1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,160
Speaker 1: Hey there, history fans. We're off through the end of November,

2
00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,160
Speaker 1: but we've got plenty of classic shows to tide you over.

3
00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,719
Speaker 1: Take a trip down memory lane with these flashback episodes,

4
00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,840
Speaker 1: and then meet me back here on Friday, December first

5
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,360
Speaker 1: for a brand new episode.

6
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,000
Speaker 2: Welcome to This Day in History Class from HowStuffWorks dot

7
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:20,960
Speaker 2: com and from the desk of Stuff you Missed in

8
00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,560
Speaker 2: History Class. It's the show where we explore the past

9
00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:25,760
Speaker 2: one day at a time with a quick look at

10
00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:33,160
Speaker 2: what happened today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.

11
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,320
Speaker 2: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and it's November thirtieth. Queen Elizabeth

12
00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,240
Speaker 2: I delivered her Golden Speech on this day in sixteen

13
00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,320
Speaker 2: oh one. The speech was before members of the House

14
00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,879
Speaker 2: of Commons and it was expected to be about economic issues.

15
00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,560
Speaker 2: In particular, they were expecting her to talk about monopolies.

16
00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,320
Speaker 2: Monopolies were a contentious issue, and the Queen had previously

17
00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:59,120
Speaker 2: pledged to subject all monopolies to quote the trial and

18
00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,600
Speaker 2: true touch stone of the law, but then shouldn't actually

19
00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:07,840
Speaker 2: carry through on that pledge. So monopolies were widely attacked

20
00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,640
Speaker 2: in the House of Commons because they drove up prices,

21
00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,920
Speaker 2: they bestowed an unfair advantage on the people who had

22
00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:16,280
Speaker 2: the monopolies. No one else was allowed to take part

23
00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:20,360
Speaker 2: in that area of business. So this led to some

24
00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,920
Speaker 2: contentious arguing on the subject, until the Queen finally agreed

25
00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,679
Speaker 2: to abolish some of the monopolies that she had been

26
00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,200
Speaker 2: granted and to do what she had said expose others

27
00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,560
Speaker 2: to trial under common law. So this speech on November

28
00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:40,520
Speaker 2: thirtieth was expected to stick to this topic of monopolies.

29
00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,920
Speaker 2: It was delivered in the Council Chamber at Whitehall, and

30
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,920
Speaker 2: it did start out this way. She started with an

31
00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:51,320
Speaker 2: acknowledgment that quote, we perceive your coming is to present

32
00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,840
Speaker 2: thanks to us. That's thanks for dealing with this issue

33
00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:59,360
Speaker 2: of monopolies. And it went on to say quote of myself,

34
00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:04,000
Speaker 2: I must say this, I never was any greedy, scraping grasper,

35
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,600
Speaker 2: nor a strict, fast holding prince, nor yet a waster.

36
00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,360
Speaker 2: My heart was never set upon any worldly goods, but

37
00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,320
Speaker 2: only for my subjects good. What you do bestow on

38
00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,760
Speaker 2: me I will not hoard up, but receive it to

39
00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,280
Speaker 2: bestow on you again. Yeay, mine own properties, I account

40
00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,760
Speaker 2: yours to be expended for your good and your eyes

41
00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,440
Speaker 2: shall see the bestowing of it for your welfare. She

42
00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,360
Speaker 2: went on to thank the Speaker and the Lower House

43
00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,720
Speaker 2: because she said that without them she might have made

44
00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,760
Speaker 2: the wrong decision just because she didn't have the correct information,

45
00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,440
Speaker 2: so she was thanking them for raising her attention to

46
00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,480
Speaker 2: this issue. She said that she had made these grants

47
00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,880
Speaker 2: through a focus on the greater good, and that they

48
00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,440
Speaker 2: wouldn't be allowed to stand if instead of working toward

49
00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,160
Speaker 2: the greater good, they were instead causing a grievance or oppression.

50
00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,120
Speaker 2: But then her focus shifted a bit. She started talking

51
00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,440
Speaker 2: more about how she saw herself as a monarch and

52
00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,760
Speaker 2: what she felt for her kingdom and her subjects. She said,

53
00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,560
Speaker 2: quote the zeal of which affection tending to ease my

54
00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:12,040
Speaker 2: people and knit their hearts unto us, I embrace with

55
00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:17,400
Speaker 2: a princely care, far above all earthly treasures. I esteem

56
00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,639
Speaker 2: my people's love more than which I desire not to merit.

