Barbados declared New Republic after 400 years, ditches British Queen Elizabeth

Barbados a Republic: Barbados has ditched the Queen Elizabeth of Britain as the Head of the State. The Caribbean country formed a Republic with its first-ever President Sandra Mason and severed its last-remaining colonial bonds nearly 400 later after the first British ships arrived at the Caribbean Island.

New Republic Barbados was born at the stroke of midnight to the cheers of hundreds of people lining Chamberlain Bridge in the Capital of Barbados, Bridgetown. On the occasion, a 21-gun salute was fired as the National Anthem of Barbados was played over a crowded Heroes Square.

Heir to the British throne, Prince Charles stood somberly as Queen Elizabeth’s royal standard was lowered and the new Barbados was declared. The President of Barbados Sandra Mason said that the people of the country must give the Republic of Barbados its spirit and substance.

#BREAKING Barbados declared a republic, removing British queen as head of state pic.twitter.com/EdoRJf4j88

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 30, 2021

Barbados declares New Republic: Breaking from demons of Colonial History

As Barbados was declared Republic after 400 years of under British rule, the move has cast the removal of Queen Elizabeth II as a way to finally break from the demons of Colonial History. However, she is still a queen of 15 other realms including Australia, the United Kingdom, Jamaica, and Canada.

The birth of the Republic of Barbados, 55 years to the day since the Caribbean country was declared independent, has broken up almost all the colonial bonds that kept the tiny island tied to England since the British Ship claimed it for King James I in 1625.

Prince Charles, whose mother sent her warmest wishes, said that the creation of this Republic offers a new beginning.

Barbados becomes a Republic: What it means for other colonial nations?

The declaration of Barbados as Republic can also be a harbinger of a broader attempt by the other former colonies to cut the ties to the British Monarchy as the country braces for the end of Queen Elizabeth’s nearly 70-year reign and the future accession of Prince Charles.

Salve history of Barbados

Britishers had initially used the white British indentured servants to toil on the plantations of cotton, indigo, tobacco, and sugar, however, Barbados in just a few decades became England’s first truly profitable slave society.

The small island received 6,00,000 enslaved Africans between 1627 and 1833, who were then out to work in sugar plantations in Barbados, which helped in earning fortunes for the English owners.

More than 10 million Africans were shackled into the Atlantic Slave Trade by the European Nations between the 15th and 19th Centuries.