the colonies. It was thought necessary
and desirable because a strong government was needed to deal with the
violence threatened by poor blacks. There would be fewer delays caused by
debates and votes in assemblies. It could raise taxes without the fear of
opposition since taxes were necessary to provide the revenues needed for
such forces as has been used to suppress the Morant Bay Rebellion. It was
seen as a less costly and more efficient that the Old Representative System.
Under Crown Colony Government, there was little or no election of persons
to the legislature. There was a governor who made most of the decisions. He
was assisted by an Executive Council which was mainly made of an advisory
body without legislative functions and a Legislative Council which comprised
senior government officials, as well as some nominated individuals who
represented a small section of the community. Later, a few members elected
on a restricted franchise were introduced. The Governor sought advice
mainly from the Legislative Council. There was greater control from Britain
from the Colonial Office.
Crown Colony Government was introduced in Jamaica in 1866, the Windward
Islands such as St. Vincent, Tobago and Grenada by 1877; followed by
Montserrat, the Virgin Islands, Dominica, Antigua, Nevis, and British
Honduras. By 1880, most of the territories had given up their right to self-government.
Barbados and the Bahamas did not adopt Crown Colony Government. The
Barbados Assembly was the oldest in the British Caribbean and the people
wanted to keep it. Thus, when the Governor Pope-Hennessy wanted
Barbados to join the Windward Islands Federation of 1876, the people rioted
and Pope-Hennessy was removed. Barbados kept its Old Representative
Constitution and escaped Crown Colony Government.
However, there were people in the British Caribbean who became
dissatisfied with Crown Colony Government during the late 19th century. This
was because they were excluded from the electoral process and wanted a
return to the elective principle. In addition, when and represented the
planting or merchant interest, and there was no representation in the
government for the masses because the property qualification for the
franchise remained very high. This dissatisfaction with Crown Colony
Government was evident mainly among the emerging black and coloured
middle classes who wanted a share in the government of their territories. In
Trinidad as well as in other colonies, opposition came mostly from traders
and professional townspeople especially those in the capital.
Representative Government
West Indian nationalists regarded Crown Colony Government as a step
backwards in constitutional development because they went further from
governing themselves than they had been before 1866. Crown Colony
Government was out of touch with the masses because the governor and
officials were British citizens who came to the West Indies for short tours of
duty and then departed. The protests in the 1930s made it clear how out of
touch the officials had become. Thus, the people wanted the elective
principle re-introduced.
Eventually, changes were made gradually to Crown Colony Government
beginning with the introduction of a few elected members, then increasing
the numbers. However, the Governor was always assured of a majority in the
Legislative Council. The Legislative Councils began to consist of official
members, nominated members, and elected members. Gradually, the
Legislative Council was divided into two sides: the official or nominated
majority on one side and the elected members on the other side. In the late
1920s and 1940s, the number of elected members in some territories
became large enough to have an influence in politics. Political parties began
to emerge to wing these seats and have their policies put into effect. This reintroduction
of the elective principle was a very important step in
constitutional and political development.
The elective principle or representative government was introduced in
Jamaica in 1884 when elected members were equal in umber to nominated
and official members in a Legislative Council. In Trinidad which had been a
Crown Colony since 1815, the electoral principle was introduced in Antigua,
St. Kitts-Nevis, Monserrat, St. Lucia, and British Honduras. However, the
outbreak of the Second World War (1939-45) delayed further constitutional
changes.
Responsible Government
This type of government was the next step taken. At first, the government
appointed a few of the elected representatives to sit on his Executive
Council. Later, the members of the Executive Council were appointed and
could be removed by the representative legislature (the House of
Representatives). Eventually, the governor’s Executive Council consisted of a
majority of elected representatives who were appointed and removed on the
advice of the leader of the party to which most of the members of the House
of Representatives belonged. The leader was known as the Chief Minister.
Some of these members of the Executive Council were at first appointed
Chairman of Committees that gave and offered advice on the activities of the
various administrative departments. Eventually, they were given full
responsibility for the departments to which they were attached, at which
time they assumed status of ministers. They had administrative authority
over their departments and they began to exercise executive functions. The
leader of the party with the majority of seats in the House of Representatives
became Premier or Chief Minister and then he would select his ministers.

