West Indies Federation
West Indies Federation | ||
---|---|---|
1958–1962 | ||
Motto: "To dwell together in unity" | ||
Anthem: " Queen | | |
• 1958–1962 | Elizabeth II | |
Governor-General | ||
• 1958–1962 | Lord Hailes | |
Prime Minister | ||
• 1958–1962 | Grantley Herbert Adams | |
Legislature | Federal Parliament | |
• Upper Chamber | Senate | |
• Lower Chamber | House of Representatives | |
Historical era | Cold War | |
• Established | 3 January 1958 | |
• Disestablished | 31 May 1962 | |
Currency | XBWD ) | |
Calling code | +1 (809) | |
The West Indies Federation,
The territories that would have become part of the Federation eventually became the nine contemporary
within the West Indies Federation.History
Several historically "West Indian" British colonies opted not to join the Federation for various reasons. The
British Honduras and British Guiana did participate in the Federation to a certain extent as observers. The Bahamas participated in the 1960 West Indies Federation Games, with a future prime minister of the Bahamas, Perry Christie, as an athlete. Guyana would ultimately express interest in a very loose re-attempted Caribbean Federation around 1971.[11]
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, significant political divisions among the former colonies persisted, and the Federation never achieved full sovereignty.
The legal basis for the federation was the British Caribbean Federation Act 1956,[12] and the date of formation—3 January 1958—was set by an Order in Council proclaimed in 1957.
Prior attempts at federation
The Federation of the West Indies was not the first attempt at a British Caribbean federation. The history of the previous attempts at federations and unions, in part, explains the failure of the 1958 Federation.
The initial federal attempts never went so far as to try to encompass all of the British West Indies (BWI), but were more regional in scope. The historical regional groupings included the British Leeward Islands, British Windward Islands and Jamaica with its nearby former dependencies. See: History of the British West Indies.
Dissolution
Many reasons have been put forward to explain the demise of the federation. These include the lack of local popular support, competing insular
However, the immediate catalyst for the dissolution of the Federation was Jamaican discontent. By 1961, there were a number of reasons for Jamaica's dissatisfaction with the state of affairs:
- Jamaica's 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 would be a drain on Jamaica's wealth – the financial rewards of the island's bauxite were beginning to roll in.
- Jamaica was somewhat isolated in distance from the other islands.
- Inter-island rivalry.
- Many Jamaicans were upset that Kingston had not been chosen as the federal capital.
The most important reason for Jamaican dissatisfaction was the Federation's 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 could and should seek independence in its own right.
There were also problems with the Federation's proposed capital in
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. The result was 54% in favour of leaving the Federation,[13] despite the opposition of Manley, the province's 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 salvage 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 Federation's revenue. Also, even though Trinidad would now represent 60 percent of the new Federation's population, the proposals under consideration would give it less than half of the seats in parliament.
By November, Williams indicated that he was now in favour of the idea of a unitary state. Failing that, he resolved to take Trinidad and Tobago into independence. In this, he was buoyed by his re-election as Trinidadian leader on 4 December 1961. Later that December, Premier Errol Barrow of Barbados met with Williams, but failed to persuade him to keep Trinidad in the Federation.
On January 14, 1962, the People's National Movement (the Williams-led Trinidad component of the WIFLP) passed a resolution rejecting any further involvement with the Federation. Williams himself stated that "one from ten leaves nought"—in other words, without Jamaica, no Federation was possible. Trinidad and Tobago became independent on August 31, 1962.
Without Trinidad and Jamaica, the remaining "Little Eight" attempted to salvage some form of a West Indian Federation, this time centred on Barbados. However, these negotiations ultimately proved fruitless. Without its two largest states, the Federation was doomed to financial insolvency. Barbados now refused to shoulder the financial burden, and Antigua and Grenada began toying with the idea of merging with Jamaica and Trinidad, respectively.
Geography
At its widest (west to east), from the Cayman Islands to Barbados it spanned some 2,425 kilometres (1,310 nmi) (and across approximately 22 degrees of longitude) and from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the north, to the Icacos Point, Trinidad in the south it extended 1,700 kilometres (920 nmi) (and across 12 degrees of latitude). However, most of the area along either of these distances was taken up by open water (with the exception of some of the other islands lying in between). By comparison Great Britain stretches across nearly 10 degrees of latitude and Spain extends across almost 20 degrees of longitude. Even though the West Indies was spread across such a vast area, most of its provinces were mostly contiguous and clustered fairly close together in the Eastern Caribbean, with the obvious exceptions of Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands.
