West indies federation free essay sample

The former West Indies Federation were consists of 10 British West Indian territories established in January 1958. This federation included Caribbean Islands or territories, then under British control. former federation of 10 British West Indian territories formed in 1958. Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Barbados were the principal members, but the federation included most of the Leeward and Windward islands, then under British control. The seat of government was Port of Spain, Trinidad. Slated for independence in 1962, the federation did not survive its troubled infancy. Jamaica, the most populous and prosperous member, voted (1961) to leave the federation, fearing that it would have to shoulder the burdens of the economically underdeveloped members; Trinidad and Tobago followed suit, and the federation was dissolved in May, 1962. the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Established in 1958, the West Indies Federation comprised the ten territories of: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, the then St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and Trinidad and Tobago. The Federation as established by the British Caribbean Federation Act of 1956 with the aim of establishing a political union among its members. The Federal government was headed by an Executive Governor-General, appointed by Britain and included: A Prime Minister, A Cabinet, comprising the Prime Minister and ten other elected Members chosen by him During its brief existence (1958-62), a number of fundamental issues were debated with a view to strengthening the Federation. Among these were direct taxation by the Federal ernment, Central planning tor development, Establishment ot a Regional Customs Union and Reform of the Federal Constitution. The issue of direct taxation was particularly controversial. The Federation was not permitted to levy (impose) income tax for at least the first five years of its life. Added to this, were the greatly differing positions among the Territories with respect to how other federal taxes should be levied. In addition, the Federation began quickly to seek to establish federal institutions and supporting structures. It created a federal civil service; established the West Indies Shipping Service (in 1962) to operate two multipurpose ships the Federal Maple and the Federal Palm donated to it by the Government of Canada. It had embarked also on negotiations to acquire the subsidiary of the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), namely British West Indies Airways (BWIA). Cooperation in tertiary education was consolidated and expanded during this period. The then University College of the West Indies (UCWI), which was established in 1948 with one campus at Mona, Jamaica, opened its second campus at St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, in 1960. The Federation however faced several problems. These included: the governance and administrative structures imposed by the British; disagreements among the erritories over policies, particularly with respect to taxation and central planning; an unwillingness on the part of most Territorial Governments to give up power to the Federal Government; and the location of the Federal Capital. The decisive development, which led to the demise of the Federation was the withdrawal of Jamaica the largest member after conducting a national referendum in 1961 on its continued participation in the arrangement. The results of the referendum showed majority support in favour of withdrawing from the Federation. This was to lead to a movement within Jamaica for national independence from Britain. It also led to the now famous statement of Dr Eric Williams, the then Premier of Trinidad and Tobago that, one from ten leaves nought, referring to the withdrawal of Jamaica and signifying and Justifying his decision to withdraw Trinidad and Tobago from the Federal arrangement a short while later. The Federation collapsed in January 1962 The West Indies Federation was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that were colonies of the United Kingdom, including Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and those on he 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 the Canadian Confederation, Australian Commonwealth, or Central African Federation; however, before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political contlicts . The territories ot the federation eventually became the nine contemporary sovereign states of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago; with Anguilla, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands becoming British overseas territories. 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 politics of the embryonic Federation were wrecked by struggles between the federal government and the provincial governments, and between the two largest rovinces Oamaica 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 conomic 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 governments 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 lready contributed 85 percent of the federal revenue, in roughly equal portions. Furthermore, the office of the Prime Minister was a weak one. Unlike other Westminster systems with Prime Ministers, the West Indian Federations PM could not dissolve Parliament. Federal problems provinces Oamaica 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 fraid 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 tederal budget was quite small, limiting the federal governments 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 office of the Prime Minister was a weak one. Unlike other Westminster systems with Prime Ministers, the West Indian Federations PM could not dissolve Parliament. Dissolution Many reasons have been put forward to explain the demise of the federation. These include the utter lack of local popular support, competing insular nationalism, 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, eographic 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 Jamaicas dissatisfaction with the state of affairs: Jamaica was fairly remot e from most of the other islands in the Federation, lying several hundred miles to the west. Jamaicas 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 Jamaicas 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 Federations 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 ould and should seek independence in its own right. There were also problems with the Federations proposed capital in Chaguaramas, at that time still in the hands of the United States (having leased it as a naval base from the United Kingdom during World War 2). Many of the Caribbean provincial leaders wanted Chaguaramas to be the Federations capital. Provincial leaders such as Norman Manley of Jamaica and Dr Eric Williams pushed for handing over of Chaguramas to the Federation from the US. However the US and the I-JK disagreed and the Federations Prime Minister Grantley Adams denied the provincial leaders from obtaining Chaguramas. For many Jamaicans it appeared that the Federation would then Just hamper their development and movement towards independence. As a result 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, witn 54% ot the vote, despite the opposition ot Manley, the provinces Chief Minister 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 6 August 1962. After Jamaica left, there was an attempt to alvage 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 Federations revenue. Also, even though Trinidad would now represent 60 percent of the new Federations population, the proposals under consideration would give it less than half of the seats in parliament.