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The Hanover Parish Library foundation stone was laid by the first British High Commissioner to an Independent Jamaica; the fountain was dedicated by the first Jamaican Governor-General and it was officially opened in March 1964 by the first Prime Minister of an independent Jamaica.
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 On August 6, 1962, Jamaica became an independent nation. At the stroke of 12 that hot summer night, the Union Jack of Great Britain was lowered, and with much expectation, celebration and relief, the Jamaican people commemorated the rising of their own colours – black, green and gold – with dances, parades and religious ceremonies.
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The road to independence was a long and arduous one. Since 1494 when Columbus arrived in the New World, Jamaica was governed as a colony; first by the Spanish, and then by the British. In the three centuries between the Europeans’ arrival and our Independence Day, the island seemed, at many times, ungovernable. Successive colonial governments were constantly challenged; first by gold-hungry pirates, later by groups of self-liberated African warriors, and always by the defiant impoverished masses that vociferously (and sometimes violently) demonstrated their discontentment.
Today’s political system is both the result and reflection of these challenges; our accession to democratic self-government follows steps taken in response to immediate social concerns, while the system itself mirrors the character of the Jamaican people, their priorities and aspirations. Jamaica today boasts one of the most stable and successful democracies in the region.
Our modern political system has its origins in the Garvey-inspired Black Nationalist movements of the early 1900s, and the trade union movements of the 1930s and 40s. The first political party in Jamaica (also the first in the Caribbean) was the People’s National Party, (PNP), founded in 1938 by barrister, trade unionist and Jamaican National Hero, Norman Washington Manley. The PNP evolved as a political machine campaigning for universal adult suffrage and Jamaican self-government. It was created in the aftermath of the riots and civil unrest of the 1930s, when thousands of workers islandwide protested wages, living and working conditions. The party moved into representative politics in 1944 with the introduction of Universal Adult Suffrage and limited self-government through an elected legislature.
The Jamaica Labour Party, (JLP), emerged directly from the trade union movement. Formed by Jamaican National Hero, Sir Alexander Bustamante in 1944 as a spin-off of his worker-empowered Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, (BITU), the party was created to contest Jamaica’s first general election, also held in 1944.
Since then, the two political parties have alternated in office, led by some of the most influential thinkers and leaders in the world. Deeply entrenched party loyalties characterize our politics, and every five years candidates contest tight elections as an impassioned electorate expresses its confidence in, or displeasure with, the status quo.
Jamaicans enjoy a wide range of civil liberties, afforded us by the very existence of our democratic political system. No democracy is static or guaranteed, but must be constantly nurtured. By participating in our own governance, we maintain and improve a system of which we can be proud. After all, our political legacy is an integral part of who we are, who we were and who future generations of Jamaicans will be. |
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