57
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,079
Speaker 2: And God that gave me here to sit and placed

58
00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,760
Speaker 2: me over you, knows that I never respected myself, but

59
00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,880
Speaker 2: as your good was concerned in me. Yet what dangers,

60
00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,080
Speaker 2: what practices, and what perils I have passed some, if

61
00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,640
Speaker 2: not all, of you know, but none of these things

62
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,520
Speaker 2: do move me or ever made me fear. But it

63
00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,560
Speaker 2: is God that hath delivered me. And she ended this

64
00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,800
Speaker 2: speech by really acknowledging that she was getting very close

65
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,000
Speaker 2: to the end of her reign. She was sixty eight

66
00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:52,920
Speaker 2: years old at this point, and she said, quote, for

67
00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,800
Speaker 2: it is not my desire to live or reign longer

68
00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,440
Speaker 2: than my life, and rain shall be for your good.

69
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,960
Speaker 2: And though you have had and may have many mightier

70
00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,360
Speaker 2: and wiser princes sitting in this seat, yet you never had,

71
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,320
Speaker 2: nor shall have, any that will love you better. Thus,

72
00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,120
Speaker 2: mister Speaker, I commend me to your loyal loves and

73
00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:17,080
Speaker 2: yours to my best care and your further counsels. And

74
00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,400
Speaker 2: I pray you, mister Controller, and mister Secretary, and you

75
00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,520
Speaker 2: of my counsel, that before these gentlemen depart to their countries,

76
00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,520
Speaker 2: you bring them all to kiss my hand. It was

77
00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,680
Speaker 2: reported that many in the room were deeply moved by

78
00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,040
Speaker 2: the speech, some of them moved to tears. It was

79
00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,880
Speaker 2: Queen Elizabeth the First's last speech to Parliament, and she

80
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,359
Speaker 2: died on March twenty fourth of sixteen oh three. The

81
00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,400
Speaker 2: Golden Speech was written down by someone in the room,

82
00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,040
Speaker 2: it was printed and distributed in what might have been

83
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,640
Speaker 2: considered an official version. It was also reprinted several times

84
00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,640
Speaker 2: throughout the sixteen hundreds under the reign of subsequent monarchs,

85
00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,320
Speaker 2: and it really became part of Queen Elizabeth the First's legacy,

86
00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:00,159
Speaker 2: really emblematic of her relationship that she developed with the

87
00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,320
Speaker 2: nation and its subjects, and the way she used what

88
00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,520
Speaker 2: we would think of today as public relations. She framed

89
00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:11,520
Speaker 2: what was really a dispute over monopolies as an expression

90
00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:13,640
Speaker 2: of how much she loved her people and how much

91
00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,600
Speaker 2: they loved her. Thanks to Eve's Jeffcope for her research

92
00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,640
Speaker 2: work on today's podcast, and thanks to Casey Pegram and

93
00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,599
Speaker 2: Chandler Mays for their audio work on the show. You

94
00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,520
Speaker 2: can subscribe to The Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts,

95
00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,040
Speaker 2: Google Podcasts, and where real to heet your podcasts, and

96
00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:30,880
Speaker 2: you can tune in tomorrow for a woman who was

97
00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:31,800
Speaker 2: tired of giving in.

98
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,440
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to this Day in History Class, a

99
00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,720
Speaker 1: show that flips through the pages of history to deliver

100
00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:50,120
Speaker 1: old news in a new way. I'm Gabe Luesier, and

101
00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,800
Speaker 1: today we're celebrating the independence of Barbados by looking at

102
00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,560
Speaker 1: the island nation's path to sovereignty, as well as how

103
00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:11,440
Speaker 1: that quest has taken on new meaning today. The day

104
00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:17,480
Speaker 1: was November thirtieth, nineteen sixty six, the East Caribbean island

105
00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:22,039
Speaker 1: of Barbados gained its independence from the United Kingdom. The

106
00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:26,240
Speaker 1: tiny nation measures just twenty one miles long and fourteen

107
00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,839
Speaker 1: miles wide. It was home to about one hundred and

108
00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:33,680
Speaker 1: forty five thousand people in nineteen sixty six, but the

109
00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,800
Speaker 1: population is nearly double that today. For centuries, the island

110
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,520
Speaker 1: was dominated by an incredibly lucrative sugar cane industry built

111
00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:49,280
Speaker 1: on the exploitation of European indentured servants and enslaved African workers.

