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The collapse of the sugar estates and the introduction of nutmeg and cacao encouraged the development of smaller land holdings, and the island developed a land-owning young man farmer class. Slavery was outlawed in 1834. In 1833, Grenada became part of the British Windward Islands Administration. The governor of the Windward Islands administered the island for the rest of the colonial period. August 1, 1838 marked the emancipation of slaves all over the Caribbean, Grenada included. In 1877 Crown Colony government was introduced. However, efforts to change this system were spearheaded by T. A. Marryshow and C. F. P. Renwick. In 1924, the old legislative council came to an end and the Grenadian constitution was revised. More demands were made for self-governance side by side with attempts to establish a West Indies Federation.
In 1958, the Windward Islands Administration was dissolved, and Grenada joined the Federation of the West Indies. After that federation collapsed in 1962, the British Government tried to form a small federation out of its remaining dependencies in the Eastern Caribbean. Following the failure of this second effort, the British and the islanders developed the concept of "associated statehood". Under the Associated Statehood Act in 1967 Grenada was granted full autonomy over its internal affairs in March of that year. Full independence was granted on February 7. After obtaining independence, Grenada adopted a modified Westminster parliamentary system based on the British model with a governor general appointed by and representing the British monarch (head of state) and a prime minister who is both leader of the majority party and the head of government. Sir Eric Gairy was Grenada's first prime minister.
On March 13, 1979, the opposition party "New Jewel Movement", a new joint endeavor for welfare, education, and liberation, ousted Gairy in a nearly bloodless coup and established a people's revolutionary government (PRG), headed by Maurice Bishop who became prime minister. His government after being rejected by the US when asked for assistance, established close ties with Cuba, the Soviet Union. In October 1983, a power struggle within the government resulted in the arrest of Prime Minister Bishop at the order of his Deputy Prime Minister, Bernard Coard. After a breakdown in civil order, in which Coard's forces executed Bishop and members of his cabinet at the Square in Fort George, a 24 hour curfew was immediately ordered and remained in full effect for days after the massacre.
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