The Advent of Majority Rule in The Bahamas

What does Majority Rule in The National Affairs of The Bahamas mean?

Majority Rule Day marks the day when, for the first time in history, The Bahamas had achieved full democratic status

Majority Rule: a different eyewitness report

By Patrick Rahming

Someone once said that anyone who wants to test the veracity of history should listen to two eyewitness reports of the same car accident. In that spirit, this is another eyewitness report of the advent of Majority Rule and the events following. This report may appear to contradict one that appeared in The Nassau Guardian on the eve of Majority Rule Day, January 9, 2023, but it does not. It simply adds another shade of color to the picture. To be even clearer, then, I would refer to another quote about history: “History is created by those who write it.” I share my opinion for the benefit or otherwise of Bahamian history.

What does Majority Rule mean?

The popular belief is that Majority Rule has something to do with the majority party in Parliament finally looking like the majority of the people – that is, black. That, of course, would suggest that a community of majority black citizens could not choose to be represented by white politicians, and that The Bahamas determines its national affairs on the basis of race. I cannot believe that is the meaning of Majority Rule Day.

More likely, Majority Rule Day marks the day when, for the first time in history, the country had achieved full democratic status. I have spoken to many younger Bahamians who were unaware that, prior to 1962, there were four categories of Bahamian citizens. First, there were those who qualified to vote ordinarily, which applied to men with property only. Then there were those who owned properties in multiple constituencies, who could vote wherever they owned property, giving a single individual the opportunity to vote multiple times in the same election. Thirdly, there were those who owned or represented companies, who could vote “for the company”. Finally, women and men without property could not vote at all, basically a voiceless category of citizens. In other words, prior to 1962, national elections were anything but fair. The Bahamas was legally and constitutionally not a democratic country.

However, following changes to those laws, women voted for the first time in 1962 and by 1964 both the land vote and the company vote had been rescinded. By 1964, then, The Bahamas had finally become legally and constitutionally a democratic country. So, it is quite true that the 1967 election was the first election held as a true democracy (the results determined by one man, one vote). Regardless of who won that election, the day would have been the first Majority Rule Day. The meaning of the day was determined by its history, not its participants.

*It is therefore wrong to continue to vilify those who actually passed the laws we now celebrate. The PLP was not the government when the laws providing the franchise for women and those eliminating the preferential positions for land and company ownership were passed, and therefore could not have been responsible for them. Regardless of their role as promoters or agitators, they cannot accept responsibility for the legislation passed by a previous government. In the courts, for example, the judge holds the perpetrator of the crime responsible, not the person who convinced him to commit it. This is a matter of historical record, not opinion or preference. Our children deserve the truth, not our prejudice. If we are to celebrate, let us celebrate history, not partisan rhetoric and half-truths.*

Majority Rule and the economy

Those of us over 65 (that is, old enough to remember pre-Majority Rule conditions) have a view of the 1960s that is very different from the world we hear about when current politicians speak. We recall a world in which there was considerable participation in the economy by ordinary black and white Bahamians. In tourism, the anchor of the economy, almost all of the entertainment business, the primary wealth creator in the tourism business, was owned locally, over 90 percent by black Bahamians. All of the transportation business was owned by Bahamians, also mostly black Bahamians. Except for the heritage sites, almost every tourist attraction was owned and operated by Bahamians, again mostly black. Throughout the real City of Nassau (over the hill) just about every consumer business was owned and operated by black Bahamians: grocers, meat markets, dry cleaners, dry goods stores, shoe sales and repair stores, barbers and beauticians. Everyone seemed to be an entrepreneur, from bicycle repair to raising rabbits to operating joinery shops to teaching music. Even on Bay Street, almost every business was owned and operated by Bahamians. While the majority of them may have been white, they were Bahamians (unlike today) and their participation in the tourism economy was significant. We recall a productive, confident, self-sufficient, self-assured, future-oriented communities. This is the starting point for measuring our economic progress.

The fact that, after 52 years we find ourselves standing outside foreign-owned resorts begging for participation in a business we had shaped for decades before, speaks volumes about our lack of attention to our own business. Rather than patting ourselves on our backs because we now drive expensive cars and live in gated communities, we should be asking why we have become a nation of dependent, frightened observers begging for a job. If the political establishments would claim credit for our new middle-class, they must also accept credit for the high reliance on a pay check and fear of risk.

