91-406: British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies . It was located on the northern coast of South America . Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana . The first known Europeans to encounter Guiana were Sir Walter Raleigh , an English explorer, and his crew. Raleigh published a book entitled The Discovery of Guiana , but this mainly relates to
182-811: A felony throughout the empire. The Royal Navy established the West Africa Squadron to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. It did suppress the slave trade, but did not stop it entirely. Between 1808 and 1860, the West Africa Squadron captured 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans. They resettled many in Jamaica and the Bahamas. Britain also used its influence to coerce other countries to agree to treaties to end their slave trade and allow
273-755: A short-lived settlement on the Wiapoco River in 1604 (now the Oyapock, which forms the border between French Guiana and Brazil ). This was followed by failed attempts to established settlements in Saint Lucia in 1605 and Grenada in 1609. The first permanent settlement was established in St. Christopher (St. Kitts) by Thomas Warner . This was followed by settlements in Barbados in 1627, Nevis in 1628, and Montserrat and Antigua in 1632. Providence Island
364-402: A brewery, a soap factory, a biscuit factory and an oxygen-acetylene plant, among others). The London-based Booker Group of companies (Booker Brothers, McConnell & Co., Ltd) dominated the economy of British Guiana. The Bookers had owned sugar plantations in the colony since the early 19th century; by the end of the century they owned a majority of them. By 1950 they owned all but three. With
455-403: A crewman on a slave ship and subsequent religious conversion , which inspired his writing of the poem later used in the hymn. Newton is portrayed as a major influence on Wilberforce and the abolition movement. The Act is referenced in the 2010 novel The Long Song by British author Andrea Levy and in the 2018 BBC television adaptation of the same name . The novel and television series tell
546-690: A diplomatic protest, claiming that the New River , and not the Kutari, was to be regarded as the source of the Courantyne and the boundary. The British government in 1900 replied that the issue was already settled by the longstanding acceptance of the Kutari as the boundary. In 1962, the Kingdom of the Netherlands , on behalf of its then- constituent country of Suriname , finally made formal claim to
637-529: A group of absentee slave owners living in Britain, especially in Glasgow and Liverpool . The economy of British Guiana was completely based on sugarcane production until the 1880s, when falling cane sugar prices stimulated a shift toward rice farming, mining and forestry. But the production of sugarcane remained a significant part of the economy (in 1959 sugar still accounted for nearly 50% of exports). Under
728-656: A letter in 1778 that opens in praise of Britain for its "freedom – and for the many blessings I enjoy in it", before criticizing the actions towards his black brethren in parts of the Empire such as the West Indies. In 1785, English poet William Cowper wrote: We have no slaves at home – Then why abroad? Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free. They touch our country, and their shackles fall. That's noble, and bespeaks
819-627: A nation proud. And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then, And let it circulate through every vein. By 1783, an anti-slavery movement to abolish the slave trade throughout the Empire had begun among the British public, with the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade being established in 1787. The Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion by Josiah Wedgwood , was, according to
910-565: A new proportional representation system. Britain expected that this system would reduce the number of seats won by the PPP and prevent it from obtaining a majority. The December 1964 elections for the new legislature gave the PPP 45.8% (24 seats), the People's National Congress (PNC) 40.5% (22 seats) and the United Force (UF) 12.4% (7 seats). The UF agreed to form a coalition government with
1001-459: A new border according to the award, and the parties accepted the boundary in 1905. There the matter rested until 1962, when Venezuela renewed its 19th-century claim, alleging that the arbitral award was invalid. After his death, Severo Mallet-Prevost, legal counsel for Venezuela and a named partner in the New York law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle published a letter alleging that
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#17327798553021092-451: A nominated Senate (13 seats). In the ensuing election of 21 August 1961, the PPP won 20 seats in the House of Assembly, entitling it as the majority party to appoint eight senators. Upon the 1961 election, British Guiana also became self-governing , except as to defence and external matters. The leader of the majority party became prime minister, who then named a Council of Ministers, replacing
