Jamaica's National Hero Series

The Right Excellent Sir Alexander Bustamante

At Jamaica's independence, on 6 August 1962, Alexander Bustamante became our first Prime Minister. Like Marcus Garvey, he was a man of vision - he saw why life was hard for ordinary people, and he saw what he could do to help. He fought for what he believed was right - not with guns or knives, but with words! He fought for the rights of workers, and he became their leader. So when the people got the vote, they were grateful, and they voted for him.

Bustamante's early life

Alexander Bustamante was born at Blenheim, in Hanover, in 1884. He was christened William Alexander Clarke, and changed his name later. He was a cousin of another National Hero, Norman Manley, and when he was twenty he worked for a year on the Manley's property at Belmont. He was a good horseman, and farmers sent him their horses to tame.

In 1905 Bustamante started to travel. He went to Cuba, Panama and the United States. At that time, many Jamaicans went to these countries to find new opportunities, and to seek their fortunes. Bustamante spent some time in New York, and he made money there.

Bustamante wrote letters

Bustamante came back to Jamaica in the 1930s. He was sad to see how the poor people were suffering, and he wrote letters to the newspapers, and to important people. He wrote about the bad conditions, and he asked for things to be made better. This is a part of a letter he wrote in 1938:

"The pot of Discontent is boiling, today it has reached the brim, tomorrow it may overflow."

Bustamante helped the Workers

Workers were still badly treated. They worked very long hours for very little money. They were angry, and in 1938 they went on strike for more pay. Bustamante went to support them at places where they were on strike - Serge Island in St. Thomas, and Frome in Westmoreland. In Kingston, a strike grew into a mass protest of workers and the unemployed. Bustamante went where there was trouble, and the government thought he was trying to get people to rebel. At one meeting, the security forces threatened to shoot. Bustamante opened his shirt, stuck out his chest and asked them to shoot him instead of the people. He was put in prison.

Bustamante started a Trade Union movement

Bustamante's cousin, Norman Manley, was a great lawyer, and he helped to get him out of prison. Bustamante wanted workers to organize themselves and work together to get better conditions. He made more speeches, and he founded the Bustamante Industrial Trades Union, or BITU. A trade union is an organization of workers that works for worker's rights. In 1939 the dock workers went on strike. Bustamante wanted other workers to join in a General Strike - a big strike by all workers in all kinds of jobs. The Governor was angry and in 1940 Bustamante was put in detention at Up-Park Camp. He was kept there for seventeen months, without being charged and without a trial.

Bustamante's Political Party

After Bustamante was released in 1943, he started a political party called the Jamaica Labor Party, or the JLP. The next year all adults got the right to vote. This is called Universal Adult Suffrage. In 1944, Jamaica had its first General Election in which all adults could vote - not just the ones with property. At a General Election, people vote to choose which political party will run the country. The two main parties were the JLP and the PNP - the People's National Party, which was started by Norman Manley.

The JLP won the election. When Jamaica became independent in 1962, the JLP was in power again, and that is how Alexander Bustamante became our first Prime Minister. He died in 1977 at the age of ninety-three, leaving memories of a brave-hearted Labour leader, an astute politician and defender of the poor.