Majority Rule and human development

That said, I agree whole-heartedly with concerns expressed about the growth of the gap between the government and its people, and the urgent need to complete the Westminster system by establishing a true system of local government. Parliamentarians are today too busy to know what their constituents need. That must be a sign that something is wrong. There appears to be little or no concern for involving citizens in their own affairs, which has led to a strong sense of “us and them” throughout the country.

I am proud of many of the advances made over these 52 years, but cannot avoid the apparent complete lack of a concern for human development by successive governments. The simple fact that the people of the de facto City of Nassau have not yet been recognized as such in law, after 50 years of independence is shocking. The fact that successive governments still find excuses not to spend on the infrastructure for the reinforcement of our identity through cultural activity is shocking. The fact that when a draft of the National Development Plan, published three years ago, stated that at graduation, 50 percent of students in public schools did not qualify to graduate, it was not considered a national emergency, is shocking. Self-Image and identity are the bedrock of social behavior. Meanwhile the same governments seem mystified by our children’s antisocial behavior. Majority Rule officially made us all equally responsible for the future of The Bahamas. I am not sure we have lived up to that responsibility.

What is the significance of Majority Rule Day? It marks the day The Bahamas became a democracy. That, I believe, is by far more important than seeking partisan credit for a public holiday.

Pat Rahming is an architect, writer and songwriter who is passionate about the importance of the built environment and its importance to the social development of The Bahamas. He can be reached at prahming@gmail.com or via his blog “From the Black Book” at prahming.wordpress.com. He welcomes other points of view.

The History of Majority Rule in The Bahamas

 THE ROAD TO MAJORITY RULE (1942 –1967) 

This singular event in Bahamian history played a significant role in shaping the modern Bahamas we experience today. The significant events leading up and emanating from Majority Rule must become permanently etched in the Bahamian historical landscape as these events define us as a people, reveal what we believe in as Bahamians, and serve as a constant reminder of our vision and values. 

Following is a cursory account of the significant events surrounding and leading up to Majority Rule, the meaning of Majority Rule, and homage will be duly paid to the freedom fighters that fought this epic battle in the name of freedom and justice. 

The Burma Road Riots 

Many local political historians believe that June 1, 1942 marked the beginning of the modern political history of the Bahamas. The events of the Burma Road Riots came as a result of the agitation by labourers for equal pay for equal work, regardless of colour or nationality. 

As you know, a satellite airfield was being constructed in western New Providence for use by the American armed forces. A labour dispute ensued over equal pay and this dispute took on a life of its own and became intimately interwoven with the overall movement for freedom and social justice. Today that site is the Lynden Pindling International Airport. 

So it is clear that from the first stirrings of political activity in the country, labour has been an integral part of the struggle. 

The Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas 

The Movement really started with a conversation between Mrs. Mary Ingraham and her husband following his defeat in the 1949 general elections. The defeated candidate opined that his political fortunes could have been very different had women voted in that election. Other significant national events that fueled the Suffrage Movement were the Burma Road Riots of 1942, the General Strike of 1958, and the Labour Movement of the 1950s. The civil rights movement in the United States with Dr. Martin Luther King was an international event that also fanned the flames that burned for social justice and equality in The Bahamas. 

Mary Ingraham formed alliances with kindred spirits from across the political divide as Bahamian women and men worked tirelessly together to fight racial, political and economic injustice in The Bahamas. This alliance included freedom fighters such as Georgiana Symonette, Eugenia Lockhart, Althea Mortimer, Albertha M. Isaacs, Doris Johnson, Grace Wilson, Mildred Moxey, Ethel Kemp, Gladys Bailey, Una Prosper Heastie, Veronica Lotmore, Nora Hannah and Madge Brown. 

Mary Ingraham was elected as President of the Suffrage Movement in 1957. Georgiana Symonette was the Vice-president and Eugenia Lockhart was the Treasurer. In 1958, Dr. Doris Johnson returned home from studying abroad and joined the Suffrage Movement. 

During the years 1959 and 1960, the Movement gained considerable ground advancing petitions and demonstrating publicly for the right to vote. In November 1960, Eugenia Lockhart and Dr. Doris Johnson accompanied Henry M. Taylor, Chairman of the PLP, to London to present a Petition to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. In January 1961 a Select Committee of the House of Assembly gave a Report in favour of the right to vote for women but with effect from January 1963. The PLP and the Independents in the House of Assembly opposed the report. An appeal was made to the House of Commons in England again. On February 23, 1961 a Bill to enable women to vote was enacted with effect from June 30, 1962. Bahamian women voted for the first time on November 26, 1962. 