Internal Self-Government
In internal self-government, all the departments were transferred to
ministers from the chief administrative officials. However, defence, foreign
affairs, and the constitution continued to be the responsibility of Britain. The
Executive Council had evolved from an advisory body to the governor to a
Cabinet of ministers presided over by the leader of the party with the largest
number of seats in the House of Representatives. There was also a gradual
reduction in the number of officials in the Legislative Council until it became
a Senate of West Indians nominated by the party leaders and formally
approved and appointed by the governor who now functioned on the advice
of his ministers.
This type of government consisted of (a) the Governor, the representative of
the British government, who functioned on the advice of the ministers (b) the
Premier or Chief Minister who was the leader of the majority party in the
House of Representatives. He presided over the meetings of the Cabinet (c)
the Legislative body made up of the House of Representatives and the
Senate, or the House of Assembly made up of elected and nominated
members (d) the elected representatives who held ministerial positions and
had full control over internal affairs (e) Britain still had responsibility for
external affairs, defence, and the constitution.
Independence
The final stage in the constitutional process was the attainment of
independence. At this stage, all internal and external matters were brought
under local control and a locally appointed governor-general replaced the
governor. Political leaders like Eric Williams of Trinidad and Alexander
Bustamante of Jamaica were dissatisfied with federation which they saw as a
burden instead of a blessing. They felt that federation could retard their
economic and constitutional progress. Furthermore, they felt that the
territories would be better off if they became independent. This would give
their leaders the power to promote their national economic interest and to
develop their nation economy. They also felt that the masses would benefit
more if their leaders were in charge of the development of their own
territories.
External forces towards Independence
 World-wide movement to give up colonies (decolonization).
 Mother country’s investments withdrawn, imperial trade patterns
changing leading to weaker ties.
 Support for self-government strengthened as political parties were
being formed.
 The 1941 Atlantic Charter which was against Anti-Imperialism. The U.S.
was putting pressure on Britain to give up power over its colonies.
 In 1947, India (world’s largest colony) was given independence so the
other British colonies wanted independence also.
Internal forces towards Independence
 Nationalism was growing in the Caribbean islands. They desired to
stand on their own feet. They also demanded universal suffrage.
 The 1935-8 riots and strikes showed the British Government that
Crown Colony Government was out of touch with the masses. There
was the need for representative government.
 Trade Unions gave ‘’muscle’’ to political parties demanding
independence. Universal suffrage strengthened their power.
 The 1920s United Negro Improvement Association instilled black pride
and ambitions in the masses. This movement was led by Marcus
Garvey. The masses eventually demanded political power.
 The Moyne Commission of 1938 led to colonial development and
welfare organization. It also suggested that there should be greater
political representation by the masses.
 Jamaica
In Jamaica, Federation was a crucial issue in Jamaican politics. Norman
Manley, leader of the People’s National Party in 1938 strongly supported
Federation whereas Alexander Bustamante, leader of the Jamaica Labour
Party, rejected it. Jamaica withdrew from the Federation after Jamaicans
voted against it in a referendum and Bustamante insisted on separate
independence as Britain had agreed.
The Independence Constitution gave Jamaica a House of Representatives of
45 members, a Senate of 21, of whom 13 would be nominated by the Prime
Minister, and 8 by the leader of the Opposition, a Governor-General to
represent the Queen, a Prime Minister and Cabinet responsible for both
Houses and who would form the government. In the pre-Independence
elections, the Jamaica Labour Party won with 26 seats against the People’s
National Party. Alexander Bustamante (knighted in 1955) became the first
Prime Minister of independent Jamaica in August 1962.
 Trinidad
The year 1956 was important in Trinidad’s constitutional and political
progress because a new constitution was introduced. This brought in a Chief
Minister and 7 ministers. In addition, Dr. Eric Williams formed a new party,
the People’s National Movement and pressed for early self- government and
independence. He became the first Chief Minister of Trinidad.
In 1958, Eric Williams became Premier when Cabinet Government was
introduced. He led Trinidad into the federation. He withdrew from it in 1961
because he was worried about the proposal of freedom of movement. He felt
that large numbers of immigrants would be flocking to Trinidad to share in its
growing prosperity. He demanded separate independence and that same
year, Trinidad was given full internal self-government. In the pre-elections of
1961, his party, the People’s National Movement won and August 31st, 1962,
Dr. Eric Williams became the first Prime Minister of Trinidad.