1183-467: A slave in England. However, many campaigners, including Granville Sharp , took the view that the ratio decidendi of the Somerset case meant that slavery was unsupported by law within England and that no ownership could be exercised on slaves entering English or Scottish soil. Ignatius Sancho , who in 1774 became the first known person of African descent to vote in a British general election, wrote
1274-440: A week before William Wilberforce died. It received royal assent a month later, on 28 August, and came into force the following year, on 1 August 1834. In practical terms, only slaves below the age of six were freed in the colonies. Former slaves over the age of six were redesignated as " apprentices ", and their servitude was gradually abolished in two stages: the first set of apprenticeships came to an end on 1 August 1838, while
1365-513: A £15 million loan, finalised on 3 August 1835, with banker Nathan Mayer Rothschild and his brother-in-law Moses Montefiore ; £5 million was paid out directly in government stock, worth £1.5 billion in present day. There have been claims the money was not paid back by the British taxpayers until 2015, however this claim is based on a technicality as to how the British Government financed their debt though undated gilts. According to
1456-518: Is a 2006 British-American biographical drama film directed by Michael Apted , about the campaign against the slave trade in the British Empire , led by William Wilberforce , who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament . The title is a reference to the 1772 hymn " Amazing Grace ". The film also recounts the experiences of John Newton as
1547-646: Is supposed, by the best informed persons I was able to consult, to be, on an average, at least one in eight, that is about ten millions . Many consider them twice as numerous. A successor organisation to the Anti-Slavery Society was formed in London in 1839, the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society , which worked to outlaw slavery worldwide. The world's oldest international human rights organisation, it continues today as Anti-Slavery International . Clandestine slave trading still continued within
1638-641: The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 . The UK continued separate administration of the individual colonies until 1822, when the administration of Essequibo and Demerara was combined. In 1831, the administration Essequibo-Demerara and Berbice was combined, and the united colony became known as British Guiana. During World War II the United States Navy established NAF British Guiana and NAF Paramaribo in British Guiana. The economy
1729-649: The British Government abolished the Dutch-influenced constitution and replaced it with a Crown colony constitution. A Legislative Council with an appointed majority was established, and the administrative powers of the Governor were strengthened. These constitutional changes were not popular among the Guyanese, who viewed them as a step backward. The franchise was extended to women . In 1938
1820-660: The Colonial Office that the scheme had failed due to "local prejudice and self-interest". His only achievement was to give the Leewards a single Governor. All laws and ordinances had to be approved by each island council. In 1871, the British government passed the Leeward Islands Act, by which all the islands were under one Governor and one set of laws. The Federal Colony was composed of all islands organised under Governor Pine's previous attempt. Each island
1911-676: The Guayana region of Venezuela. The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle there, starting in the early 17th century. They founded the colonies of Essequibo and Berbice , adding Demerara in the mid-18th century. In 1796, Great Britain took over these three colonies during hostilities with the French, who had occupied the Netherlands . Britain returned control of the territory to the Batavian Republic in 1802, but captured
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#17327798553022002-608: The Leeward Islands were brought together, and Dominica was added, remaining as part of the group until 1940. In 1869, Governor Benjamin Pine was assigned to organise a federation of Antigua-Barbuda, Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands . St. Kitts and Nevis opposed sharing their government funds with Antigua and Montserrat, which were bankrupt. Governor Pine told
2093-677: The Smithsonian 's National Museum of African American History and Culture to create a film which debuted at the museum's opening on 24 September 2016. This film, 28 August: A Day in the Life of a People , tells of six significant events in African-American history that happened on the same date, 28 August. Events depicted include (among others) William IV's royal assent to the Slavery Abolition Act. Amazing Grace
2184-671: The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1998 . The repeal has not made slavery legal again, sections of the Slave Trade Act 1824 , Slave Trade Act 1843 and Slave Trade Act 1873 continuing in force. In its place the Human Rights Act 1998 incorporates into British Law Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights which prohibits the holding of persons as slaves. Ava DuVernay was commissioned by