The Birth of the PLP 

The PLP was born out of a movement that embodied the hopes, aspirations, and feelings of a generation of Bahamians who were demanding equal work, majority rule, and freedom to pursue any hopes and wishes they dared conceive. The man who generally credited with conceiving the Progressive Liberal Party was William Cartwright, a publisher, real estate broker, and Member of the House of Assembly for Cat Island. In August of 1953, Mr. Cartwright reportedly invited to the first meeting on Bay and Frederick Streets, the following men: The Hon. Charles Rodriquez, Mr. Henry Milton Taylor, Mr. Cyril Saint John Stevenson, Mr. Samuel Carey, Mr. Holly Brown, Mr. Clement Pinder, Mr. F.W. Russell and others. 

Many black businessmen and lawyers were invited to join, but for reasons of their own, decided not to be identified with the new movement. But the party’s course was clear from the beginning; the PLP was designed to represent all that was opposed to unfair privilege and the wealth and power this afforded the Bay Street Boys. 

General Strike of 1958 

In support of 1957’s protests, a 16-day General Strike brought Nassau to a screeching halt. Unionized or not, just about every worker participated, and the strike was quite peaceful. The result was the Trade Union and Industrial Conciliation Act and the setting up of a Labor Department. The General Strike took place in January 1958. 

Later that year in June, Allan Lennox Boyd, Secretary of State for the Colonies ordered that the first constitutional steps be taken toward Majority Rule. The voting franchise was extended to all males whether they were land owners or not; the once ubiquitous unlimited plural vote was ordered to be reduced to two and the abolition of the company vote was ordered. 

Women’s Right To Vote 

In November of 1960 Sir Henry Taylor led a delegation to London to champion the right of women to vote in The Bahamas. Accompanying Sir Henry were notables like Dame Doris Johnson and Eugenia Lockhart. Shortly after their return, women received their right to vote and exercised those rights during the November 26, 1962 general elections. 

This new women’s right brought a force and element into the history of The Bahamas that affected the country’s social, economic and political development. To this day, the effect of women exercising their right to vote has impacted all aspects of national life as women from all sides of the political divide have, and continue to make their contribution to the country, holding key positions in many offices throughout our country. 

Black Tuesday 

On this day, the governing United Bahamian Party sought the approval for a Boundaries Draft Order, which established the boundaries for the various constituencies of New Providence and the Family Islands, under the provisions of the 1964 Constitution. During a sitting of the House of Assembly, the PLP proposed two amendments to the revision of the Boundaries Draft Order which the UBP had presented. The amendments were designed to get a fairer idea of the number of voters and their distribution, but both proposed amendments were rejected. 

It was at that point that Sir Lynden walked over to the Speakers’ table and lifted the 165-year-old mace, the symbol of the Speaker’s authority, and said, "This is the symbol of authority, and authority on this island belongs to the people and the people are outside." 

With that he raised the mace and hurled it through the open window of the House of Assembly. 

The Progressive Liberal Party describes this event as "an act of deviance in the pursuit of liberty and fairness." So Tuesday 27, April 1965 was destined to go down in Bahamian history as Black Tuesday. 

Majority Rule Day 

Some have argued that the great significance of Majority Rule was that after years of struggle by many freedom and justice loving people, the back of the old oligarchy was finally broken. More importantly, Majority Rule presented the opportunity for real democracy to come to the Bahamas, underpinned by equality, tolerance, economic justice, social justice, all important elements in the creation of a free, modern, democratic state. 

All Bahamians benefited, in one way or another, from the historic event that took place on January 10, 1967, a day that now wears the rather inelegant appellation of Majority Rule Day. 

Majority Rule ushered in the opportunity for all Bahamians to have constitutional, political, social, cultural and economic rights. Where these rights were not readily accessible, the Government of the day created laws and implemented policies to enable these entitlements. 

January 10th is a day in the national calendar that belongs to all Bahamians – not just PLP’s but to all Bahamians, black and white, rich and poor, young and old, city dweller and Family Islander, and, yes, PLP and FNM alike. January 10th needs to be commemorated and celebrated by all of us because it represents one of the truly great and defining moments in our evolution as a people. 

