by Barbara King
(UK and Jamaica)
In 1956, The West Indies Federation was established by the British Caribbean Federation Act with the objective of establishing a political union and unity among its members.
A university was built to train more people to be involved with the Federation and Britain was involved in encouraging steps towards Independence.
The conference to create a Federation was actually held earlier on September 1947 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where it was agreed the Federation would be political and have a Constitution that was made in 1950. It was completed in 1953 at a conference in London.
The Federation consisted of Jamaica with 17 seats, Trinidad and Tobago with 10, Barbados with 5, St. Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada with 2 each and Montserrat with 1.
However, problems arose as the larger groups were concerned about the burden of supporting the smaller countries too much & that it would prove costly to some. British Honduras and Guyana had refused to join.
All the same, the Federation was officially formed 3 January 1958 with the opening ceremony held in the federal capital, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
Two political parties were born from the Federation:
Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Have_Your_Say.
Sharing IS Caring... Its now YOUR turn to...
If you found this page useful, please consider subscribing to my weekly newsletter, My Island Jamaica Digest here.
It tells you each week about the new information that I have added, including new developments and great stories from lovers of Jamaica!
New! Talk To Me
Was the information helpful? Something needs changing? I welcome your feedback here.
-
Please help me get the message out by sharing this article with your friends on social media (links below). Thnx ;-)
Also connect with My-Island-Jamaica.com on Social Media:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube
Thank You!
Click Here to try our dependable and effective Site Search tool. It works!
Or, simply click here and here, to browse my library of over 500 questions and answers! Chances are someone already asked (and got an answer to) your question.
A patriotic Jamaican who adore its culture, Wellesley has been using this medium to share what he calls 'the uniqueness of Jamaica with the world' since April 2007.
To date, he serves over 9,300 unique readers / viewers per day.
His efforts have earned this site featured positions in local publications, including the Jamaica Gleaner's Hospitality Jamaica, Carlong Publishers, as well as recognition from numerous prestigious international agencies and universities. Read more about him here.
He invites you to subscribe to this site to stay updated on all the latest and check out his unique Jamaican products on his Etsy store.
If you are on social media, here are the links to follow his latest posts
You are also invited to join his exclusive JAMHearts community where like-minded Jamaican enthusiasts discuss all things Jamaican.