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
Christianity in Jamaica Jamaica. Liele, born in Virginia became a Christian in Georgia, and then became the first African American to be ordained within the Baptist Church, at First Baptist Church Savannah. He later pastored both black and white Christians in the American South. On gaining his freedom he travelled to Jamaica and became the first 'unofficial' missionary - before Carey and before Judson. In Jamaica he first preached at the Race Course in Kingston, where people of all races came to hear him. He pioneered Baptist tradition in Jamaica, establishing the first Baptist Church - the Ethiopian Baptist Church. Despite having a