Before its Independence at the stroke of midnight on August 30, 1962, Trinidad and Tobago had a National Anthem, National Coat of Arms, its National Birds, National Flower and a National Flag.

All that was missing was a national history. But on August 31, 1962, Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams gave the nation its national history book, calling it History of the People of Trinidad and Tobago.

It was not conceived by many as a work of scholarship.

In defence of any errors or omissions, Williams said it was a manifesto designed to appear on August 31, and although it was regarded by many as a masterpiece, he thought otherwise, but was quick to deal with his critics, stating, "If some do not like the book, that is their business."

The 288-page book was dedicated to all who went before in the struggle for Independence, beginning with the First People, the Amerindians. 

The book included lengthy chapters on Spanish colonisation, Africa to the rescue, Tobago in a state of betweenity, the contribution of the Indians, and the bankruptcy of sugar.

However, the contributions by other ethnic groups in the community were hardly noted.

Remembering the contributions made by the Chinese community, he wrote about their recruitment as labourers to replace the Africans on the sugar estates, stating:

"High hopes were placed on the arrival of the Chinese. One lobbyist going so far, in advancing the superiority of free labour over slaves, estimated that two Chinese labourers with a light plough and a buffalo would do as much work as 40 stout Negroes."

The absence of Chinese women during the early stages of their migration to Trinidad had a negative impact on the social life of the menfolk.

They were not allowed to accompany their husbands, he stated.

Chinese women did not accompany the workers, and the free women of colour in Trinidad considered themselves superior to the Chinese.

"The absence of their wives was responsible for several social disorders in the community."

Williams had obviously omitted to mention an 1806 proclamation by the then-governor, Thomas Hislop, who had debarred Chinese labourers from associating with the Negroes.

The ordinance stated in part, "It is expedient to introduce a free race of cultivators, who from habits and feelings will keep themselves distinct from the Negroes and who from interest will be inseparably attached to the European proprietors."

There were several reasons for the return of the Chinese to their homeland.

"By 1814, the hopes placed on Chinese labour had failed. Those who remained, about 30 in number, were regarded as useful fishermen and butchers. The remainder dispersed all over the colony. Some going to Diego Martin and Carenage. Others who were more adventurous went to Maracas and Las Cuevas. Recognising that Chinese labour was not the answer to their labour problems, planters then embarked upon another desperate way to find a suitable alternative source of labour for their plantations," Williams wrote.

The chapter dealing with the education of the Young Colonials dealt extensively with the education system prior to Independence. 

In it, Williams stated: "The Crown Colony system needed people to work on the sugar estates, and if Trinidad needed citizens, instead of sugar workers, it had to achieve that goal by the destruction of the Crown Colony system."

He advanced reasons for the labour problems Trinidad faced after Emancipation, claiming, "The fundamental problem facing Trinidad was the fact that the former slaves were not prepared to continue to work on the same plantation for their former masters for wages instead of for lashes."

The arrival of East Indians in Trinidad began in 1845.

It was met with mixed feelings.

"Arguments against the system of Indian immigration were not based on racial consideration. More than any other group they lived in a condition of semi-servitude and were compelled to accept sub-standard wages and living conditions, but Indian indentured immigration was in the final analysis a political question and the chief beneficiaries were the English planters," Williams wrote.

Summarising the Indian experience in Trinidad he wrote, "The Indian canefarmer in Trinidad cultivating cane on a small basis allowed him to buy land in exchange for a return passage to his homeland. It represented a challenge to the traditional method of production, to the extent that indentured Indian immigrants, in a historical sense, constituted one of the most powerful social forces for the future in the struggle for the establishment of a proper social structure and modern industrial relations."

With respect to the union of Trinidad and Tobago, Williams submitted that the idea came neither from Trinidad nor Tobago, "but from the Secretary of State for the Colonies".

Thus the islands of Trinidad and Tobago were united by the insistence of the British government in what could only be called a confederation.

Williams recalled that, throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the great powers fought over Tobago as if it was one of the world's most precious jewels, and in 1898 Tobago was virtually sold to Trinidad for $19,200.

During the quest for self-government, Williams submitted that by the end of the First World War there were three decisive changes that took place in Trinidad: the discovery of oil, the abolition of the indentured system of Indian labour and the emergence of the working-class movements.

He said the principal advocate for constitutional reform was the Trinidad Working Men's Association, led by Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani. 

He said: "Cipriani, a white man of Corsican descent, was completely devoid of racial antipathy and prejudices. From the very start of his political career, he worked very easily with prominent Indians in the political sphere."

According to Williams, "The History of the People of Trinidad and Tobago is a declaration of Independence of the united people of Trinidad and Tobago."