Following the Second World War, events on the African continent were on course to deprive Britain of a direct source of seafarers of African descent. From the initial colonization of African territories there had been African voices opposing European rule, but in the early twentieth century attitudes to imperialism had slowly begun to change in Britain and Europe generally. Increasing numbers of Africans were educated and impatient for independence, and the movement was becoming unstoppable. By the 1950s and 1960s, most European-ruled territories on the continent had become independent, 17 countries gaining their independence by 1960.

On 3 February 1960 the British prime minister, Harold Macmillan, gave his historic ‘wind of change’ speech to the Parliament of South Africa in Cape Town. He had made this speech earlier to the Ghanaians in Accra on 10 January 1960, although the press did not appear to realize its importance at the time as an indication of a general shift in British policy towards its colonies:

Following on from Indian and Pakistani independence in 1947, this speech symbolized the end of empire for Britain. The likelihood of Britain receiving seafarers of African descent from other parts of the African Diaspora was dealt a further blow since, overlapping with the struggle for African independence, the British West Indian islands joined the movement for self-rule.