| Road to Independence
Most Caribbean countries remained under colonial rule after the abolition of slavery. Between 1958 and 1962 most of the British-controlled Caribbean was integrated as the new West Indies Federation in an attempt to create a single unified future independent state.
The West Indies Federation fell apart when the largest island Jamaica
withdrew from the federation and declared itself independent in August 1962 followed by Trinidad and Tobago in August 1962. By the end of the 1960s, only few Caribbean islands remained dependent territories. Barbados gained
its independence in 1966; the Bahamas in 1973; Grenada in
1974; Dominica in 1978; St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the
Grenadines in 1979; Antigua and Barbuda in 1981; and St.
Kitts and Nevis in 1983.
Currently, Montserrat, the British
Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos
Islands remained crown colonies with limited internal self-government.
Anguilla, having broken away unilaterally from St. Kitts-Nevis
in 1967, became an Associated State of Great Britain in
1976.
Chronological List for Independence of Caribbean Countries
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