Constitutional Change in the British West Indies, 1880-1903: With Special Reference to Jamaica, British Guiana, and Trinidad

1973 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 750
Author(s):  
Peter Marshall ◽  
H. A. Will

1981 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Nigel Bolland

Four years after their “emancipation” in 1838, the former slaves of British Guiana protested against their conditions and their unfair treatment by the planters who sought to bind them to labor on the estates. When the planters introduced certain rules and regulations, which were intended to regulate the quality and quantity of work, and to reduce labor costs by lowering wages and abolishing customary allowances of free medical attention, housing, and provision grounds, the workers complained to the stipendiary magistrates and stopped work.





Author(s):  
Parkinson Charles

During independence negotiations in British Guiana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, the debate about bills of rights did not focus on the merits of bills of rights in protecting the rights of individuals but on their capacity to entrench in the constitution the basic democratic features of the Westminster system of government. There was great apprehension about independence from groups that had different views from the party likely to be in government during the transfer of power. One approach taken by such groups was to try to lock in the constitutional status quo and therefore minimize the political uncertainty after independence. The bill of rights was an important component of this entrenchment package. This reflected a major shift in thinking about the use of a bill of rights that did not occur to the same extent in either Asia or Africa.



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