West Indies Federation
The West Indies Federation was a short-lived
Caribbean country that existed from
January 3,
1958 to
May 31,
1962.
It was a self-governing,
federal state made up of twelve provinces (in the
British West Indies), all former
British colonial possessions. The nation was created by Britain in 1958 as a way of simultaneously satisfying the demands for independence of all colonies in the region.
The provinces of the West Indies Federation were:
The capital city was supposed to be at a place called Chaguaramas, a few miles west of
Port-of-Spain, which is located in present day
Trinidad and Tobago.
Although the Federation was initially optimistically embraced by all, the unity did not last. The largest provinces, especially Jamaica and Trinidad, quickly gained control over the federal government's agenda, much to the displeasure of the smaller provinces. This in turn caused the larger provinces to resent being members of a union that had so many members hostile to them, and increased pro-independence sentiment.
In
1961 the
Premier of the Jamaican province held a
referendum on political
secession from the Federation. It passed, and Jamaica became an independent country. Jamaica's departure signaled the failure of Britain's Caribbean experiment, and the Federation was quickly dissolved, with many former provinces gaining full independence and sovereignty (as
Commonwealth realms), but some reverting to being British colonies.
The Federation's only
Prime Minister was Sir
Grantley Herbert Adams; its only
Governor General was
Patrick George Thomas Buchan-Hepburn, later known as
Baron Hailes.
Queen Elizabeth II was
Head of State.
During the Federation's existence, each member continued to issue its own
postage stamps as before; but on
April 22,
1958, the members (except for the Cayman Islands) each issued a set of three commemorative stamps. All of these stamps used a common design depicting a map of the Caribbean and a portrait of Queen
Elizabeth, with an inscription at the top reading
"THE WEST INDIES / FEDERATION 1958" at the top and the name of the member at the bottom. All of these stamps are quite common in both mint and used condition.
The nation's currency was the
West Indies dollar, which later was succeeded by the
East Caribbean dollar.