2275-605: The West India Committee , purchased enough seats to be able to resist the overtures of abolitionists. However, the Reform Act 1832 swept away their rotten borough seats, clearing the way for a majority of members of the House of Commons to push through a law to abolish slavery itself throughout the British Empire. The Act passed its second reading in the House of Commons unopposed on 22 July 1833, just
2366-713: The West India Royal Commission ("The Moyne Commission") was appointed to investigate the economic and social condition of all the British colonies in the Caribbean region after a number of civil and labour disturbances . Among other changes, the Commission recommended some constitutional reforms. As a result, in 1943 a majority of the Legislative Council seats became elective, the property qualifications for voters and for candidates for
2457-686: The West Indies under British rule , including Anguilla , the Cayman Islands , the Turks and Caicos Islands , Montserrat , the British Virgin Islands , Bermuda , Antigua and Barbuda , the Bahamas , Barbados , Dominica , Grenada , Jamaica , Saint Kitts and Nevis , Saint Lucia , Saint Vincent and the Grenadines , British Honduras , British Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago . The Kingdom of England first established colonies in
2548-626: The decolonization of the Americas in the later 1950s and 1960s, the term "British West Indies" was regularly used to include all British colonies in the region as part of the British Empire. Following the independence of most of the territories from the United Kingdom , the term Commonwealth Caribbean is now used. In 1912, the British government divided their territories into different colonies: The Bahamas , Barbados , British Guiana , British Honduras , Jamaica (with its dependencies
2639-675: The " New River Triangle ", the triangular-shaped region between the New and Kutari rivers that was in dispute. The then Surinamese colonial government and, after 1975, the independent Surinamese government, maintained the Dutch position, while the British Guiana Government, and later the independent Guyanese government, maintained the British position. British Guiana is famous among philatelists for its early postage stamps, which were first issued in 1850. These stamps include some of
2730-585: The 1831 rebellion, the British Parliament held two inquiries. The results of these inquiries contributed greatly to the abolition of slavery with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Up until then, sugar planters from rich British islands such as the Colony of Jamaica and Barbados were able to buy rotten and pocket boroughs , and they were able to form a body of resistance to moves to abolish slavery itself. This West India Lobby, which later evolved into
2821-696: The 1833 Abolition Act are listed in a Parliamentary Return, entitled Slavery Abolition Act, which is an account of all moneys awarded by the Commissioners of Slave Compensation in the Parliamentary Papers 1837–8 (215) vol. 48. As a notable exception to the rest of the British Empire, the Act did not extend to any of the territories administered by the East India Company , including the islands of Ceylon and Saint Helena , in which
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2912-443: The 1880s gold and diamond deposits were discovered in British Guiana, including what was thought to be the world's largest diamond in 1922. They did not generate significant revenue. Bauxite deposits proved more promising and would remain an important part of the economy. The colony did not develop any significant manufacturing industry, other than sugar factories, rice mills, sawmills , and certain small-scale industries (including
3003-516: The 1990s). Most of the countries and territories listed above field a combined cricket team called the West Indies , which is one of the twelve elite international teams that play at Test match level. The West Indies hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup of ODI Cricket and the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 . 24°00′00″N 71°00′00″W / 24.0000°N 71.0000°W / 24.0000; -71.0000 Slavery Abolition Act 1833 The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4 . c. 73)
3094-631: The Anti-Slavery Society. During the Christmas holiday of 1831, a large-scale slave revolt in Jamaica, known as the Baptist War , broke out. It was organised originally as a peaceful strike by the Baptist minister Samuel Sharpe . The rebellion was suppressed by the militia of the Jamaican plantocracy and the British garrison ten days later in early 1832. Because of the loss of property and life in
3185-477: The BBC, "the most famous image of a black person in all of 18th-century art". Fellow abolitionist Thomas Clarkson wrote: "Of the ladies several wore them in bracelets, and others had them fitted up in an ornamental manner as pins for their hair. At length, the taste for wearing them became general; and thus fashion, which usually confines itself to worthless things, was seen for once in the honourable office of promoting
