Trinidad and Tobago Independence

                                                 



Trinidad and Tobago were separate colonies under the British Empire when in 1889 they were joined together as a crown colony. It was not until 1962 that they would achieve full independence within the Commonwealth of England and then became a republic in 1976.  Trinidad and Tobago are part of a two party system and use a bicameral parliamentary system that is based off the Westminster System ( model of the UK system).

           http://www.trinikid.com/2012/11/education-prime-ministers-of-trinidad.html


Eric Williams ( pictured above ) was an historian and scholar before coming into the public arena of politics. He was part of the People's National Movement in Trinidad and Tobago which would take them into independence from Britain. He was the first Prime Minister at the independence of T&T and would remain so until 1981.

Trinidad and Tobago peoples have many a story to tell, from the beginnings with the "discovery" by Christopher Columbus, through being a colony of Spain with French planters, slavery, switching to British hands to become their colony, emancipation, indentured servitude, a change in government, and then independence with a change into a republic. It is a land of multi-ethnicity that keeps changing and adapting as needed. It is a land where everything merges together in a story that is hard to follow with no real beginning and seemingly with no end in sight. Yet through this blog I have come to understand some of not only the Caribbean but also about these tiny islands just to the north of South America. It has been amazing to me that such small places hold so much of the "new worlds" history and that they were so important to the rest of the world when it came to economics. Before this I had little clue as to the amount of power these small islands in the Caribbean had and how much they are overlooked except when it comes to those who go there to sun on the beach with their little umbrella drinks. . . knowing the history of these islands has made think a little more about those places that may seem small and insignificant but by far are anything but. . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad_and_Tobago

http://gotrinidadandtobago.com/trinidad/carnival/ ( if you would like to know more about Carnival on Trinidad )