Most of the islands have mountainous interiors surrounded by narrow coastal plains. The exceptions were Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands (which are all fairly flat), and Trinidad (which has a large mountain range in the north and a small central mountain range in the interior of the otherwise flat island). The narrow coastal plains as well as historical trade is the main reason why almost all of the major settlements (cities and towns) of the Federation were located on the coast. Chief towns included Kingston, Port of Spain, Chaguaramas, Bridgetown, Spanish Town, Montego Bay, San Fernando, Mandeville, Castries, Roseau, St. George's, Kingstown, St. John's, and Basseterre.
The climate in all the islands is tropical, with hot and humid weather, although inland regions in the larger islands have more temperate climates. Regions falling within the
Britain classified the Federation as being part of its "Caribbean and North Atlantic Territories" region which was shared alongside other possessions such as Bermuda.
The Federation today is geographically considered to be part of the North American continent as all of its islands are in and around the Caribbean, even though Trinidad is located just offshore from South America and lies on the same continental shelf.[14] See Transcontinental countries.
Provinces
Flag | Province | Capital | Population | Area (km2) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Antigua and Barbuda | St. John's | 57,000 | 440 | |
Barbados | Bridgetown | 234,000 | 431 | |
Cayman Islands (attached to Jamaica) | George Town | 9,000 | 264 | |
Dominica | Roseau | 61,000 | 750 | |
Grenada | St. George's | 91,000 | 344 | |
Jamaica | Kingston | 1,660,000 | 10,991 | |
Montserrat | Plymouth | 13,000 | 102 | |
Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla | Basseterre | 55,600 | 351 | |
Saint Lucia | Castries | 95,000 | 616 | |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Kingstown | 83,000 | 389 | |
Trinidad and Tobago | Port of Spain | 900,000 | 5,131 | |
Turks and Caicos Islands (attached to Jamaica) | Cockburn Town | 6,000 | 430 | |
Federation of the West Indies | Chaguaramas (de jure) | 3,264,600[15] | 20,239 km2 |
Demographics
The total population of the West Indies Federation was between 3 and 4 million people, with the majority being of black West African descent. Minorities included
The West Indies Federation (or just West Indies) consisted of around 24 main inhabited islands and approximately 220–230 minor offshore islands, islets and cays (some inhabited, some uninhabited). The largest island was Jamaica, located in the far northwest of the Federation. To the southeast lay the second largest island, Trinidad, followed by Barbados (in terms of population), located at the eastern extremity of the Federation.
The Federation spanned all the island groupings in the Caribbean:
- The Greater Antilles: Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands
- The Lesser Antilles:
- Barbados, east of the Windward Islands
- Leeward Islands: Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, and Montserrat
- Windward Islands: Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada
- Trinidad and Tobago
Politics
As with all British colonies of the period,
The
However the government (executive) would be a Council of State, not a Cabinet. It would be presided over by the Governor-General and consist of the Prime Minister and ten other officials.
The West Indies Federation did not have independent sources of revenue (relying instead on a mandatory levy on the islands), and did not establish any agreements on a customs union, free trade, or free movement.[12]
The politics of the embryonic Federation were wrecked by struggles between the federal government and the provincial governments, and even power sharing between the two largest provinces (Jamaica 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.
Jamaica, the largest member of the West Indies Federation, opposed plans to establish a customs union and to increase the ability of the federal government to levy taxes.[13]
Adom Getachew writes that relations between minority groups, such as the descendants of East Indians (which were a large share of the populations of Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana), and the majority population of Afro-West Indians were a source of tension in the West Indies Federation. For example, Guyana rejected the West Indies Federation in part because it lacked sufficient protections for ethnic minorities.[12]
There were tensions between those who wanted a strong federal state (capable of undertaking major economic development projects and redistribution) and those who wanted a federal structure that gave each member substantial autonomy.[12] Eric Williams was a strong advocate for a strong federal state.[12] Critics in Jamaica were opposed to any redistributive schemes that would primarily lead to Jamaica providing grants to the smaller islands.[12] There were also some concerns about unequal development and its impact on areas with less competitive industries which wanted protectionist measures within the federation.[12]
In addition, the federal government could not take its component states to task. The initial federal budget was quite small, limiting the federal government's ability to use its financial largess 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 Federation's PM could not dissolve Parliament.
