BAJAN SUN MAGAZINE
NOV 2014
BARBADOS: AN INDEPENDENT NATION
B
efore Barbados' Independence, the island
was a British Colony for over 300 years
due to the first English settlers in 1625.
first playing of the National Anthem, the first
raising of the National Flag and an elaborate
parade.
During the 1920's Political arousal of the black
population became obvious when Charles
Duncan O'Neal formed the Democratic League.
Since Independence Barbados has been a
member
of
CARICOM
(previously
the Caribbean Free Trade Area), as well as
gaining close ties with Third World countries.
Barbados now enjoys one of the most stable
political and economic environments in the
English speaking Countries.
In 1938 after the civil disturbances in 1937, the
Barbados Progressive League (later becoming
the Barbados Labour Party) was formed and
Barbados attained full internal self-government
in 1961.
The first Premier Grantley Adams (later
Knighted to 'Sir') led Barbados into the (10)
member West Indian Federation in 1958 until
1962. After the Federation was terminated in
1962, Barbados returned to its former status as
a self-government. Failed attempts were made
by the Premier Grantley Adams to form another
Federation with the Leeward and Windward
islands.
Barbados was then led into full Independence
on November 30th 1966 by the then Premier
Errol Walton Barrow of the Democratic Labour
Party (previously the Democratic League), a
group which in 1955 broke away from the now
Barbados Labour Party. Errol Barrow became
the first Prime Minister of Barbados. This date
was also St Andrew's Day.
Barbados had now achieved Independence from
Britain, but maintained ties to the British
monarch, represented in Barbados by the
Governor General. Barbados became an
independent state within the Commonwealth
Nations and continues to have major role in
regional cooperation.
On that Proud day of Independence now a
National Holiday, the ceremony included the
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