With the exception of Emancipation from Slavery in 1834 and the attainment of Independence in 1973, there is no event of more consequence and historical importance than the attainment of Majority Rule on January 10th, 1967. January 10th, 1967 represents the transition from the old Bahamas to a New Bahamas; the point of transition from minority government to Majority Rule; the point of transition to a modern democracy. 

It also represents, however, one of the highest pinnacles in the historic – and still ongoing – struggle of the Bahamian people for economic empowerment, for equality of opportunity, and for social justice. 

January 10th, 1967, to be sure, was neither an end nor even a beginning. Instead, it was an important milestone in a journey that was begun centuries ago when some anonymous slave struck a blow for freedom for the first time. We pause to pay homage to the personalities and players in this epic struggle. In a hard fought and competitive election in 1967, the PLP delivered the following 18 members to a 38-member House of Assembly. They were: Lynden Pindling, Preston Albury, Clarence Bain, Milo Butler, Clifford Darling, Elwood Donaldson, Arthur Foulkes, Carlton Francis, Arthur Hanna, Warren Levarity, Curtis MacMillan, Uriah McPhee, Maurice Moore, Edmund Moxey, Jimmy Shepherd, George Thompson, Jeffrey Thompson and Cecil Wallace Whitfield. Randol Fawkes who successfully ran as Labour in 1962 and 1967 with the support of the PLP threw his support behind the PLP and became a member of the first Majority Rule cabinet. He figured prominently in the movement toward Majority Rule. 

Successful Independent candidate Sir Alvin Braynen threw in his lot with the PLP and accepted the post of Speaker of the House. 

These two warriors for justice and freedom tipped the proverbial scale in favor of the PLP and the first Majority Rule cabinet was formed: This distinguished group consisted of Cecil Wallace-Whitfield, Milo Butler, Arthur Hanna, Clarence Bain, Jeffrey Thompson, Carlton Francis, Randol Fawkes, Warren Levarity, Curtis McMillan, Clement T. Maynard and Lynden Pindling. 

In this 40th year of nationhood, we come together as one people to mark a critically important milestone in our progress as a people – and to re-commit ourselves to a struggle that never ends. 

As The Bahamas looks to the future, it must be that the average man, making the average salary, with children to educate to university level; that they see not a glass ceiling but opportunities that give rise to hope as we work to build the best little country in the world.

Source

What were some of the major milestones that contributed to the centuries-long march to Majority Rule in The Bahamas?

The march to Majority Rule, Part III

Consider This...

By PHILIP C. GALANIS

History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future. - Robert Penn Warren

As we noted in parts I and II of this series, the march to Majority Rule in The Bahamas can be characterized by two words: sustained struggle.

On January 10, we quietly celebrated the first public holiday to commemorate the day that Majority Rule came to The Bahamas in 1967.  It was a life-changing event that catapulted the lives of many thousands to unimaginable heights.  Last week we reviewed three important milestones in the march to Majority Rule that helped to create the framework for the attainment of that achievement: the by-election of 1938, the Burma Road Riot of 1942, and the Contract beginning in 1943.  This week and in the final week in January, we will continue to Consider This…what were some of the major milestones that contributed to the centuries-long march to Majority Rule?

The 1950s were decisively transformative on the march to Majority Rule. It was a decade that witnessed the formation of the PLP in 1953, the 1956 Resolution on Racial Discrimination in the House of Assembly and the 1958 General Strike.

The formation of the PLP

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was established in 1953, following an attempt by the Citizens’ Committee to actively address some of the rampant discriminatory practices by the white Nassau elite.  The Citizens’ Committee, formed in December 1950 initially protested the government’s refusal to let Bahamians view three films: “No Way Out” (starring Bahamian actor Sidney Poitier), “Lost Boundaries” and “Pinky” all of which addressed societal injustices. Many of the members of the Citizens’ Committee, which was led by Maxwell Thompson, Cleveland Eneas, and A. E. Hutchinson and whose members included Jackson Burnside, Randol Fawkes, Gerald Cash, Kendal Isaacs, Marcus Bethel and other prominent personalities, suffered brutal discrimination and many of its members were deprived of the ability to earn a living by the Bay Street oligarchy as a result of their social activism.