3276-758: The British Caribbean sugar industry went into terminal decline, and the British parliament no longer felt they needed to protect the economic interests of the West Indian sugar planters. In 1823, the Anti-Slavery Society was founded in London. Members included Joseph Sturge , Thomas Clarkson , William Wilberforce , Henry Brougham , Thomas Fowell Buxton , Elizabeth Heyrick , Mary Lloyd , Jane Smeal , Elizabeth Pease , and Anne Knight . Jamaican mixed-race campaigners such as Louis Celeste Lecesne and Richard Hill were also members of
3367-573: The British Empire despite its illegality. In 1854, Nathaniel Isaacs , owner of the island of Matakong off the coast of Sierra Leone , was accused of slave trading by the governor of Sierra Leone, Sir Arthur Kennedy . Papers relating to the charges were lost when the Forerunner was wrecked off Madeira in October 1854. Due to the absence of the papers, the English courts refused to proceed with
3458-658: The British agreed to allow the long-established laws of the colonies to remain in force. In 1802 Britain returned the colonies to the Batavian Republic under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens . But, after resuming hostilities with France in the Napoleonic Wars in 1803, Britain seized the colonies again less than a year later. The Netherlands officially ceded the three colonies to the United Kingdom in
3549-779: The Colony until 1958. After 1885 the Windward Islands Colony was under one Governor-General in Grenada, and each island had its own Lieutenant-Governor and its own assembly (as before). Attempts to create a Federal Colony, as in the Leewards, were always resisted. The Windward Islands Colony broke up in 1958 when each island chose to join the new Federation of the West Indies as a separate unit. The Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands were grouped under Jamaica out of convenience and sometimes for historical and/or geographical reasons. British Honduras (later Belize )
3640-435: The Council were lowered, and the bar on women and clergy serving on the Council was abolished. The Governor retained control of the Executive Council, which had the power to veto or pass laws against the wishes of the Legislative Council. The next round of constitutional reforms came in 1953. A bicameral legislature , consisting of a lower House of Assembly and an upper State Council, was established. The voting membership of
3731-429: The Dutch, settlement and economic activity was concentrated around sugarcane plantations lying inland from the coast. Under the British, cane planting expanded to richer coastal lands, with greater coastline protection. Until the abolition of slavery in the British Empire , sugar planters depended almost exclusively on slave labour to produce sugar. Georgetown was the site of a significant slave rebellion in 1823 . In
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3822-485: The General Assembly met regularly until 1711. By the 18th century, each island had kept its own Assembly and made its own laws. The islands continued to share one Governor and one Attorney-General. Although unpopular, Stapleton's federation was never really dissolved but simply replaced by other arrangements. Between 1816 and 1833, the Leewards were divided into two groups: St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla and Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat, each with its own Governor. In 1833, all
3913-415: The House of Assembly was entirely elective. The membership of the State Council was appointed by the Governor and the House of Assembly and possessed limited revisionary powers. A Court of Policy became the executive body, consisting of the Governor and other colonial officials. Universal adult suffrage was instituted, and the property qualifications for office abolished. The election of 27 April 1953 under
4004-431: The PNC, and accordingly, the PNC leader became the new prime minister. In November 1965 an independence conference in London quickly reached agreement on an independent constitution; it set the date for independence as 26 May 1966. On that date, at 12 midnight, British Guiana became the new nation of Guyana . In 1840, the British Government assigned the German-born explorer Robert Hermann Schomburgk to survey and mark out
4095-424: The Royal Navy to seize their slave ships . Between 1807 and 1823, abolitionists showed little interest in abolishing slavery itself. Eric Williams presented economic data in Capitalism and Slavery to show that the slave trade itself generated only small profits compared to the much more lucrative sugar plantations of the Caribbean, and therefore slavery continued to thrive on those estates. However, from 1823
4186-425: The Treasury the 1837 slave debts were subsumed into a consolidated 4% loan issued in 1927 (maturing in 1957 or after). It was only when the British government modernised the gilt portfolio in 2015 by redeeming all remaining undated gilts was there complete certainty that the debt was extinguished. The long gap between this money being borrowed and certainty of repayment was due to the type of financial instrument that
