Republicanism in Jamaica required for independence, the popularity of the Royal Family amongst Jamaicans, and tendencies towards Anglophilia among the political elites. The first Jamaican prime minister to make steps towards a republic was Michael Manley, whose People's National Party (PNP) came to power at the 1972 general election. His government established a commission into constitutional reform in 1975, and in July 1977, following a march to commemorate the Morant Bay rebellion, Manley announced that Jamaica would become a republic by 1981. However, his government was defeated at the 1980 general election by the more conservative Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), led by Edward
Protestantism in Jamaica He was a minister of the revivalist Jamaica Native Baptist Free Church from 1889 to 1921 and a religious figure who provided leadership for the oppressed. Bedward was both a religious and political figure and connected religion with nationalism. Bedward was a leader in a black-based religious movement that played an enormous historical role in attaining certain civil rights for blacks. Bedward and his followers rose up against racial discrimination, injustice, and the tyranny of colonial rule to improve the lives of the black majority. Today Jamaica has more churches per square kilometer than anywhere else in the world. There