In October, 1953 the PLP was formed by Henry Taylor (who would become the third Bahamian governor general in an Independent Bahamas from June 26, 1988 to January 1, 1992), William Cartwright and Cyril Stevenson with a platform that responded to the challenge by Rev. H. H. Brown that: “The Progressive Liberal Party hopes to show that your big man and your little man, your black, brown and white man of all classes, creed and religions in this country can combine and work together in supplying sound and successful political leadership which has been lacking in The Bahamas.”

The PLP made bold progressive promises for a more equitable social structure including equal opportunities for all Bahamians, better education, universal suffrage, stronger immigration policies, lower-cost housing and the development of agriculture and the Out Islands.

In the early days of the PLP, its members were subjected to abject ostracism and victimization by the white elite, including the loss of jobs and bank credit, as well as canceled contracts.  In 1955, Lynden Pindling and Milo Butler emerged as the leaders of the party, appealing to the black masses to mobilize in advance of the general elections of 1956.  The party also attracted Randol Fawkes, the founder of the Bahamas Federation of Labour in May 1955.

The general election of May 1956 was the first to be fought by an organized political party.  The PLP won six seats in the House of Assembly, four in Nassau and two in Andros. That election significantly accelerated the march to Majority Rule.  In March 1958 the white oligarchy formed themselves into the second organized political unit, the United Bahamian Party (UBP). The UBP would later disband and its members would join forces with the Free National Movement (FNM) in 1972.

The 1956 Resolution on Racial Discrimination in the House of Assembly

In the wake of rampant racial discrimination that prevented access for black people to hotels, movie theatres, restaurants, and other public places, H. M. Taylor, the chairman of the PLP, whose platform vowed to eliminate racial discrimination in the colony, tabled a number of questions to the leader of the government.

Moved by this and in light of his own disgust with racially motivated practices, in January 1956, Etienne Dupuch, the editor of the Nassau Tribune and a member of the House of Assembly for the eastern district, tabled an Anti-Discrimination Resolution in the House of Assembly. During his passionately eloquent speech on the resolution, the speaker of the House of Assembly ordered Dupuch to take his seat, threatening, if he refused to do so, that he would be removed from the chamber by the police.  Dupuch responded: “You may call the whole Police Force, you may call the whole British Army…I will go to [jail] tonight, but I refuse to sit down, and I am ready to resign and go back to the people.”  The speaker abruptly suspended the House proceedings.

Although the resolution was supported by H. M. Taylor, Bert Cambridge, Eugene Dupuch, C.R. Walker, Marcus Bethel, and Gerald Cash, it was referred to a select committee, effectively killing it.  However, the following day, most of the Nassau hotels informed the public that they would open their doors to all, regardless of their race.

The 1958 General Strike

The General Strike began in January 1958 after several months of tension that arose because of the government’s plans to allow hotels and tour buses that were owned by the established white tour operators to provide transport for visitors to and from the airport, at the expense of predominantly black taxi drivers who made a large portion of their living transporting tourists between the new Windsor Field (Nassau International) Airport and downtown hotels.  To allow the hotels and tour companies to supplant the taxi drivers would severely curtail the ability of black taxi drivers to earn a decent living.

The government learned that the taxi drivers would vehemently protest this arrangement when they blockaded the new airport on the day it opened.  On that day, nearly 200 union taxi drivers stopped all business at the airport for 36 hours, showing their determination to protest the government’s plans. Negotiations on 20 points ensued between the union, represented by Lynden Pindling and Clifford Darling, the union’s president, and the government for the following eight weeks, but broke off after they could not agree on one final point.

On January 11, 1958 the taxi union voted for a general strike and the next day the General Strike commenced with the cessation of work at hotels, which was supported by hotel and construction workers, garbage collectors, bakers, airport porters and employees of the electricity corporation.  The strike lasted until January 31 and prompted a visit to the colony by the secretary of state for the colonies who recommended constitutional and political and electoral reforms which were incorporated into the General Election Act of 1959. Following the General Strike, male suffrage was introduced for all males over 21 years of age and the company vote was abolished.

Undoubtedly, the General Strike accentuated the ability of effective reform that could be achieved by the peaceful mobilization of the black majority.

Conclusion

Next week, we will review the decade of the 1960s and discuss how the Women’s Suffrage Movement, the 1962 general elections and Black Tuesday culminated in the eventual attainment of Majority Rule with the general elections of 1967.

 

• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

January 20, 2014

thenassauguardian

- The march to majority rule, pt. 1

- The march to majority rule, pt. 2

- The march to majority rule, pt. 4

Significant milestones in the struggle for Majority Rule in The Bahamas

The March to Majority Rule, Part II

Consider This...