4277-445: The Turks and Caicos Islands and the Cayman Islands), Trinidad and Tobago , the Windward Islands , and the Leeward Islands . Between 1958 and 1962, all of the island territories except the British Virgin Islands , the Bahamas and Bermuda were organised into the West Indies Federation . It was hoped that the Federation would become independent as a single nation, but it had limited powers and faced many practical problems. Consequently,
4368-428: The United Kingdom on 26 May 1966. The English made at least two unsuccessful attempts in the 17th century to colonise the lands that would later be known as British Guiana. By that time, the Dutch had established two colonies in the area: Essequibo , administered by the Dutch West India Company , and Berbice , administered by the Berbice Association . The Dutch West India Company founded a third colony, Demerara , in
4459-433: The United States' Monroe Doctrine to win support for its position. US President Grover Cleveland used diplomatic pressure to get the British to agree to arbitration of the issue, ultimately agreeing terms for the arbitration that suited Britain. An arbitration tribunal convened in Paris in 1898, and issued its award in 1899. The tribunal awarded about 94% of the disputed territory to British Guiana. A commission surveyed
4550-420: The West Indies Federation was dissolved in 1962. The territories are now fully independent sovereign states , except for five – Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos Islands – which remain British Overseas Territories , as does Bermuda. All remain within the Commonwealth of Nations . They also established the Caribbean Community , and many of
4641-410: The Windward Islands Colony, but were not given their own assemblies (having previously been Crown Colonies ). In 1840 Trinidad left the Colony. Barbados wished to retain its separate identity and ancient institutions, and the other colonies did not want to associate with it. The individual islands resisted British attempts at closer union. Barbados in particular fought to retain its own Assembly and left
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#17327798553024732-448: The bloc of West Indies countries with the United Kingdom maintaining responsibility for defence and external affairs only. Although most of the British West Indies seceded from British rule and were granted independence, several opted to remain British territories. Those territories include: Cricket has traditionally been the main sport in the British West Indies (though others sports such as football have challenged its dominance since
4823-429: The cause of justice, humanity and freedom." Spurred by an incident involving Chloe Cooley , a slave woman brought to Canada by an American loyalist , the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada , John Graves Simcoe , tabled the Act Against Slavery in 1793. Passed by the local Legislative Assembly , it was the first legislation to outlaw the slave trade in a part of the British Empire. By the late 18th century, Britain
4914-428: The colonies a year later during the Napoleonic Wars . The Netherlands officially ceded the colonies to the United Kingdom in 1815. The British consolidated the territories into a single colony in 1831. The colony's capital was at Georgetown (known as Stabroek prior to 1812). Since the late 19th century, the economy has become more diversified but has still relied on resource exploitation . Guyana became independent of
5005-436: The colonies involved three phases: desertion from the plantations; movement settlements and later to urban areas; and intra-regional migration from one Caribbean island to another. The traditional rigid Indian caste system largely collapsed in the colonies. Guianese served in all British forces during the Second World War, and enjoyed veterans' benefits afterwards. The colony made a small but important financial contribution to
5096-406: The company had been independently regulating, and in part prohibiting the slave trade since 1774; with regulations prohibiting the enslavement, the sale without a written deed, and the transport of slaves into company territory prohibited over the period. The Indian Slavery Act, 1843 went on to prohibit company employees from owning, or dealing in slaves, along with granting limited protection under
5187-544: The constitution, declared a state of emergency , and militarily occupied British Guiana on 9 October 1953. Under the direction of the British Colonial Office , the Governor assumed direct rule of the colony under an Interim Government, which continued until 1957. On 12 August 1957, elections were held and the PPP won nine of fourteen elective seats in a new legislature. A constitutional convention convened in London in March 1960 reached agreement on another new legislature, to consist of an elected House of Assembly (35 seats) and
