The holiday season was soon approaching. And to get into the holiday spirit, Verum was making Christmas greeting cards for her friends and classmates. She drew Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, snow globes, and even Santa Claus! Of course, this meant that she spent hours with her crayons and paints.
By the end of it, Verum was tired. To refresh her mind, she strolled to her corner of the Mystical dorm room and sat in front of her crystal ball. She closed her eyes and asked the crystal ball to look for news. Verum opened her eyes and said, “Oh, Mysticals! There is historic news from the Caribbean, the chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea!”
“What is the news?” said Felix, looking up from his pile of cards.
“On 30th November, Barbados, one of the islands in the Caribbean, became the newest republic in the world!” said Verum.
“Newest republic?” said Scorch, “What does that mean?”
“Let’s delve into the country’s history,” said Verum, “Though the Portuguese were the first to ‘discover’ the island, England was the first European power to establish a lasting colony. The first English ship landed on the island in 1625 and England established its colony in 1627. Sugarcane was grown on the island. The ruler of England became ”
“As the years passed, a burning need for independence developed among the inhabitants of Barbados,” said Verum, “Finally, on 30th November 1966, Barbados became an independent state. However, Queen Elizabeth II of England continued to be Barbados’s head of state.”
“Oh, as it recognized the British monarch as the head of the state, Barbados was a constitutional monarchy,” said Orak, “In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch (the king or queen) is the head of the state with their authority defined by a written or unwritten constitution. That is, they share power with an elected government.”
“After 40 years of debate, Barbados became a republic on its 55th independence day,” said Verum, “The island’s governor-general, Dame Sandra Prunella Mason, was selected as the first President of Barbados.”
“However, the country’s flag, national anthem, national pledge, or court of arms will not change,” added Verum, “Only ‘royal’ and ‘crown’ will be dropped from all official references.”