By PHILIP C. GALANIS

History is for human self-knowledge... the only clue to what man can do is what man has done.  The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is. - R.G. Collingwood

As we noted last week in Part I of this series, the march to Majority Rule in The Bahamas is a story of a sustained struggle.

On Friday past, we observed the first public holiday to commemorate the day that Majority Rule came to The Bahamas on January 10, 1967.  It was a life-changing event that catapulted the lives of many thousands to unimaginable heights.  Last week, we highlight two important events that helped to create the framework for the achievement of Majority Rule.  This week and for the remaining weeks in January, we would like to continue to Consider This…what were some of the milestones along the centuries-long march to Majority Rule?

This week we will consider three important milestones, namely the by-election of 1938, the Burma Road Riot of 1942, and the Contract beginning in 1943.

The by-election of 1938

In July 1938, shopkeeper Milo Butler decided to contest a by-election that was called for the Western New Providence seat, facing multi-millionaire, Harry Oakes who was not even in The Bahamas for the election, allowing Kenneth Solomon to manage his campaign.

The Bay Street Boys worked hard to derail Butler’s campaign, even getting his credit stopped at the Royal Bank of Canada.  At the polls, in front of police who were stationed there, Oakes’ representatives flagrantly distributed money and liquor to buy votes.

When Butler realized he was going to lose his deposit, he announced he would lodge a protest against the bribery and, the day after the election, he and his supporters went to the Colonial Secretary’s Office to voice his grievances.  Butler drafted a petition to the governor calling for the enactment of the secret ballot, the creation of an election court of appeal and a fairer representation of the black population on all public boards and in the civil service.

Although rumors about a major riot proved to be false, Governor Dundas took the threat very seriously and became convinced that the secret ballot was the very least that should be done to defuse the situation.  Taking the governor at his word when he announced that he would dissolve the House of Assembly and call a general election where the secret ballot would be the central issue, the House immediately addressed the issue.

In June 1939 an act was passed for a five-year trial period for the secret ballot in New Providence.  However, the ‘Out Islands’, where one-third of the voters resided, returned two-thirds of the members of the House and the Bay Street Boys didn’t want to tamper with that winning situation, so the secret ballot did not come to the Islands until 1949.

The Burma Road Riot

By 1942, the majority of Bahamians, most of whom were black, suffered under tremendous social, economic and political conditions.  A miniscule minority of white Bahamians were engaged in the retail and wholesale trade, the real estate industry and the professions.  The sponge industry had recently collapsed and tourism in the islands, albeit in its infancy, and the construction industry were adversely affected by the beginning of World War II. These combined factors significantly contributed to the abject poverty in which the vast majority of Bahamians lived.

When the United States entered the war in 1941, the British and American governments decided, in order to aid in the war effort, to enhance the existing Oakes Field Airport in New Providence and also to build a new one in the western Pine Barrens of New Providence, later called Windsor Field that would evolve into today’s Lynden Pindling International Airport.  Both airports were worked on by the American firm, Pleasantville Incorporated, providing jobs for Bahamians, who worked alongside American workers.

The British Governor of The Bahamas, the Duke of Windsor, and the American government had secretly agreed that Bahamian workers would be paid at local rates, four shillings per day, while their American counterparts earned more than twice as much.  Although Pleasantville Incorporated was willing to pay higher wages to Bahamians, this was done because the Duke was concerned that Bahamian workers should not get used to such high wages since local employers would not be able to match that kind of salary once this job ended. Bahamian workers resented this untenable situation but did not have a formal vehicle to redress the wages and working conditions disparities.

The Bahamian laborers complained to Charles Rodriguez who headed the Labour Union and the Federation of Labour.  Notwithstanding his efforts to address the disparities, because they were not resolved in a timely manner, Bahamian laborers assembled on May 31, 1942, demanding equal treatment. On June 1, they congregated at the main Oakes Field office of Pleasantville and, armed with cutlasses and clubs, marched to the Colonial Secretary’s Office.  Failing to obtain satisfaction, they rioted up and down on Bay Street, damaging and looting stores there. A curfew was established but the riot continued the following day. By the time the riot ended, five persons were killed and many more were wounded.

