 | Freedom''s Children: The 1938 Labor Rebellion and the Birth of Modern Jamaica Subjects: Jamaica -- Politics and government -- To 1962; Labor -- Jamaica -- History -- 20th century; Labor unions -- Political activity -- Jamaica -- History -- 20th century; Jamaica -- History -- To 1962; Freedom's Children is the first comprehensive history of Jamaica's watershed 1938 labor rebellion and its aftermath. Colin Palmer argues that, a hundred years after the abolition of slavery, Jamaica's disgruntled workers challenged the oppressive status quo and forced a morally ossified British colonial society to recognize their grievances. The rebellion produced two rival leaders who dominated the political life of the colony through the achievement of independence in 1962. Alexander Bustamante, a moneylender, founded the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union and its progeny, the Jamaica Labour Party. Norman Manley, an eminent barrister, led the struggle for self-government and with others established the People's National Party. Palmer describes the ugly underside of British colonialism and details the persecution of Jamaican nationalists. He sheds new light on the nature of Bustamante's collaboration with the imperial regime, the rise of the trade-union movement, the struggle for constitutional change, and the emergence of party politics in a modernizing Jamaica. Colin Alphonsous Palmer was born on March 23, 1944, in Lambs River, Jamaica. He earned a bachelor¿s degree in 1964 at University College of the West Indies at Mona in Jamaica and was considering teaching secondary school when he was offered a graduate fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. He earned a master¿s degree there in 1966 and a Ph.D. in 1970. He became a historian and published his first of many books in 1976 - Slaves of the White God: Blacks in Mexico, 1570-1650. It chronicled a period when the colonies that would become the United States were still in their formative stages. The book set him on a career-long path. Professor Palmer urged students to consider whether the term "African diaspora" was even appropriate, given the cultural and linguistic diversity within the African continent, and to make sure that any examination of diaspora began with a study of Africa itself. Professor Palmer also wrote well-regarded articles and books on the Caribbean countries, including - Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean (2006), about the historian and politician who led Trinidad and Tobago to independence. In an academic career of more than 40 years, he taught at Oakland University in Michigan, the University of North Carolina, the City University of New York Graduate Center and Princeton University. Colin A Palmer passed away on June 20, 2019 at the age of 75. (Bowker Author Biography) |