 British Guiana
In 1815, British Guiana inherited the Old Dutch Constitution which was a
representative system and gave elected members financial control. In 1928,
the combined court was replaced by the Legislative Council with elected
members. In 1947, the first political parties were formed. In 1953, a new
constitution introduced universal adult suffrage and Dr. Cheddi Jagan and his
party, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), won the first elections to be held.
However, British Guiana’s constitutional progress was delayed because of
Jagan’s communist ideas. The Governor suspended the constitution and
governed under a modified Crown Colony System from 1953-1957.
In 1957, elections were held in British Guiana and Jagan won. He also won
the 1961 elections and British Guiana gained internal self-government. As
Premier in 1962, he prepared a budget aimed at forcing Guianese to keep
their money in the country and to consume more local goods instead of
foreign goods. This resulted in strikes and race riots in 1963. The Governor
declared a State of Emergency and once again constitutional progress was
delayed. In October 1963, a Constitutional Conference was held in London to
plan an Independence Constitution. The leaders of the three parties, Jagan of
the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Linden Forbes Burnham of the People’s
National Congress, and Peter Stanislaus d’ Aguiar of the United Force (UF)
were in attendance. Unfortunately, they could not agree among themselves
on a constitution that would guarantee the cooperation of all the races and
parties.

As a result, the Secretary of States for the colonies, Duncan Sandys, adopted
proportional representation which was new in the West Indian political
constitution. Elections were held in December 1964. Jagan’s party received
the largest number of votes in the election by the did not command the
majority of seats, with 24 out of 53. Burnham formed a coalition with the
United Force that gave him a majority of seats and the right to form the
government. He became Premier and following an independence conference
in 1965, he led British Guiana into independence on 26 May, 1966. The new
state adopted the name Guyana which is derived from the Amerindian word
meaning ‘’Land of Many Waters’’. On 23 February, 1970, Guyana was
declared a co-operative republic and became known as the Co-operative
Republic of Guyana.
 Barbados
Barbados had had a representative Assembly since 1639 and had never
changed to Crown Colony Government. However, the 1937 riots showed that
there was a real need for more representation. As a result, Grantley Adams
formed the Barbados Progressive League which was at first registered as a
political party in an effort to carry out labour reforms and ask for universal
adult suffrage.
Between 1946 and 1950, Adams led minority governments and was not able
to carry through his constitutional reforms. However, in 1950, universal adult
suffrage was introduced and this enabled Adams to achieve a ministerial
system and to pass legislation on behalf of the workers. Between 1953 and
1958, the Barbados Workers’ Union transferred its support to the Democratic
labour Party under the leadership of Errol Barrow. The reason for this was
because Adams dropped nationalization from his programme. In 1958,
Adams still held a majority when Cabinet Government was introduced.

However, he chose to be Prime Minister of the Federation and ended up
losing popularity in Barbados politics.
In 1961, the Democratic Labour Party won elections and chose to remain a
member of the ‘’Little Eight’’ so as to achieve the economic benefits of a
larger union. However, it eventually left the ‘’Little Eight’’ in 1965 and gained
independence on November 30th, 1966. Errol Walton Barrow became the first
Prime Minister of independent Barbados.
Other Territories
 The Bahamas
In 1964, after a constitutional conference in London, which was attended by
the leaders of the United Bahamian Party (UBP) and the opposition
Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), internal self-government was introduced in
the Bahamas. Ministerial government was introduced and Sir Roland
Symonette, the leader of the UBP became the first Premier. In 1967 after an
election, the PLP under Lynden Pindling (1930-2000) formed the
government. In 1969, further constitutional changes took place and Pindling
became Prime Minister of ‘’The Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands’’.
However, full independence was not achieved because Britain still had some
reserved powers.
In September of 1972, another general election was held in the Bahamas. It
was contested between the PLP which was in favour of independence and a
party reconstructed from among members of the UBP called the Free
National Movement which was opposed to independence. The PLP under
Pindling won a decisive victory and the Bahamas achieved full independence
on 9th July, 1973.
