Complex sentence: In 1838, Dominica became the first colony of the British West Indies to have an elected legislature controlled by an ethnic African majority; most of these legislators had been smallholders or merchants before the abolition of slavery.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1838, Dominica became the first colony of the British West Indies to have an elected legislature controlled by an ethnic African majority. Most of these legislators had been free people of color and smallholders or merchants before the abolition of slavery.