in 1798. The federation was unpopular, and in 1683 the islands rejected a government proposal for one government and set of laws. By the 18th century, each island had kept its own assembly and made its own laws, but continued to share one governor and one attorney-general. Although unpopular, Stapleton's Federation was never really dissolved but was simply replaced by other arrangements. Colonial period 1816–1869 Between 1816 and 1833 the Leewards were divided into two groups, each with its own governor: St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla and Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat (including Redonda). In 1833 all the Leewards were brought together again under the pre-1816 and Dominica was added to the grouping until 1940. In 1869, Governor Benjamin Pine was assigned the task of organizing a federation of Antigua-Barbuda, Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands. St. Kitts and Nevis however opposed sharing their government funds with Antigua and Montserrat, which were bankrupt. Governor Pine told the Colonial Office that the scheme had failed due to "local prejudice and self-interest". Thus the only achievement was giving the Leewards a single governor. All laws and ordinances, however, had to be approved by each island council. Federal colony 1871–1956 In 1871 the British government passed the Leeward Islands Act through which all the islands were under one governor and one set of laws. Each island was called "Presidency" under its own administrator or commissioner. Like earlier groupings this federation was unpopular but was not dissolved until 1956 to make way for the Federation of the West Indies. The Federal Colony was composed of all islands organized under Governor Pine's previous attempt. Windward Islands Colonial period 1763–1833 In 1763, Barbados, as the most well established of Britain's Caribbean colonies was placed in charge of new colonies acquired in the Seven Years' War. The Governor of Barbados became Governor of Grenada and the Grenadines, St. Vincent and Tobago, with each island having its own lieutenant-governor. This arrangement was plagued with the difficulty of west to east communication among the islands in the days of sail. Colonial period 1833–1958 In 1833 the Windward Islands became a formal union called the Windward Islands Colony. In 1838, Trinidad (acquired in 1802) and St. Lucia (acquired in 1814) were brought into the Windward Islands Colony, but were not given their own assemblies (having previously been British Crown Colonies). In 1840 Trinidad left the Colony. The Windward Islands Colony was unpopular