112
00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,800
Speaker 1: The descendants of the latter group account for most of

113
00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:57,160
Speaker 1: the island's residents today. From about five hundred a d

114
00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,280
Speaker 1: to fifteen hundred AD, the island is thought to have

115
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:06,760
Speaker 1: been inhabited by the Arawak and Colinago people, indigenous tribes

116
00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:11,600
Speaker 1: of South America and the Caribbean. In the early sixteenth century,

117
00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:16,440
Speaker 1: Spaniards became the first Europeans to visit Barbados, followed shortly

118
00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:21,080
Speaker 1: by Portuguese explorers. It was these early visitors who gave

119
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,880
Speaker 1: the island its familiar name Barbados, meaning the bearded ones.

120
00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,160
Speaker 1: The name was likely a reference to either the bearded

121
00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,280
Speaker 1: tribesmen who lived on the island or to the hanging

122
00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:38,200
Speaker 1: roots of the bearded fig trees that grew there. Unfortunately,

123
00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:43,120
Speaker 1: the explorers didn't stop at naming Barbados. Over the next

124
00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:48,239
Speaker 1: few decades, they repeatedly raided the island, enslaving the inhabitants

125
00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:52,280
Speaker 1: and shipping them off to labor and Spanish colonies. By

126
00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:57,760
Speaker 1: the mid sixteenth century, Barbados had been almost entirely depopulated.

127
00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,800
Speaker 1: Because of this, as well as the island's small size

128
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:06,560
Speaker 1: and remote location, Spanish and Portuguese explorers gave up their

129
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,160
Speaker 1: claims to it. This allowed the British to swoop in

130
00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:15,120
Speaker 1: and establish a permanent colony. The settlers began building vast

131
00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,880
Speaker 1: sugar cane plantations and shipping in thousands of enslaved Africans

132
00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:24,440
Speaker 1: to work the fields. Nearly two hundred years later, that

133
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,040
Speaker 1: slave trade was finally abolished, and by eighteen thirty three

134
00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:33,839
Speaker 1: all the enslaved workers and Barbados had been freed. At

135
00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,000
Speaker 1: that point, the island was a British colony, and it

136
00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,559
Speaker 1: would remain one for another one hundred and thirty three years.

137
00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,920
Speaker 1: By the nineteen thirties, the island was primed for a

138
00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:50,120
Speaker 1: labor revolt. The last two centuries had transformed Barbados into

139
00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:54,520
Speaker 1: a plantocracy, where the wealthy plantation owners were the dominant

140
00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,800
Speaker 1: class and the descendants of their formerly enslaved workers were

141
00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:02,560
Speaker 1: on the bottom. The right to vote in Barbados had

142
00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,240
Speaker 1: only been granted to males and was further limited by

143
00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:11,560
Speaker 1: income and property requirements. Middle class reformers began to push

144
00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:15,120
Speaker 1: back against these voting restrictions, as well as the poor

145
00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:20,000
Speaker 1: social services provided by the British government. This civil unrest

146
00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,760
Speaker 1: led to the rise of Sir Grant Herbert Adams, a

147
00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,960
Speaker 1: West Indian attorney and social reformer, who helped establish the

148
00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:32,160
Speaker 1: Barbados Progressive League, or, as it later became known, the

149
00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:37,400
Speaker 1: Barbados Labor Party. Within a decade, the movement succeeded in

150
00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:42,120
Speaker 1: lowering the income qualification for voting rights. As the face

151
00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:46,079
Speaker 1: of that victory, Grantly Adams was elected as the country's

152
00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:51,360
Speaker 1: first premier. His mission to dethrone the plantocracy is now

153
00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,200
Speaker 1: viewed as the nation's first step on the path to independence.

154
00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:00,760
Speaker 1: Twenty years later, in nineteen sixty one, Adams was replaced

155
00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:05,000
Speaker 1: by a new premier, Errol Walton Barrow. By the time

156
00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:09,520
Speaker 1: he took office, the Barbadian economy had expanded and diversified,

157
00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,320
Speaker 1: largely as a result of the policies instituted by he

158
00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:18,240
Speaker 1: and Adams. The elite class of planters and merchants no

159
00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,040
Speaker 1: longer had the power they once did, finally enabling the

160
00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,080
Speaker 1: working class to call for an end to British rule.

