Norman Manley
Encyclopedia
Norman Washington Manley MM
QC National Hero of Jamaica
(July 4, 1893 – September 2, 1969), was a Jamaica
n statesman. A Rhodes Scholar
, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. With his cousin, Alexander Bustamante
, Manley was an advocate of the universal suffrage
that was granted the colony in 1944.
He founded the left-wing People's National Party
which later was tied to the Trade Union Congress
and the National Workers Union
, together with Bustamante, in 1938, and led it in every election from 1944 to 1967. Their efforts resulted in the New Constitution of 1944, granting full adult suffrage. He served as the colony's Chief Minister
from 1955 to 1959, and as Premier from 1959 to 1962. He was a proponent of the island's participation in the Federation of the West Indies but bowed to pressure to hold a referendum
in 1961 which resulted in Jamaica withdrawing from the union.
in Jamaica's Manchester parish
, on July 4, 1893. His father, Thomas Albert Samuel Manley, who was the illegitimate son of an English trader from Yorkshire
and a former slave, worked as an agricultural businessman and sold Jamaican spices and fruits to the United States. Norman Manley's mother, Margaret Shearer, was the daughter of a pen-keeper of Irish descent and his Mulatto
wife.
As a young man, Manley was a brilliant scholar, soldier and athlete, studying law at Jesus College, Oxford
as a Rhodes Scholar. He enlisted and fought in the First World War in the Royal Field Artillery
, and later returned to Jamaica to serve as a barrister
. He identified himself with the cause of the workers at the time of the labour troubles of 1938 and donated time and advocacy to the cause.
Manley and the PNP supported the trade union movement, then led by Alexander Bustamante, while leading the demand for universal adult suffrage
. When Suffrage came, Manley had to wait ten years and two terms before his party was elected to office. He was a strong advocate of the Federation of the West Indies, established in 1958, but when Sir Alexander Bustamante declared that opposition Jamaica Labour Party
would take Jamaica
out of the Federation, Norman Manley, already renowned for his integrity and commitment to democracy, called a referendum, unprecedented in Jamaica
, to let the people decide.
The vote was decidedly against Jamaica’s continued membership of the Federation. Norman Manley, after arranging Jamaica’s orderly withdrawal from the union, set up a joint committee to decide on a constitution for separate independence for Jamaica. He himself chaired the committee with great distinction and then led the team that negotiated Jamaica's independence from Britain.
The issue settled, Manley again went to the people. He lost the ensuing election to the JLP and gave his last years of service as Leader of the Opposition, establishing definitively the role of the parliamentary opposition in a developing nation. In his last public address to an annual conference of the PNP, he said: "I say that the mission of my generation was to win self-government for Jamaica. To win political power which is the final power for the black masses of my country from which I spring. I am proud to stand here today and say to you who fought that fight with me, say it with gladness and pride: Mission accomplished for my generation".
"And what is the mission of this generation?… It is…reconstructing the social and economic society and life of Jamaica".
As premier, Manley renegotiated a government contract with bauxite companies, leading to a six fold increase in revenue. His government also set the dominant economic agenda for the future in Jamaica by establishing numerous statutory boards, government bodies, and quasi-government authorities to regulate and play an active role in industry.
Shortly before his death he was proclaimed a National Hero of Jamaica, along with Bustamante, to join the black nationalist Marcus Garvey
, nineteenth century rebel Paul Bogle
, and nineteenth century politician George William Gordon
. Due to respiratory illness, Manley retired from politics on his birthday in 1969, and he died later that year, on September 2, 1969. His tomb was decorated by critically acclaimed Jamaican sculptor, Christopher Gonzalez
.
Manley was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha
fraternity. Manley's speech entitled, To Unite in a Common Battle was delivered in 1945 at the fraternty's Thirty-first General Convention in Chicago, Illinois. http://www.munualphas.com/manley.html
His second son, Michael Manley
, went on to become the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica. He married his cousin Edna Manley
(March 1, 1900 – February 2, 1987) in 1921.
Military Medal
The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....
QC National Hero of Jamaica
Order of National Hero (Jamaica)
The Order of National Hero is an honour awarded by the government of Jamaica. It is a part of the Jamaican honours system that has been in place since 1969.-Description:...
(July 4, 1893 – September 2, 1969), was a Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n statesman. A Rhodes Scholar
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. With his cousin, Alexander Bustamante
Alexander Bustamante
Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante GBE, National Hero of Jamaica was a Jamaican politician and labour leader....
, Manley was an advocate of the universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
that was granted the colony in 1944.
He founded the left-wing People's National Party
People's National Party
The People's National Party is a social democratic and social liberal Jamaican political party, founded by Norman Manley in 1938. It is the oldest political party in the Anglophone Caribbean and one of the main two political parties in Jamaica. Out of the two major parties, it is considered more...
which later was tied to the Trade Union Congress
Trade Union Congress (Jamaica)
The Trade Union Congress is a general trade union in Jamaica. Initially organised as a trade union council to be the labour wing of the People's National Party in 1943, the organisation split in 1952 with the formation of the National Workers Union...
and the National Workers Union
National Workers Union (Jamaica)
The National Workers Union is a general trade union in Jamaica. The National Workers Union was founded on 2 April 1952 emerging as a result of a split within the Trade Union Congress and factional alignments within the People's National Party . The NWU became the main trade union of the PNP...
