20th century Jamaica

Research into 20th century Jamaica

1950's

In the 50's the Bauxite (an aluminium ore) industry as well as the tourist trade assumed prominent roles in the Jamaican economy (how ever the gains from these industries didn't do much to help solve Jamaica's underlying economic problems).

Jamaica joined the other British Caribbean colonies in '58 to form the "Federation of the West Indies" (a referendum in '61 saw the majority of Jamaicans voted for withdrawal from said federation). *1

1960's

On August 6th 1962 Jamaica became an independent state.*1

Quotes about Jamaica from interviewees

"When I lived in Jamaica, Jamaica was a successful country. We never had the hardship that hurts it now. Because we used to - I came here just before independence. And we used the same currency as England, because England made our pound. The same pound I use in Jamaica is the same one I spend here. It’s changed a lot, because when England went decimal and we went dollars that’s when it began to slide. But still I don’t think it’s as bad as other countries. Because you have other countries in the Caribbean that’s worse than Jamaica"

"In Jamaica you’ve got a couple of kids you’ve got the backup. We didn’t come with our parents, we were adults so we had brother and cousins or whatever but we didn’t have any family to look after your children. You have to work and have nannies or these little ladies who retire, we had a lovely one called ‘Nora’. She was really good, my baby girl was at home and I could leave her there and I’d go off to parties with my husband She was a really nice lady"

"In kingston, you can trust the child you put out front playing and if she wanders off there’s eyes they’ve seen where she goes who she goes with but up here it was quite different"

Overall I found researching Jamaica from the internet less productive then actually asking people about it. From out interviewees and other people at the Sunlight Centre we were able to get a real feel for the community spirit which was heavily felt in Jamaica compared to when they arrived in the UK.

I will use this contextual research to help me understand what they were travelling from when they left Jamaica.

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*1- "Jamaica" - www.encyclopedia.com/places/latin-america-and-caribbean/caribbean-political-geography/jamaica#HISTORY