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As a member of CARICOM, Barbados supported efforts by the United States to implement UN Security Council Resolution 940, designed to facilitate the departure of Haiti's de facto authorities from power. The country agreed to contribute personnel to the multinational force, which restored the democratically elected government of Haiti in October 1994.

With independence in 1966 came a focus on black Barbadian culture, and music like calypso, reggae and spouge, rather than the preoccupation with British standards of musical development. Calypso jazz arose during this period, pioneered by groups like the Schofield Pilgrim. The genre had developed by 1965, when original works like "Jouvert Morning" and "Calypso Lament" were composed. Artists like the pianist Adrian Clarke became popular during the 60s as well.

In 1937, riots over poverty and disenfranchisement occurred, and people like Clement Payne had risen to fame advocating reform. In that year, Payne was deported and riots broke out in Bridgetown, spreading throughout the island. The following year, the Barbados Labour Party was formed by C. A. Braithwaite and Grantley Adams.

As is the case in many of the other Caribbean and Latin American countries, Carnival is an important event for many people on the island, as well as the thousands of tourists that flock to the island to participate in the annual events.

Progress toward more democratic government for Barbados was made in 1951, when universal adult suffrage was introduced. This was followed by steps toward increased self-government, and in 1961, Barbados achieved internal autonomy.

The government continues its efforts to reduce unemployment, encourage direct foreign investment, and privatise remaining state-owned enterprises. Unemployment has been reduced from high levels of around 14% in the past to only under 10%.

Barbados is home to spouge music, which is played on guitars, mandolins and drums, but is best known as a second home for Trinidadian calypso and soca, as well as a reggae/soca fusion called ragga-soca. The 1974 revival of the Crop Over Festival, which features the Pic-O-De-Crop Calypso Competition, revitalized and organized the Barbadian calypso scene. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Barbadian artists like Spice, Gabby and Red Plastic Bag became popular in Trinidad and elsehwere, leading the way for a more fully-developed Barbadian sound (often characterized by Eddy Grant's Ring Bang pan-Caribbean fusion rhythm that arose around 1994) and was popularized by groups like Square One and krosfyah. Barbados is, along with Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and the Virgin Islands, one of the few centers for Caribbean jazz.

Barbados has an independent judiciary composed of magistrate courts, which are statutorily authorized, and a Supreme Court, which is constitutionally mandated. The Supreme Court consists of the high court and the court of appeals, each with four judges. The Chief Justice serves on both the high court and the court of appeals. The court of last resort is the Judicial Committee of Her Majesty's Privy Council in London, whose decisions are binding on all parties. Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister after consultation with the leader of the opposition.

After years of peaceful and democratic progress, Barbados became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on November 30, 1966.

As the sugar industry developed into the main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates which replace the small holdings of the early British settlers. Some of the displaced farmers relocated to British colonies in North America, most notably South Carolina. To work the plantations, slaves were brought from Africa; the slave trade ceased a few years before the abolition of slavery throughout the British empire in 1834.

Historically, the Barbadian economy had been dependent on sugarcane cultivation and related activities, but production in recent years has been diversified into the manufacturing and tourism sectors. Offshore finance and information services have become increasingly important foreign exchange earners, and there is also a healthy interest into the island's light manufacturing sector. In the last ten years the Government has been seen as business-friendly and economically sound. Since the late 1990's the island has seen an increasing construction boom, the island began to see new hotels, re-developments, new homes, office complexes, condos, and mansions being developed across the island.

Slavery in Barbados was finally ended in 1838, and newly-emancipated blacks celebrated with instruments including drums and horns, as well as banjos, tambourines and xylophones. Still, however, the use of horns and drums was discouraged, leading to the primacy of vocal music; at the same time, new Protestant churches from North American moved into the island, bringing with them American parlor music, cowboy songs and revivalist hymns.