NewsTracker Answers for week of Mar. 28, 2022

Q: Prince William, second in line for the British throne, expressed his “profound sorrow” for the slave trade in rare remarks in Jamaica last week, during a trip to three former British colonies – Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas. Where is the Caribbean island of Jamaica, about 90 miles south of Cuba?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Most Jamaicans are the descendants of Africans who were kidnapped and shipped to the island to work as slaves on sugar plantations. Which nation transported most of more than 12 million enslaved Africans to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th centuries?

A. Britain

B. France

C. Portugal

D. United States


C. Portuguese ships carried nearly 6 million Africans to the Americas, with another 748,000 dying during the voyages. In 1526, the Portuguese completed the first transatlantic slave voyage to Brazil, and other Europeans soon followed. Britain was the second-largest slave trader, transporting nearly 3 million Africans, with more than a half million killed during the voyages.


Q: European slave ships carried most of their profitable “human cargo” to which region?

A. Caribbean

B. North America

C. South America


C. Portuguese Brazil was the destination for nearly 5 million enslaved Africans, while the Caribbean Basin was the second-largest market for slaves. Some Jamaicans said Prince William’s “profound sorrow” was not enough. They want reparations for the slave trade, which brought great wealth to Europe and greatly enriched William’s royal ancestors and other monarchs.


Q: What is the form of government in Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas?

A. Constitutional monarchy

B. Democratic republic

C. Socialist democracy

D. All of the above


A. Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas are constitutional democracies with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. During Prince William and Kate’s visit, Jamaica’s prime minister said his nation was “moving on” and “in short order” it intended to “fulfill our true ambition” of becoming an “independent, developed and prosperous country.”


Q: During his last stop in the Bahamas, Prince William said it was up to the people of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas to decide their nations’ future relationship with Britain and its royal family. Which of these former British colonies in or near the Caribbean most recently replaced Britain’s monarch as its head of state?

A. Barbados

B. Dominica

C. Guyana

D. Trinidad and Tobago


A. Barbados gained independence in 1966 but kept Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state until last November, when she was replaced by an elected president. Dominica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago all dropped the British monarchy in the 20th century. With Barbados, they remain members of the Commonwealth, an association of 59 nations that were once part of the British Empire