161
00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,840
Speaker 1: Five years later, the Barbados Independence Act of nineteen sixty

162
00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:36,079
Speaker 1: six made the transition official. Through this act of British Parliament,

163
00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,360
Speaker 1: Barbados became the fourth English speaking country in the West

164
00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:44,880
Speaker 1: Indies to be granted full independence from Great Britain. As

165
00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:49,880
Speaker 1: a result, Errol Barrow became the first Prime Minister of Barbados,

166
00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,200
Speaker 1: and today he's remembered as the father of independence and

167
00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:59,800
Speaker 1: social transformation. When independence was declared on November thirtieth, it

168
00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,800
Speaker 1: kicked off an island wide celebration, complete with a parade

169
00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,839
Speaker 1: and a ceremony that featured the first playing of the

170
00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,840
Speaker 1: national anthem and the first raising of the national flag.

171
00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:16,880
Speaker 1: Native resident Sondra Straker recalled the historic day in twenty sixteen,

172
00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,360
Speaker 1: saying quote I was a little girl, and I will

173
00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:24,280
Speaker 1: never forget that night as we watched the flags change.

174
00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:28,319
Speaker 1: There used to be whites only areas. We as little

175
00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:32,120
Speaker 1: black people could not walk there. That's all changed now.

176
00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,560
Speaker 1: The island has thrived in the nearly sixty years since

177
00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:40,679
Speaker 1: achieving independence, now boasting one of the most stable political

178
00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:45,360
Speaker 1: systems in the Caribbean. It's made tremendous strides in education,

179
00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:48,920
Speaker 1: health care, and housing, and now has an economy based

180
00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:54,720
Speaker 1: on tourism rather than plantations. However, the story of Barbadian

181
00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:59,600
Speaker 1: independence doesn't end there. Although the island became a sovereign

182
00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:04,319
Speaker 1: nation in nineteen sixty six, it remained a Commonwealth realm,

183
00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:08,320
Speaker 1: meaning that Queen Elizabeth was still the head of state,

184
00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,880
Speaker 1: but that all changed. On November thirtieth, twenty twenty one,

185
00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,760
Speaker 1: in the lead up to the island's independence celebration, Barbados

186
00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:22,880
Speaker 1: Governor General Sondra Mason announced that quote, the time has

187
00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:28,360
Speaker 1: come to fully leave our colonial past behind. Barbadians want

188
00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:32,000
Speaker 1: a Barbadian head of state. This is the ultimate statement

189
00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,079
Speaker 1: of confidence in who we are and what we are

190
00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:40,240
Speaker 1: capable of achieving. Hence, Barbados will take the next logical

191
00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,480
Speaker 1: step toward full sovereignty and become a republic by the

192
00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:49,920
Speaker 1: time we celebrate our fifty fifth anniversary of independence. When

193
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:54,720
Speaker 1: this symbolic act took effect, Sondra Mason became the first

194
00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:59,520
Speaker 1: ever president of Barbados and the former British colony became

195
00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:04,960
Speaker 1: an independent republic. That shift also means that today is

196
00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:10,160
Speaker 1: Independence Day in Barbados two times over. In many ways,

197
00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,680
Speaker 1: the country is still shaped by its British heritage. But

198
00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:17,920
Speaker 1: whether that continues and to what extent, is now at

199
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:24,080
Speaker 1: long last for the people of Barbados to decide. I'm

200
00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,400
Speaker 1: Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little more

201
00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,720
Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. You can learn

202
00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,320
Speaker 1: even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook,

203
00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:41,199
Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show. If you enjoy today's episode,

204
00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,679
Speaker 1: consider rating and reviewing on Apple Podcasts, or drop us

205
00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:50,240
Speaker 1: a line at this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks

206
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,120
Speaker 1: to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank you

207
00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,280
Speaker 1: for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow for

208
00:13:56,360 --> 00:14:08,360
Speaker 1: another Day in History class. Good For more

209
00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:11,960
Speaker 2: Podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

210
00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:13,640
Speaker 2: wherever you listen to your favorite shows,