In the aftermath of the riot, the Duke of Windsor appointed the Russell Commission, which, along with a committee appointed by the House of Assembly, determined that the riots resulted from the inequitable disparity of wages between the Bahamian and American workers. The Russell Commission also determined that the riots were sparked by the absence of social legislation as well as economic difficulties and political inequities.

Burma Road is not a street in The Bahamas. The Burma Road Riot was named after a place Bahamians knew from the newsreels of the day: the 717-mile mountainous Burma Road that linked Burma (now called Myanmar) with the southwest of China.  Built by 200,000 Burmese and Chinese laborers and completed by 1938, during World War II, the British used Burma Road to transport materiel to China before Japan was at war with the British. In 1940, the British government yielded to Japanese diplomatic pressure to close down the Burma Road for a short period. After the Japanese overran Burma in 1942, the Allies were forced to supply Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist Chinese by air.

The Contract

Following the Burma Road riot and the layoffs after the completion of the airbases, the Duke of Windsor, worried about further unrest, negotiated with the American government for Bahamian laborers to work in Florida to alleviate the rampant unemployment here and to fill the United States’ manpower shortage that resulted from the war.  The 1943 agreement became  known as “the Contract” or “the Project”.

Individual contracts were executed for each worker, and stipulated the terms of employment, including a deduction for amounts to be sent back to their families in The Bahamas and an agreement not to be discriminated against on the basis of their color, race, religious persuasion or national origin.

While the 5,000 Bahamian laborers, mostly unskilled males, initially worked on farms and plantations in Florida, given the severe manpower shortages in other states, many Bahamians were transferred as far north as New York and as far west as Indiana.  Generally, workers spent six to nine months in the United States and then returned The Bahamas.  Some abandoned their contracts and others never returned to The Bahamas, sending for their families to join them in the United States, thereby accounting for the presence of many Bahamians who still live in the United States.

The Contract was transformative in many ways, primarily exposing Bahamians to overt, institutionalized racism in America.  The workers returned with an unwavering determination that racism and discrimination like that would have no place in their Bahamas.

Conclusion

Next week, we will review the roles played by the formation of the PLP in 1953, the 1956 Resolution on Racial Discrimination in the House of Assembly and the 1958 General Strike, all of which fuelled the march to Majority Rule.

 

• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

January 13, 2013

thenassauguardian

- The march to majority rule, pt. 1>>>

- The march to majority rule, pt. 3>>>

- The march to majority rule, pt. 4>>>

The centuries-long march to majority rule in The Bahamas

The march to majority rule, pt. 1

Consider This...

By PHILIP C. GALANIS

The journey was very long and fraught with many dangers, trials, abuses, separations, rebellions, revolts, violence, frustrations, successes and, yes, even deaths. – George A Smith

The march to majority rule in The Bahamas can be characterized by two words: sustained struggle.

On Friday, January 10, we will celebrate the first public holiday to commemorate the day that majority rule came to The Bahamas on that date in 1967.  It was a life-changing event that catapulted the lives of many thousands to unimaginable heights.  Therefore this week and during the month of January, we would like to Consider This… what were some of the milestones along the way on the centuries-long march to majority rule?

Although it is difficult to capture all the important landmarks on the march to majority rule in a single column, and while we acknowledge that there are many unsung heroes of the movement, we want to highlight several important events that should be remembered as creating the framework for the achievement of majority rule as we approach this public holiday.

Early days and accelerated population

When Christopher Columbus and other European explorers first discovered these islands beginning in 1492, they met Lucayans, Arawak-speaking Amerindians who arrived in The Bahamas between 500 AD and 600 AD, originating in the South American mainland, having first settled in Cuba and Hispaniola.

For the next few centuries after Columbus’ arrival, Europeans, Americans and those who lived in our islands developed significant trading relationships.  When the Loyalists, those individuals who remained loyal to the English Crown during the American Revolution and became refugees in search of a home when the Crown lost to the rebels, fled the new United States, upwards of 5,000 people, including Loyalists and their many slaves, settled in the Bahama Islands, bringing their ideals with them.  It was with their arrival that the infamous trade in human cargo – the trans-Atlantic slave trade – reached its zenith here.  As was the case in North America and the Caribbean, African slaves were brought to market at Vendue House in downtown Nassau and were subjected to the same inhumane abuses that were experienced wherever the trade flourished.