5278-434: The dispute remains unresolved. Robert Schomburgk's 1840 commission also included a survey of the colony's eastern boundary with the Dutch colony of Surinam , now the independent nation of Suriname . The 1899 arbitration award settling the British Guiana–Venezuela border made reference to the border with Suriname as continuing to the source of the Courantyne River , which it named as the Kutari River . The Netherlands raised
5369-412: The elective membership of the Courts. Membership of the Court of Policy became half elected and half appointed, and all of the Financial Representatives became elective positions. The executive functions of the Court of Policy were transferred to a new Executive Council under the control of the Governor. Property qualifications were significantly relaxed for voters and for candidates to the Courts. In 1928
5460-416: The final apprenticeships were scheduled to cease on 1 August 1840. The Act specifically excluded "the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company , or to the Island of Ceylon , or to the Island of Saint Helena ." The exceptions were eliminated in 1843 with the Indian Slavery Act, 1843 . The Act provided for compensation to slave-owners, but not to slaves. The amount of money to be spent on
5551-489: The former Executive Council. From 1962 to 1964, riots, strikes and other disturbances stemming from racial, social and economic conflicts delayed full independence for British Guiana. The leaders of the political parties reported to the British Colonial Secretary that they were unable to reach agreement on the remaining details of forming an independent government. The British Colonial Office intervened by imposing its own independence plan, in part requiring another election under
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#17327798553025642-556: The increasing success and wealth of the Booker Group, they expanded internationally and diversified by investing in rum, pharmaceuticals, publishing, advertising, retail stores, timber, and petroleum, among other industries. The Booker Group became the largest employer in the colony, leading some to refer to it as "Booker's Guiana". Indentured workers were recruited from India from 1850 to 1920, and were largely locked in place. A minority achieved mobility. Some secretly fled; others waited until their contracts expired. Indian migration within
5733-421: The inland mines still operate narrow-gauge lines. The British long continued the forms of Dutch colonial government in British Guiana. A Court of Policy exercised both legislative and executive functions under the direction of the colonial Governor (which existed from 1831 to 1966). A group known as the Financial Representatives sat with the Court of Policy in a Combined Court to set tax policies. A majority of
5824-409: The judges on the tribunal acted improperly as a result of a back-room deal between Russia and Great Britain. The British Government rejected this claim, asserting the validity of the 1899 award. The British Guiana Government, then under the leadership of the PPP, also strongly rejected this claim. Efforts by all parties to resolve the matter on the eve of Guyana's independence in 1966 failed; as of today,
5915-454: The law, that included the ability for a slave to own, transfer or inherit property, notionally benefitting the 8 to 10 million that were estimated to exist in company territory, to quote Rev. Howard Malcom : The number of slaves in the Carnatic, Mysore, and Malabar, is said to be greater than in most other parts of India, and embraces nearly the whole of the Punchum Bundam caste. The whole number in British India has never been ascertained, but
6006-432: The members of the Courts was appointed by the Governor; the rest were selected by a College of Kiezers (Electors). The Kiezers were elected, with the restrictive franchise based on property holdings and limited to the larger landowners of the colony. The Courts were dominated in the early centuries by the sugar planters and their representatives. In 1891 the College of Kiezers was abolished in favour of direct election of
6097-442: The mid-18th century. During the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 18th century, when the Netherlands were occupied by the French, and Great Britain and France were at war, Britain took over the colony in 1796. A British expeditionary force was dispatched from its colony of Barbados to seize the colonies from the French-dominated Batavian Republic . The colonies surrendered without a struggle. Initially very little changed, as
6188-619: The nations have joined various international bodies, such as the Organization of American States , the Association of Caribbean States , the World Trade Organization , the United Nations, and the Caribbean Development Bank among others. The territories that were part of the British West Indies are (date of independence, where applicable, in parentheses): The origins of the British West Indies lie in outposts established to support English pirates and privateers who were involved in raiding Spanish treasure fleets , and merchants interested in trade. Charles Leigh , an English merchant, established
