History of Jamaica

Arawaks from South America had settled in Jamaica prior to Christopher Columbus' first arrival to the island in 1494. Spain claimed the island and began occupation in 1509, naming the island Santiago. The Arawaks were exterminated by disease, slavery, and war. Spain brought the first African slaves to Jamaica in 1517.

In May 1655, British forces in the form of a joint expedition by Admiral Sir William Penn[?] (father of the founder of Pennsylvania), and General Robert Venables seized the island. In 1657 the Governor invited the Buccaneers to base themselves at Port Royal to deter Spanish aggression. In 1657 and 1658 the Spanish, sailing from Cuba, failed at the battles of Ocho Rios[?] and Rio Nuevo[?] in their attempts to retake the island.

The British began full colonisation in 1661 and gained formal possession through the Treaty of Madrid[?] in 1670.

Sugar and slavery made Jamaica one of the most valuable possessions in the world for more than 150 years. The island was also a major base for pirates, especially at Port Royal before it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1692. A new capital was chosen in the south, Spanish Town later re-named Kingston. The British parliament abolished slavery as of August 1, 1834. The condition of the freed slaves was still extreme hardship, marked by the October 1865 Morant Bay rebellion[?] led by George William Gordon and Paul Bogle. It was put down with extreme violence and the island was made a Crown Colony. The sugar crop was declining in importance in the late 19th century and the colony diversified into bananas.

Jamaica gained a degree of local political control in the late 1930s, there had been unrest and riots in anger at British policy and the People's National Party (PNP) was founded in 1938. The first election under full universal adult suffrage was held in 1944. Jamaica joined nine other U.K. territories in the Federation of the West Indies in 1958 but withdrew after Jamaican voters rejected membership in 1961. Jamaica gained independence on August 6, 1962, remaining a member of the Commonwealth. The first prime minister was Alexander Bustamante[?] of the Jamaica Labour Party.

Initially power swapped between the People's National Party and the Jamaican Labour Party regularly. Michael Manley was the first PNP prime minister in 1972 and he introduced socialist policies and improved relations with Cuba. His second term elections marked the start of repeated political violence. When the PNP lost power in 1980 Edward Seaga[?] immediaitely began to reverse the policies of his predecessor, bringing in privatization and seeking closer ties with the USA. When the PNP and Manley returned to power in 1989 they continued the more moderate policies and were returned in the elections of 1993 and 1998. Manley resigned for health reasons in 1992 and was succeeded as leader of the PNP by Percival Patterson.

Historically, Jamaican emigration has been heavy. In the 1950s and 1960s the destination was Britain, since the United Kingdom restricted emigration in 1967, the major flow has been to the United States and Canada. About 20,000 Jamaicans emigrate to the United States each year; another 200,000 visit annually. New York, Miami, Chicago, and Hartford are among the U.S. cities with a significant Jamaican population. Remittances from the expatriate communities in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada make increasingly significant contributions to Jamaica's economy.

See also : Jamaica