Capital site: Proposed and de facto capital
Three member states were proposed as hosts for the
Governance
The Federation also had a number of units deemed to be common services for the entire federation, these were:[18]
- The Federal Shipping Service
- The Federal Supreme Court
- The University College of the West Indies
- The West Indies Meteorological Service
- West India Regiment
Elections
In preparation for the first federal elections, two Federation-wide parties were organised as confederations of local political parties. Both were organised by Jamaican politicians: the
The platforms for the two major national parties were similar in many respects. Both advocated maintaining and strengthening ties with the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada (countries with which the islands had strong cultural and economic links); encouraging and expanding tourism; working to bring British Guiana and British Honduras into the Federation and to obtain loans, financial aid, and technical assistance. Despite these similarities, there were differences. The WIFLP had advocated the encouragement of agriculture while the DLP had promised a climate favourable to both private industry and labour, development of human and economic resources. The WIFLP promised to encourage the Bahamas (in addition to British Guiana and British Honduras) to join the Federation, whereas the DLP did not. The WIFLP also campaigned to establish a central bank for the extension of credit resources and advocated a democratic socialist society and full internal self-government for all the unit territories, whilst avoiding the issues of freedom of movement and a customs union. The DLP said nothing about full internal self-government, attacked socialism, wished to avoid high taxation (via loans and technical aid) and emphasized West Indian unity, freedom of worship and speech, and encouragement of trade unions.
Federal elections were held on 25 March 1958. The WIFLP won the election, winning 26 seats while the DLP carried 19 seats. The bulk of the WIFLP seats came from the smaller islands while the DLP carried the majority in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. The DLP won 11 of the Jamaican seats and 6 of the Trinidadian seats. In appointing the Senate, Governor General Lord Hailes realized that only the St Vincent island government was DLP controlled and as a result the Senate was going to be disproportionately pro WIFLP. In a controversial decision, he contacted the opposition DLP groups in Jamaica and Trinidad, and appointed one DLP senator from each of those islands. Thus the Senate consisted of a total of 15 WIFLP members and 4 DLP members.
WIFLP leader Sir
Other members of the Council of State included:
- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry: Carl La Corbiniere (St Lucia)
- Minister of Finance: Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw(St Kitts)
- Minister of Communications and Works: Wilfred Andrew Rose (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture: Frank Ricketts (Jamaica)
- Minister of Labour and Social Affairs: Phyllis Byam Shand Allfrey (Dominica)
- Ministers without Portfolio: Novelle Richards (Antigua), Victor Vaughn (Barbados), Allan Byfield (Jamaica), James Liburd (St Kitts), and James Luc Charles (St Lucia)
Judiciary
Federal Supreme Court
There was also a Federal Supreme Court consisting of a Chief Justice and three (later five) other Justices. The Federal Supreme Court itself was the successor[19] to the West Indian Court of Appeal (established in 1919)[20] and had jurisdiction over the same territories (Barbados, British Guiana, the Leeward Islands (including the British Virgin Islands), Trinidad & Tobago and the Windward Islands)[20] in addition to Jamaica and its dependencies,[21] except for British Honduras, as the British Caribbean Federation Act 1956, which empowered the Privy Council to establish it, also repealed the enactment which allowed for appeals from the British Honduras Supreme Court to the Privy Council or the Supreme Court of Jamaica, namely the British Honduras (Court of Appeal) Act 1881.[22][23] (The arrangement for appeals to the Supreme Court of Jamaica had generally ceased in 1911 anyway.)[24][25]
Sir
Relationship with Canada
The Federation maintained a particularly close relationship with
Despite the breakdown in talks, in May 1961, Canada government presented the West Indies Federation with two of the region's most important gifts: two merchant ships, named The Federal Palm and The Federal Maple.[28][29] These two vessels visited every island in the federation twice monthly, providing a crucial sea-link between the islands.[30]
Symbols
Music
During that period, many calypsos made reference to the Federation of the West Indies, first expressing hope, then frustration as the process collapsed.