In these islands, slavery came to be recognized as a perversion, and consequently, there were many instances, both recorded and not, that demonstrated the sustained struggle against this perversion and inculcated a determination to achieve equality in Bahamians.  This week, we will review a few instances of different kinds of early rebellion against conditions of servitude that marked the struggle and shaped the Bahamian psyche as it continued to yearn for total freedom.

Uprising at Farquharson’s Plantation

Charles Farquharson owned a prosperous plantation on San Salvador, growing a variety of crops including cotton.  He is particularly remarkable in Bahamian history as his journal was preserved and, through it, we have perhaps the only look at the everyday life of a Bahamian plantation owner and his slaves.  The journal also affords us the bare outlines of an incident on the Farquharson plantation in early 1832 that amounted to an uprising against the brutality of James, a mulatto son of the owner, who was left in charge while Farquharson was in Nassau.

It was when James decided to resort to physical punishment yet again over a minor incident that Farquharson’s chief driver, Alick, took exception to this habitual brutality and struck back, hitting young Farquharson with a heavy cudgel before he was dragged off by the other slaves who immediately gathered around the fray in a threatening manner.

Although no more violence is reported, Charles Farquharson faced great opposition as he tried to reason with his slaves the following morning.  Unfortunately, when three of the ringleaders were sent to Nassau for trial the following March, more violence was threatened by the Farquharson slaves.  Finally, after time spent at hard labor in the Nassau workhouse, all except Alick were returned to San Salvador.  Alick, for his crime of not tolerating abuse, was ordered sold and never saw San Salvador again.

Pompey

A few years before the Farquharson plantation unrest, there was the legendary slave revolt in Exuma led by Pompey.  It was early 1830 and, with only three days notice, a group of 77 of Lord Rolle’s slaves were told they were to be sent to Cat Island.  No husbands or wives or any children under 14 were to be separated but they were only given one weekend to pick their pea and bean crops, thrash their corn and dispose of their livestock.  Moreover, they would have to abandon fields of Indian corn that had just been planted.

With 32-year-old slave Pompey leading them, most of the slaves involved hid in the bush for five weeks until their provisions ran out.  It was at that point that 44 of them, representing nine families and three single slaves, stole Lord Rolle’s salt boat and sailed it to Nassau in an effort to personally put their case in front of the governor, Sir James Carmichael Smyth.

Sadly, the slaves were taken into custody and thrown into the workhouse before seeing the governor.  The adult slaves were tried immediately as runaways and most of them, including five women – two of whom were nursing babies – were sentenced to be flogged.

Although he had not been kept apprised of the events surrounding this case, when the governor, known for his sympathy towards slaves, found out, he was furious, immediately firing the police magistrate and the two justices of the peace involved in the case.  He also ordered Pompey and his group of rebels to be taken back to Exuma.

When they arrived back at Steventon, they were joyously hailed as heroes and subsequently all the other slaves refused to work.  This behavior alarmed those in authority over them so they called for military reinforcements from Nassau, telling the governor that an armed slave insurrection was imminent.  Fifty soldiers and the chief constable of The Bahamas landed in Exuma during the night of June 20, 1830.  The slaves were quiet but not prepared to go to work, saying that they had understood they were to be made free.  After a thorough search of the slave houses, the soldiers only found 25 old muskets and very small amounts of powder and shot, putting the idea of an armed insurrection to rest.

However, the soldiers were still worried and decided to march to Rolleville, another slave village, to search there.  Pompey knew a short-cut and reached Rolleville before the soldiers, warning the slaves there who hid in the bush.  Although only three muskets were found in Rolleville, Pompey was captured and taken back to Steventon where his public punishment of 39 lashes persuaded the slaves to go back to work.

Most of the soldiers returned to Nassau and Lord Rolle’s slaves were reportedly left “quiet and industrious” by the chief constable.  But Pompey’s rebellion was really the first time that Bahamian slaves had resisted a transfer and succeeded, establishing that Bahamian slaves could not be moved without their consent, a major achievement in beginning to establish that slaves were people who had civil rights.  The protest that arose when the flogging of the women became known throughout abolitionist circles gave great impetus to legislation, including the bill that granted full emancipation that would finally occur four years later.

Next week in part two of this series, we will look at how some 20th century events continued the march to majority rule, preparing even more Bahamians for the struggle that was begun by Alick and Pompey as they bravely stood up for their rights so long ago.

 

• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services.  He served 15 years in Parliament.  Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

January 06, 2014

thenassauguardian

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