6279-412: The new laws, began chanting: "Pas de six ans. Point de six ans" ("Not six years. No six years"), drowning out the voice of the governor. Peaceful protests continued until a resolution to abolish apprenticeship was passed and de facto freedom was achieved. Full emancipation for all was legally granted ahead of schedule on 1 August 1838. The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was repealed in its entirety by
6370-408: The new system provoked a serious constitutional crisis. The People's Progressive Party (PPP) won 18 of the 24 seats in the House of Assembly. This result alarmed the British Government, which was surprised by the strong showing of the PPP. It considered the PPP as too friendly with communist organisations. As a result of its fears of communist influence in the colony, the British Government suspended
6461-418: The payments was set at "the Sum of Twenty Million Pounds Sterling". Under the terms of the Act, the British government raised £20 million to pay out for the loss of the slaves as business assets to the registered owners of the freed slaves. In 1833, £20 million amounted to 40% of the Treasury's annual income or approximately 5% of British GDP at the time. To finance the payments, the British government took on
6552-465: The prosecution. The Act also did not outlaw other forms of forced labour like indentured servitude and blackbirding . Modern slavery, both in the form of human trafficking and people imprisoned for forced or compulsory labour, continues to this day. On 1 August 1834, an unarmed group of mainly elderly people being addressed by the governor at Government House in Port of Spain , Trinidad , about
6643-406: The rarest, most expensive stamps in the world, such as the unique British Guiana 1c magenta from 1856, which was sold in 2014 for US$ 9.5 million. [REDACTED] British Guiana travel guide from Wikivoyage 5°0′0″N 58°45′0″W / 5.00000°N 58.75000°W / 5.00000; -58.75000 British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in
6734-569: The region during the 17th century. Financed by valuable extractive commodities such as sugar production, the colonies were also at the centre of the Atlantic slave trade , with around 2.3 million slaves being brought to the British West Indies. The colonies also served as bases to project the power of the British Empire through the Royal Navy and Britain's Merchant Marine, and to expand and protect British overseas trade. Before
6825-530: The sugar industry and others were built to serve the later bauxite and other mines. In 1948, when the railway in Bermuda was closed down, the locomotives, rolling stock, track, sleepers and virtually all the associated paraphernalia of a railway were shipped to British Guiana to renovate the aged system. The lines ceased to operate in 1972. The large Central Station is still standing in Georgetown. Some of
6916-769: The termination of the West Indies Federation, a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association form of government along with the United Kingdom called the West Indies Associated States. The arrangement was created through the British House of Commons passing the West Indies Act (1967) (also known as the Associated States Act ). As part of the arrangement more sovereignty was granted to
7007-407: The union in 1884. Power for the union was then transferred to Grenada as overseer of the bloc. From 1885 to 1958, the Windward Islands Colony included Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia during the entire period. Tobago left in 1889, forming a union with Trinidad. Dominica joined the Windward Islands Colony in 1940, after having been transferred from the Leewards, and remained in
7098-721: The war effort. It also served as a refuge for Jews displaced from continental Europe, where the Nazis and Fascists worked to destroy them in the Holocaust. British colonists built the first railway system in British Guiana: 98 km (61 mi) of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) standard gauge , from Georgetown to Rosignol, and 31 km (19 mi) of 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) line between Vreeden Hoop and Parika; it opened in 1848. Several narrow-gauge lines were built to serve
7189-617: The western boundary of British Guiana with newly independent Venezuela . Venezuela did not accept the Schomburgk Line , which placed the entire Cuyuni River basin within the colony. Venezuela claimed all lands west of the Essequibo River as its territory (see map in this section). The dispute continued on and off for half a century, culminating in the Venezuela Crisis of 1895 , in which Venezuela sought to use
7280-549: Was a dependency directly under the Governor of Jamaica. In 1749 the Governors of Jamaica appointed Administrators for British Honduras. In 1862, British Honduras became a Crown Colony; it was placed under the Governor of Jamaica with its own Lieutenant-Governor. In 1884 it finally broke all administrative ties with Jamaica and wanted self governance, as did Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The West Indies Federation
