Barbados becomes a republic – level 2

Last week, the Caribbean island of Barbados became the newest republic in the world.

After 400 years, the island had its own first government. The country was a British colony in the past, and 200 years ago, it was a center of slave trade in the Atlantic. In 1834, slavery formally ended in Barbados, and in 1966, the country became fully independent.

Dame Sandra Mason became the first president of Barbados, and she replaced Queen Elizabeth II, who was the leader before her. Prince Charles was a special guest at a ceremony in the capital city of Bridgetown. He said that he was sorry for what happened to people in Barbados in the past.

Difficult words: colony (a country which is under the control of another country, and people from the other country come to live there), slave trade (keeping, transporting, and selling people usually from Africa to Europe and North America), slavery (the system of keeping Black people by people in Europe and North America as slaves).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.