Philatelic collections / postal stamps
During the Federation's existence, each member continued to issue its own
Legacy
The federation's currency was the
The Federal Supreme Court would also be succeed by a British Caribbean Court of Appeal (1962–1966) and then a West Indies Associated States Supreme Court (Court of Appeal and High Court) (1967–1980) and ultimately by an Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal and
Some see the West Indies cricket team as a legacy of the Federation, although the side was actually organised thirty years prior to the birth of the federation.
Another lasting regional fixture, officially created before the Federation, is the University of the West Indies. During the Federation, the university pursued a policy of regional expansion beyond the main Jamaica campus. Two other campuses were established: one in Trinidad and Tobago, established in 1960, and one in Barbados, established a short time after the Federation dissolved in 1963. Since 2004, the West Indies Federal Archives Centre has been located on the university's Cave Hill campus in Barbados.
UK/West Indies Associated States (WIAS)
The West Indies Federation was legally dissolved with the
- Barbados – 1966
- Grenada – 1974
- Dominica – 1978
- Saint Lucia – 1979
- St Vincent and the Grenadines– 1979
- Antigua and Barbuda – 1981
- Saint Kitts and Nevis – 1983
Montserrat remains an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands had been separated from Jamaica upon the latter's independence in 1962; Anguilla was separated from Saint Kitts and Nevis in 1980. All three remain UK territories as well.
See also
- Governor-General of the West Indies Federation
- Prime Minister of the West Indies Federation
- 1961 Jamaican Federation of the West Indies membership referendum
- History of the Caribbean
- Canada-Caribbean relations
- CARICOM
- Cricket in the West Indies
- Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland - another contemporaneous attempt at federation
- East African Federation - a current attempt at federation
- Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles (2010)
Footnotes
- ^ "The West Indies Shipping Corporation Act" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-16. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
- from the original on 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-04-12 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "UF Digital Collections". ufdc.ufl.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ "West Indies (Federation) Order in Council 1957" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
- ^ States, United (April 12, 1961). "United States Defense Areas in the Federation of the West Indies: Agreement, with Annexes, Between the United States of America and the Federation of the West Indies Signed at Port of Spain February 10, 1961 with Memorandum of Understanding. Agreed Minute, and Related Exchange of Notes Between the British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Representative of the United States of America". U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
- ^ "Jamaica's Brexit: Remembering the West Indian Federation". Archived from the original on 2018-04-03. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
- ISBN 978-90-5356-654-1– via Google Books.
- ^ Era Bell Thompson, "Black Leaders of the West Indies", Ebony, October 1967.
- from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
- S2CID 226463649.
- ^ "PROPOSED CARIBBEAN FEDERATION (Hansard, 17 November 1971)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 17 November 1971. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- ^ from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
- ^ from the original on 31 December 2020, retrieved 30 October 2020
- ^ Eric Eustace Williams, "A new federation for the Commonwealth Caribbean?", PNM Pub. Co, Publication date: 1973.
- ^ "Home". Population Statistics. Archived from the original on 2023-04-08. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ Nantambu, Dr Kwame (12 December 2005). "W.I. Federation: Failure From the Start". Trinicenter.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
- ^ "Federal Capital (Site) (Hansard, 9 July 1957)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 9 July 1957. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "WEST INDIES BILL [H.L.] (Hansard, 15 March 1962)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 15 March 1962. Archived from the original on 1 July 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
- ^ British Caribbean Federation Act 1956 Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine, s.2(1)
- ^ a b "West Indian Court of Appeal Act, 1919" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
- ^ "UF Digital Collections". ufdc.ufl.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
- ^ Jerry Dupont (2001), The Common Law Abroad: Constitutional and Legal Legacy of the British Empire, p. 227.
- ^ "UF Digital Collections". ufdc.ufl.edu.
- ^ Frank Cundall (1927), Handbook Of Jamaica. Archived 25 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Humphrey Hume Wrong (1923), Government of the West Indies, p. 160]
- ^ "The West Indies Gazette, Vol. 4, No 34". Governor General. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
- ^ HUTTON, ERIC (15 April 1953). "The West Indies want to join us". Maclean's. Rogers Media. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
Canada will get four million new citizens, frontiers on the equator, a three-hundred-million-dollar market, plus calypsos and cricket if the majority of the British West Indians succeeded in their bid for union.
