1f.+Reasons+for+Crown+Colony+Government+in+the+19th+century

__**Reasons for Crown Colony Government in the 19th Century**__

Government in the West Indies was a copy of the British system of Parliament. Each island had a governor, a council and an elected assembly. The British government could have just given the governor and his nominated council total powers but they needed to have the cooperation of the wealthy planters in the islands who were influential within the colonies (the assembly).This meant that the assembly would sometimes favour policies that the British government opposed.

In other words **The Old Representative System was a system of government which consisted of a governor, an elected assembly and a council. Under this system, the governor had power and no authority and the assembly had authority but no power.** Therefore in this system, the governor passed all the laws but the assembly often had control of the colony's annual budget.

In Jamaica, the assembly even controlled how this money was to be spent. The British government was defeated by the Jamaican assembly in 1678, when the government tried to pass laws which would have taken away the assembly's powers. In Grenada, when the British government imposed an export tax without the consent of the assembly, the law was defeated in the English court.

After emancipation there were many disagreements between British Parliament and governments in the colonies partly because the British government was more concerned about the former slaves than the colonists. The British government also there was a lot of mismanagement of money by the governments in the colonies. Because of this, the British government decided that the colonial system of government (Old Rep System) would have to be changed to use the money more efficiently.

The change in structure was that there would be one executive council, made up of a council member and a maximum of 3 assembly members (who could no longer promote money bills as There was no longer an elected assembly). This council would serve as the liaison between the governor and the law makers in Britain. This new system of government was called Crown Colony government. **Crown colony government was a system of government which consisted of a governor and an executive council. This type of government remained active i the West Indies until the colonies became independent in the 20th Century.**

This new system started in 1865 in Jamaica and Tobago and in 1869 in St Kitts, Antigua, Nevis and St Vincent. By 1875, Dominica and Government also had this type of government.

__**CASE STUDY - JAMAICA**__


 * (1) Describe how the government system between 1838 and 1865 in Jamaica responded to the changing society.**

The government system in Jamaica at the above time was the Old Representative System. The response of the government to the changing society was not catered towards the freed black population, rather most legislature passed by local government was in the interest of the white planters. For instance mainly towns where the whites lived got assistance and educational institutions were mostly for the white population. The whites felt like the education of the black population could only have negative results.

The initiatives to benefit the black population often came from the missionaries. The white planters voted for their self interest. Basically, the white ruling class still saw the black population as undeserving and so even the most basic improvements for the blacks were ignored and voted on.

This resulted in serious difficulties for the majority of the black population because there was a lack of basic infrastructure, as in there were no hospitals, schools or even proper roads. The little assistance given to the black population was focused in the towns. Rural areas were ignored. Roads in these areas were tracks and people had to travel great distances to go to stores, market or the hospitals.

The focus of educational institutions was still largely for the white population. The governments in the Caribbean during this period provided very little schools for the general population. In fact it was the missionaries who led the effort to educate the children of the ex-slaves, not the colonial governments. The denominational schools that they built exposed children to various areas of learning.

The peasants of Jamaica felt that the colonial government did not care enough about them. In 1865 they accused the government of oppressing them, staged a revolt called the Morant Bay uprising and forced the authorities to change the way the islands were being governed. It was this effort of the Jamaican peasant class thatmarked a turning point in history of the change throughout the Caribbean from the Old Representative system to Crown Colony government.


 * (2) When was the Crown Colony system of government implemented?**

Crown colony government was implemented in 1865.


 * (3) Describe 3 features of the Crown Colony system of government that showed a positive response to the changing Jamaican society.**

Three features of Crown Colony government that showed a positive response to the changing society were the improvements to public works, transportation and the health care. The Crown Colony government meant that the measures necessary to implement improvements could be more easily voted for than before. Therefore systems of irrigation, drainage, parks, markets and so on were put in place by the end of the 19th century.

In the area of transportation several improvements were also put in place. The railway system was improved and extended and several roads and bridges were built to improve communication.