West Indian Federation

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What is a Federation An amal-gamation or coming together of a number of entities to form one cohesive group with the same aims and destiny The origin of a West Indian federation The earliest Federal experiment took place in Barbados in 1626, where the Leeward Islands were integrated under one governor, the Earl of Carlisle. From 1833 to 1855, the Windward Islands and Barbados were united under one government, of which Trinidad was a part for two years. In the 1930s, the idea of West Indian territories integrating as a Caribbean community under one federal or Caribbean government was proposed and meetings were held to effect this change. Federal Interlude While the other territories were associating and assimilating and so on, the British Caribbean was federating. All, except the two largest colonies, British Guiana and British Honduras, decided not to join the federation. West indies Federation Simply put, it was the creation of a single administrative unit of 10 British West Indian territories responsible for the economic, social and political development of the member islands. Why a federation? 1. West Indians were generally dissatisfied with the unresponsiveness and reluctance shown by the British government to deal with the social, economic and political problems being faced by the colonies. They wanted an end to poor living and working conditions, limited political powers and discrimination based on race and class. 2. West Indians in leadership positions felt that they were trained and knowledgeable about their own nation states and could take over control of their own governance. 3. The teachings of Marcus Garvey helped to empower blacks to take charge of their own governments. 4. They questioned the accomplishments of Crown colony government, and realised that
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