, together with Bustamante, in 1938, and led it in every election from 1944 to 1967. Their efforts resulted in the New Constitution of 1944, granting full adult suffrage. He served as the colony's Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
from 1955 to 1959, and as Premier from 1959 to 1962. He was a proponent of the island's participation in the Federation of the West Indies but bowed to pressure to hold a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
in 1961 which resulted in Jamaica withdrawing from the union.
Biography
Norman Washington Manley was born in RoxboroughRoxborough, Manchester
Roxborough is a small neighborhood and town south of Mandeville in Manchester Parish, Jamaica.The principle crops are corn, bananas, sugarcane, ackee and marijuana....
in Jamaica's Manchester parish
Manchester Parish, Jamaica
The parish of Manchester is located in west-central Jamaica, in the county of Middlesex. Its capital, Mandeville, is a major business centre, and the only parish capital not located on the coast or on a major river. The Right Excellent Norman Washington Manley The parish of Manchester is located in...
, on July 4, 1893. His father, Thomas Albert Samuel Manley, who was the illegitimate son of an English trader from Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and a former slave, worked as an agricultural businessman and sold Jamaican spices and fruits to the United States. Norman Manley's mother, Margaret Shearer, was the daughter of a pen-keeper of Irish descent and his Mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
wife.
As a young man, Manley was a brilliant scholar, soldier and athlete, studying law at Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
as a Rhodes Scholar. He enlisted and fought in the First World War in the Royal Field Artillery
Royal Field Artillery
The Royal Field Artillery of the British Army provided artillery support for the British Army. It came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1 July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924....
, and later returned to Jamaica to serve as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
. He identified himself with the cause of the workers at the time of the labour troubles of 1938 and donated time and advocacy to the cause.
Manley and the PNP supported the trade union movement, then led by Alexander Bustamante, while leading the demand for universal adult suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
. When Suffrage came, Manley had to wait ten years and two terms before his party was elected to office. He was a strong advocate of the Federation of the West Indies, established in 1958, but when Sir Alexander Bustamante declared that opposition Jamaica Labour Party
Jamaica Labour Party
The Jamaica Labour Party is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party. Despite its name, the JLP is a centre-right, conservative party.-Background:...
would take Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
out of the Federation, Norman Manley, already renowned for his integrity and commitment to democracy, called a referendum, unprecedented in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, to let the people decide.
The vote was decidedly against Jamaica’s continued membership of the Federation. Norman Manley, after arranging Jamaica’s orderly withdrawal from the union, set up a joint committee to decide on a constitution for separate independence for Jamaica. He himself chaired the committee with great distinction and then led the team that negotiated Jamaica's independence from Britain.
The issue settled, Manley again went to the people. He lost the ensuing election to the JLP and gave his last years of service as Leader of the Opposition, establishing definitively the role of the parliamentary opposition in a developing nation. In his last public address to an annual conference of the PNP, he said: "I say that the mission of my generation was to win self-government for Jamaica. To win political power which is the final power for the black masses of my country from which I spring. I am proud to stand here today and say to you who fought that fight with me, say it with gladness and pride: Mission accomplished for my generation".
"And what is the mission of this generation?… It is…reconstructing the social and economic society and life of Jamaica".
As premier, Manley renegotiated a government contract with bauxite companies, leading to a six fold increase in revenue. His government also set the dominant economic agenda for the future in Jamaica by establishing numerous statutory boards, government bodies, and quasi-government authorities to regulate and play an active role in industry.
Shortly before his death he was proclaimed a National Hero of Jamaica, along with Bustamante, to join the black nationalist Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
, nineteenth century rebel Paul Bogle
Paul Bogle
Paul Bogle was a Jamaican Baptist deacon and is a National Hero of Jamaica. He was a leader of the 1865 Morant Bay Protests, which agitated for justice and fair treatment for all in Jamaica. Leading the Morant Bay rebellion, he was captured and hanged on October 24,1865 in the Morant Bay Court...
, and nineteenth century politician George William Gordon
George William Gordon
George William Gordon, National Hero of Jamaica was a Jamaican businessman and politician. On the centenary of his death, he was proclaimed a National Hero of Jamaica. Gordon was the 2nd of 7 children born to a white planter, Joseph Gordon and a mulatto slave, Ann Rattray in April 1815 although...
. Due to respiratory illness, Manley retired from politics on his birthday in 1969, and he died later that year, on September 2, 1969. His tomb was decorated by critically acclaimed Jamaican sculptor, Christopher Gonzalez
Christopher González
Christopher González was a Jamaican expressionistic sculptor and painter.González was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1943. He had a Puerto Rican father and Jamaican mother...
.
Manley was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...
fraternity. Manley's speech entitled, To Unite in a Common Battle was delivered in 1945 at the fraternty's Thirty-first General Convention in Chicago, Illinois. http://www.munualphas.com/manley.html
His second son, Michael Manley
Michael Manley
Michael Norman Manley ON OCC was the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica . Manley was a democratic socialist....
, went on to become the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica. He married his cousin Edna Manley
Edna Manley
Edna Manley OM was a sculptor and contributor to Jamaican culture, as well as the wife of Norman Manley, the founder of the Jamaican People's National Party. She is often considered the "mother of Jamaican art". She is the daughter of English cleric Harvey Swithenbank and a Jamaican woman by the...
(March 1, 1900 – February 2, 1987) in 1921.