 Grenada
Grenada was the first of the Associated States to terminate its links with
Britain. This was carried out by the Premier Eric Gairy and his party, the
Grenada United Labour Party. In February 1974, he became the first Prime
Minister when he achieved independence.
 Dominica
Patrick John succeeded Edward LeBlanc who had resigned as Premier in July
1974. On November 3rd, Patrick John of the Dominica Labour Party led the
island into independence without allowing the people to have any say in the
decision through an election or referendum. He became the first Prime
Minister of the independent Republic of Grenada. It had an Executive
President elected by the legislature and government was by a Prime Minister
and an eight-member cabinet.
 St. Lucia
On 22nd February 1979, St. Lucia became independent under the leadership
of John Compton and his united Workers’ Party. He became the first Prime
Minister.
 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Milton Cato who was the Premier, became the first Prime Minister when
independence was achieved in 1979.
By the 1980s, only Belize located in Central America and the eastern
Caribbean islands of Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Montserrat, and Anguilla as
well as the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the British
Virgin Islands were the only parts of the Caribbean region where Britain still
exercised some kind of authority.
 Belize
The constitutional advance of British Honduras as an independent nation
would have taken place in the 1960s but was delayed because of the claim
to much of its territory by the neighbouring country of Guatemala. In 1972,
the capital was moved from Belize City on the coast to Belmopan in the
interior. The following year in 1973, the name of the country was changed
from British Honduras to Belize. On 21st September, 1981, George Prince led
the country to independence.
 Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda achieved their independence on 1st November, 1981
under the leadership of Vere Bird who became the first Prime Minister.
 St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla
St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla was the last of the Associated States when on 19th
September, 1983, they became independent under the leadership of Dr.
Kennedy Simmonds of the People’s Action Movement as the first Prime
Minister.
Anguilla, which had been part of the Associated States had soon after
rejected being part of the Associated States and was returned to British rule.
In 1971, it was legally separated from St. Kitts by the British. In 1982, it was
once again recognized as a British territory. Other territories that preserved
their links to Britain and remained Crown Colonies with partial self-government
were Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands and
the British Virgin Islands. The ministerial system of government was
introduced in all four colonies between 1961 (Montserrat) and 1976 (Turks
and Caicos Islands). The Crown through the governor, retained control over
defence, external affairs, internal security, and the public service. After
1968, they were classified as ‘’dependent territories’’ rather than colonies.

Definition of Key Terms:
Elected principle: The idea that people should elect their own
representatives in the legislature so that the government might be more in
accord with the wishes of the masses.
Majority of Legislative Council elected: The representatives of the
people could out-vote the civil servants and the Governor’s nominees in the
Legislative Council.

Party System: Political parties are formed to capture the votes of the
electorate and the party with the most votes in a constituency wins that seat
in the Legislative Council and the party with the most seats forms the
government.
Universal adult suffrage: Every man and woman over the age of twentyone
has a right to vote. (Later, voting age sometimes reduced to eighteen).
Ministerial System: An elected member of the Legislative Council
belonging to the majority party is chosen to head a department of the Civil
Service, e.g. agriculture. He is completely responsible for it and must answer
for it in the Legislative Council.
Prime Minister/Chief Minister/Premier: The leader of the majority party
in the Legislature who is asked by the Governor to a form a government
which he does by choosing certain colleagues in his party to accept
ministerial posts.
Cabinet Government: The Government’s policy is decided upon and
carried out by a committee selected by the Prime Minister and there are no
officials or Governor’s nominees.
Full internal self-government: The elected representatives of the people
through a Prime Minister and Cabinet are in complete control of all affairs
except foreign affairs and defence which remain under the Governor.
Independence: All internal and external affairs are under the control of the
elected government. The colonial power has transferred the government
totally to the citizens of the country.
Qualitative Franchise: The right to vote based on a condition that is; to
own a certain amount of property; to earn a certain income; to be literate or
a combination of all.
Commonwealth: An association of peoples who join together for their
collective well-being. The term was first used to describe the British Empire
in 1884. In 1949, the word ‘’British’’ was dropped. By 1955, the
Commonwealth consisted of 51 independent states and their dependencies.
These include all the former West Indian colonies. Only Trinidad & Tobago,
Guyana and Dominica do not recognize the British sovereign as their Head of
State.