- ^ Staff Writer (12 January 1964). "'MYSTERY SHIPS' PLY CARIBBEAN TOURIST ROUTES". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, B.W.I. --Two small, passenger carrying. cargo vessels, the Federal Maple and Federal Palm, have now celebrated more than two years Of plying the Caribbean. Although these comfortable little ships of 3,200 tons are not well known in the travel industry in the United States, or even in Canada, where they were built about three years ago, they are carrying an increasing number of tourists. The vessels have been nicknamed "the Caribbean's wonderful mystery ships." The mystery is who owns them and what is to become of them. They came from Canada as a gift to the prospective Federation of the British West Indies when the federation seemed a certainty only a few years ago. Under the plan of those days, the islands of the British West Indies were to be federated as an independent member of the British Commonwealth.
- ^ Staff writer, ed. (31 January 2019). ""The gift that kept on giving…"". caribbean-maritime.com. 36. Jamaica: Land & Marine Publications Ltd. Caribbean Shipping Association. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ Staff writer (February 19, 2019). "Here's why Canada doesn't have a Caribbean province". CBC Podcasts. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on June 13, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
Where in Canada can you spot dolphins, palm trees and beach parties in February? In an alternate universe, the answer is Jamaica — one of a select few Caribbean islands that might have become Canadian provinces if history had unfolded a bit differently. In the latest episode of The Secret Life of Canada, co-hosts Leah Simone-Bowen and Falen Johnson look at the historic connection between Canada and a number of islands and countries that make up the Caribbean.
- ^ Dupont (2001), The Common Law Abroad, p. 153.
- ^ "JustisOne". app.justis.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
References
- Carmichael, Dr. Trevor A. 2001. Passport to the Heart: Reflections on Canada Caribbean Relations. Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston 6, Jamaica.
- Stewart, Alice R. (1950). "Canadian—West Indian Union, 1884–1885" (PDF). Canadian Historical Review. Number 4. 31 (4). S2CID 162522307.[permanent dead link]
- Fraser, Cary. 1994. Ambivalent anti-colonialism : the United States and the genesis of West Indian independence, 1940–1964. Greenwood Press
- Ghany, Dr Hamid 1996. Kamal: a Lifetime of Politics Religion and Culture Multimedia Production Centre, University of the West Indies.
- Gonsalves, Ralph E. 1994. History and the Future: A Caribbean Perspective. Quik-Print, Kingstown, St. Vincent.
- Hoyes, F. A. 1963. The Rise of West Indian Democracy: The Life and Times of Sir Grantley Adams. Advocate Press.
- Hurwitz, Samuel J. “The Federation of the West Indies: A Study in Nationalisms.” Journal of British Studies, 6#1 1966, pp. 139–168. online
- Mahabir, Dr Winston 1978 In and Out of Politics Inprint Caribbean.
- Mordecai, John, Sir. 1968. Federation of the West Indies Evanston, Northwestern University Press
- Wickham, P. W. 1997 "Factors in the Integration and Disintegration of the Caribbean" published as part of Issues in the Government and Politics of the West Indies, edited by J. G. LaGuerre, Multimedia Production Centre, University of the West Indies.
- Williams, Eric. 1964. British Historians and the West Indies. P.N.M. Publishing Company, Port of Spain.
- McIntyre, W. David (1954). "The Commonwealth of Nations: Origins and Impact, 1869–1971". Europe and the World in the Age of Expansion. 9. ISBN 0-8166-0855-5.
- Nelson, Renee A. (4 July 2020). "The West Indian Press and Public: Concepts of Regionalism and Federation, 1944–1946". Journal of Caribbean History. 54 (1): 82–105.
External links
- Media related to West Indies Federation at Wikimedia Commons
- The British Monarch's website – On the Caribbean region
- West Indies Federal Archives Centre, at the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus)
- Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, The West Indies Federation
- The British Hansard Digitisation Project, British Parliament -- The Caribbean Federation Act 1956
- The British Government's Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) -- West Indies Act 1962 (c.19) -- UK Statute Law Database (SLD)
- Why 'Federation' really fell apart – Sunday, October 22, 2006: Trinidad and Tobago Express