First Arrivals

Jamaica history is filled slavery and colonization from other European nations.  The very first set of European eyes that saw the faint imagine of Jamaica at sea was Christopher Columbus. This explorer discovered the large island in 1479. Not long after his discovery, Spain started to colonize the lands of Jamaica, specifically St. Anne’s Bay.

 The primary goal at the time was to find gold, silver, or other jewels. The native Arawaks are kind and peaceful group of people that settled on the island around 600 AD. (1) “Their economy, based on fishing and the production of corn (maize) and cassava, sustained as many as 60,000 people in villages led by caciques (chieftains).” (2) Unable to defend for themselves, many became slaves. "Vast numbers died as a result and thousands more committed suicide by hanging themselves or drinking poisonous cassava juice to escape from their bondage. Mothers are said to have murdered their children rather then let them grow up and suffer the slavery they had known." (3) For the most part killed off by the Spaniards because of factors like superior weaponry and disease that the Europeans brought with them sped up the decrease in population. (4) By the mid seventeenth century there was not a drop of pure Arawak blood left on the island of Jamaica (ibid) They set up a few plantations and had slaves shipped from Africa to work the fields from dusk to dawn.  As the population increased, more and more slaves were needed to work the fields. The Spanish colonies only started a fraction of what the British would eventual make.

Soon enough, Britain had they eyes locked onto Jamaica. They saw the potential in Jamaica’s prime growing conditions for sugar cane.  Anticipating an army, England sent over 8,000 troops to suppress whatever force opposed them. They conquered an important fort, and killed the 1,000 Spaniards who were meant to be the main defense. (5) Most conquests of nations involve one nation conquering the native people of another. Jamaica is an exception.  The conquest of Jamaica was basically a conqueror being conquered by another conqueror.  Being no match for England, almost all of the Spaniards fled to Cuba off the northern coast. The Spanish’s goal was to make Jamaica inhabitable for the British. They wanted to make the British start from scratch. The Spanish took everything with them, killed livestock, burned their homes, but left the most important key to any colonizer’s success behind, their slaves.

Colonization and Struggles with Slavery

           After the Spanish fled to Cuba, there was a major increase of British colonists and slave traders to Jamaica. Although many attempts were made to find wealth in silver and gold throughout the country, the new proprietors soon realized that the real money was in the agriculture (7)

However, whilst more British were moving to the island, the ex-Spanish slaves of African and some Awakan descent were being organized into fighting groups called Maroons. The Spanish trained them at the last moment and taught the how to deal the most amount of damage to the British. They utilized guerrilla tactics. Because of how well they knew the land, the maroons were able to have the upper hand when it came to navigating through dense jungles. (8) Even though the Europeans still had superior weaponry, guerilla tactics proved to be very effective. Countless attacks from the maroons deeply annoyed the British, and made control of certain parts of Jamaica hard to live/plant in. The British needed more people and fertile land to grow sugar cane and colonize Jamaica. The more people, the cheaper the labor, the higher the profit. This idea lead to the major importation of slaves.

            The primary source of labor was slaves “shipped” from Africa to Jamaica. (9) More slaves were transported to the island to work on plantations owned by rich British. Sugar cane however, as profitable as it was, required to ton of labor from slaves to harvest A sugar cane field of about five hundred to one thousand acres would take about two hundred and fifty hands to harvest it (10). People were taken all over the west coast of Africa, like the Ibos from Africa, and the Coromantes from the gold coast. Despite still being human, the Europeans treated the slaves like cattle. With technologically more advanced tools at their disposal, the Europeans displayed their superiority by killing Africans. (11) The slaves were now transported in small, cramped, and unsanitary moving boats. Slaves had to often defecate on themselves or even other people because the space in the boat was so little. After a three-month journey to the America, the slaves were divided up into groups based on their physique. (12) From that point until they most likely died, they were cane plantation workers. In the 1700’s, plantation owners became extremely wealthy due to the fact that slaves weren’t paid at all. At one point in Jamaican history, population of slaves to white people was 14 to 1. (13) With these many slaves willing to fight, rebellions were bound to happen.

            The plantation owners saw notable uprisings, rebellion and resistance for the first time. An outspoken slaved called Tacky sparked a deadly rebellion. Damage from the uprising also occurred “The rebellion flared throughout Jamaica destroying many estates in an attempt to relieve themselves from their bondage. The rebellion was soon overthrown with many casualties (mostly blacks), but did give the first glimpse of freedom to many Negro slaves throughout the country.” (14). As maroon communities grew, the British became more and more worried.

Decolonization and Independance

There were many successes during British rule during the 1800’s. However, food supplies and a constant threat from French and Spanish invasion lowered Jamaica’s production efficiency. A major internal conflict included the maroon wars (18^th century). This was a period of time where escaped slaves sought to destroy estates and British burning towns. Political instability also weakened Great Britain’s rule over Jamaica. After years of struggle, internal factors lead to the independence of Jamaica.

            The 18^th Century became known as the Maroon Wars. Many warriors, a part of the maroons, wanted to take back land from the British, and completely evoke them from “their” island.  In the end, the British and the maroons had terrible losses. “After the fighting ceased, the government deported some 600 Maroons to Nova Scotia.”(15) This showed that the British still had majority of the power. A reverend black leader by the name of Samuel Sharp was killed after protesting British rule. The effects when the British killed this man were severe. (16)Maroons burned towns and destroyed many churches. However “British troops quickly put down the rebellion and executed its organizers. (17) Tensions between the maroons and British solders were taught until the British parliament finally abolishes the slave trade.

            After the joyous decision to abolish the slave trade, every plantation owner attitude sank into the ground. With no more flow of slaves into Jamaica, the price of labor skyrocketed. The prices of sugar in Jamaica were already dropping at the time as well (18). Along with the abolishment of slavery, British parliament also emancipated all slaves. Many freed slaves went to go live in the hills and start their own small farms. “Parliament removed protective tariffs in 1846, further reducing the price of Jamaican sugar.” (19).

            Jamaican legislature and British rule had many disputes after the emancipation of the slaves. “In 1866 Parliament declared the island a crown colony” (19) Reorganization started to settle in after years of conflict. There were advantages of being a crown colony. ”Under the Crown Colony system, the nominal government was consisted of the legislative council and the executive Privy Council members of both chambers of the House of Assembly.” (20) Sir John Peter Grant, the newly appointed governor completely reorganized how Jamaica was run. “Establishing a police force, a reformed the judicial system, medical service, a public works department, and a government savings bank. He also appointed local magistrates, improved the schools, and irrigated the fertile but drought-stricken plain between Spanish Town and Kingston.” (21). In 1940 however, a violent earthquake struck Kingston, the capital, destroying almost all its buildings. (22) The entire economy was crippled by this unfortunate event; and, unemployment rates were already very low. Because of these happenings, Jamaicans formed their first labor unions and parties. “In the elections of 1944and 1949, the Jamaican labor party secured a majority of votes. In the elections of 1955 and 1959, the Peoples National Party (23) gained control. In 1962, and 1967, it was back to the JLP, then in the PNP won in 1972 and ’76.” (24). Finally in 1962, Jamaica gained independence from Great Britain.          

            After endless hardships and troubles, Jamaica worked its way through slavery, earthquakes, and political tensions. Everything resulted in independence. Its safe to say that the Maroon rebels kick started the process of decolonization in Jamaica. From the rebellions came political struggles that weakened British rule. Ultimately, the emancipation of African slaves greatly helped Jamaicans gain power of their own country. To top everything off, Jamaica gained independence after hundreds of years of occupancy.