The West Indian Press and Public: Concepts of Regionalism and Federation, 1944–1946

Abstract

The West Indies Federation was a short-lived venture undertaken by ten British West Indian islands in the mid-twentieth century. The goal was political autonomy for the territories as a single unit, as Britain thought they were too small to be individually viable in the international arena. Utilizing newspapers and newsmagazines as sources, this article establishes the growing support for federal unity in the general West Indian populace in the three years preceding the momentous Montego Bay Conference, which established the foundation for the birth of the Federation.