History of Jamaica

The island of Jamaica has a rich and vibrant history. Their history tells of hardships, triumphs and the growth of the determination of the population. The Arawak’s came from south America 2,500 years ago, they stayed near the coast and grew crops until the Spaniards arrived and wiped them out.
    The Spaniards took over the island and used it as a base for food, men, arms and horses were stored for conquering the American mainland. The Spaniards held Jamaica until the English arrived in 1655.
    Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables arrived on May 10Th 1655 and led a successful attack on the Spaniards who surrendered, freed their slaves and fled to Cuba. The early English colonial period saw a rise in piracy from port Royal against the Spanish vessels. Other sources of revenue for the English settlers was crops which could be sold easily on the English market such as sugar. The sugar industry grew quickly in Jamaica and had four hundred and thirty sugar estates on the island by 1739. African slaves were sent over to work on the sugar plantations. The slaves were unhappy with their status and many of them ran away to live with the maroons in the mountains. There were frequent slave rebellions in the Caribbean and they eventually resulted in the abolition of the slave trade in 1808. Full freedom for the Africans was granted in 1838. The years following the passing of the abolition bill were hard for the lower classes even though the English planters had left, the government system remained and the views of the people still didn’t matter.
    After the rebellion in 1865, governor Eyre was recalled to England after exchanging the Constitution for the Crown Colony system. The following years led to the islands recovery in economic, social and constitutional means. The education, health and social services were greatly improved. Roads and rail were upgraded and cable communication was set up between the island and Europe. All ran smoothly until the 1930’s when Jamaica was put under another crisis. The world economic downturn alongside the banana industry failure due to disease, falling sugar prices all came to head in 1938 and resulted in widespread violence and rioting. From these violent movements sprung the first labour union, Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and major political parties Jamaican Labour Party and the people’s National Party. Both these parties and their respective leaders were important in Jamaica’s move towards self government. In 1958 Jamaica joined the Federation of the West Indies but voted against it in 1961. In 1962 Jamaica was granted independence from England. They now have their own constitution and this provides the freedom, equality and justice for all in the country.