7371-532: Was a short-lived federation that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. It consisted of several Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom. The Federation's purpose was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state, similar to the Federation of Australia or Canadian Confederation . The Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts over how it would be governed before that could develop. In 1967, following
7462-694: Was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in most parts of the British Empire . Passed by Earl Grey 's reforming administration, it expanded the jurisdiction of the Slave Trade Act 1807 and made the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal within the British Empire, with the exception of "the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company ", Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ), and Saint Helena . The Act came into force on 1 August 1834, and
7553-517: Was based on cultivation and processing of sugarcane as a commodity crop, dependent on extensive labor by enslaved workers of mostly sub-Saharan African descent. Although the UK and the United States abolished the Atlantic slave trade in 1807, the domestic slave trade flourished until Britain emancipated all the enslaved in its colonies in the 1830s. The wealth they generated had largely flowed to
7644-748: Was called a "Presidency" under its own Administrator or Commissioner. Like earlier groupings, this federation was unpopular but it continued until 1956, when it was redefined as the Territory of the Leeward Islands. In 1958, the Federation of the West Indies was organised, of which the Leeward Islands became a part. In 1833, the Windward Islands became a formal union called the Windward Islands Colony. In 1838, Trinidad (acquired in 1802) and St. Lucia (acquired in 1814) were brought into
7735-582: Was colonised by English Puritans in 1630, but the colony was destroyed by the Spanish in 1641. The capture of Jamaica in 1655 expanded British control beyond these small islands in the Lesser Antilles. Sir William Stapleton established the first federation in the British West Indies in 1674. He set up a General Assembly of the Leeward Islands in St. Kitts. Stapleton's federation was active between 1674 and 1685, during his term as governor, and
7826-660: Was repealed in 1998 as a part of wider rationalisation of English statute law; however, later anti-slavery legislation remains in force. In May 1772, Lord Mansfield 's judgment in the Somerset case emancipated a slave who had been brought to England from Boston in the Province of Massachusetts Bay , and thus helped launch the movement to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire. The case ruled that slavery had no legal status in England as it had no common law or statutory law basis, and as such someone could not legally be
7917-405: Was simultaneously the largest slave trader and centre of the largest abolitionist movement. William Wilberforce had written in his diary in 1787 that his great purpose in life was to suppress the slave trade before waging a 20-year fight on the industry. In 1807, Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807 , which outlawed the international slave trade, but not slavery itself. The legislation
8008-519: Was spread over many hundreds of British families, many of them (though not all ) of high social standing. For example, Henry Phillpotts (then the Bishop of Exeter ), with three others (as trustees and executors of the will of John Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley ), was paid £12,700 for 665 slaves in the West Indies, whilst Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood received £26,309 for 2,554 slaves on 6 plantations. The majority of men and women who were paid under
8099-471: Was surrounded by hostile Spanish colonies and needed the protection afforded by the Jamaican Army and Navy. In addition, British Honduras had been founded by loggers. It increased in population partly by the settlement of Englishmen migrating from Jamaica in the late 17th and early 18th centuries (settlers also immigrated directly from England; others were born in the colony.) From 1742, British Honduras
8190-486: Was timed to coincide with the expected Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves by the United States, Britain's chief rival in maritime commerce. This legislation imposed fines that did little to deter slave trade participants. Abolitionist Henry Brougham realised that trading had continued, and as a new MP successfully introduced the Slave Trade Felony Act 1811 which at last made the overseas slave trade
8281-481: Was used, rather than the amount of money borrowed. Regardless, this does not contradict the fact that, in practical terms, taxpayer's money serviced the debt originated from the Slavery Abolition Act. Half of the money went to slave-owning families in the Caribbean and Africa, while the other half went to absentee owners living in Britain. The names listed in the returns for slave owner payments show that ownership
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