The Timeline of Jamaica's History

Pre-Columbus

The Tainos

The Tainos were the native Indians of Jamaica. They had their origins in the Arawak tribes of Eastern Venezuela, in an area called the Orinoco Delta. Beginning around 400 B.C., factions of the tribes began exploring the surrounding areas by sea, traveling further north in waves. They developed self-sufficient communities in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, eastern Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.

Jamaica is estimated to have been settled by the Tainos around 650AD. Spanish chroniclers describe Taino towns, predominantly those in the Dominican Republic, as densely settled, well organized and widely dispersed. They were inventive people, developing techniques to extract poison from the yuca root before consumption, they developed pepper gas for warfare and built ocean-going canoes large enough for more than 100 paddlers. They played games with balls made of rubber.

The Tainos were generally a friendly and peaceful people with a gentle culture and a highly organized hierarchical, paternal society. Each society was a small kingdom and the leader was called a cacique. The cacique's function was to keep the welfare of the village by assigning daily work and making sure everyone got an equal share. The relatives of the caciques lived together in large houses in the center of the village made of mud, straw and palm leaves. The houses did not contain much furniture. People slept in cotton hammocks or simply on mats of banana leaves. The general population lived in large circular buildings called bohios, constructed with wooden poles, woven straw, and palm leaves. They cultivated yuca, sweet potatoes, maize, beans and other crops.

The Indians practiced polygamy with a man having 2 or 3 wives, and the caciques had as many as 30. It was a great honor for a woman to be married to a cacique. Not only did she enjoy a materially superior lifestyle, but her children were held in high esteem.

1494

Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica.

The logs of Columbus's 2nd voyage are lost. This was the voyage that led to the discovery Jamaica, which he called Santiago. Most of what we know about this voyage, is from indirect references, or from the accounts of others who were also onboard the ships. The best acknowledged sources are "Historia" by Andres Bernaldez, written after discussions with Columbus. It is possible to that Adres Bernaldez, may have had access to the original logs. The other two sources are "Historie", written by, Fernando, son of Columbus and "Decades", by Peter Martyr, a historian of Spanish explorations and chaplain to the court of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.

In one account of the first sighting of Jamaica, Bernaldez's "Historia de los Reyes Catolicos", describes the island as

"...the most beautiful island that eyes ever saw. The country is most mountainous and it seems as if the earth was touching the sky. The inhabitants have more canoes than those of any other islands thereabouts, and the largest so far seen, all made in one piece out of the trunk of a tree."

The account continues to describe Columbus being met by about 60 canoes of Indians with spears about one league (about 3.4 miles) out in the ocean as he approached the island. Many retreated when they saw the ships had no intention of stopping, and a couple found the courage to come alongside. The Indians were offered gifts of clothing and other items. The ships finally anchored at a place Columbus named Santa Gloria, because of the extreme beauty of the surrounding lands, which he described as incomparable to the gardens of Valencia. They spent the night there.

The next morning they set sail in search of a harbor in which to do repairs to the ships and after sailing about 4 leagues to the west (about 13.5 miles) they came upon a suitable location. A small party was dispatched in a boat to inspect the entrance of the harbor, but the party were attacked by Indians in two canoes, throwing spears. The Indians retreated after the Spanish resisted and Columbus and his ships sailed into the cove where they anchored.

What Columbus saw was described as follows;

"...and then he saw so many Indians that the earth was covered with them, all painted in a thousand colors, but the greatest number in black, and all of them naked as it was their custom, with plumes on their heads in various manners and the chest and stomach covered with palm leaves. They shouted and screamed in the loudest manner and threw spears which did not reach the vessels."

Columbus realizing that he was in need of water as well as wood for repairs to his ships, calculated that he needed to show a position of strength and punish the Indian so that they thought twice about attacking, so he ordered three boats to approach the shore where the crew fired cross bows at the Indians, wounding many and forcing them to retreat in fear.

The reaction of the Indians to the attack is described as follows;

"...they discharged their crossbows at them and when the Indians found they hurt they begun to be afraid; then the crews on the three boats jumped on the shore and continued shooting at the Indians, who, on seeing this, ran away in such fright that there was not a man or woman left in the neighborhood. A dog that was landed from one of the caravels followed the Indians biting and hurting them very much for a dog is as good as ten men against the Indians."

The next morning a group of six Indians, all men, returned offering gifts. Columbus was pleased with the friendly gesture of the greeting party so he befriended them and for the duration of his stay was given everything in abundance. The accounts from the two other sources provide additional information such as where Columbus did land and where he did repair his ships, which is worth exploring.

In Fernando's account, the party that was attacked by the Indians when they went to inspect the entrance of the harbor, returned to the ship choosing not to start a fight. Columbus sailed away but then decided that he needed to show strength in order to deter future attacks. He sailed to another port shaped like a horseshoe, which he named Puerto Bueno, and it is at this port that crossbows were used against the Indians who came out to meet the boats, wounding six or seven. The Indians returned after the battle bringing bounty. Columbus befriended them and for the rest of their time there, he was given what he needed to repair his ships. On May 9th he sailed west, hugging the shores of Jamaica eventually setting course back to Cuba because of unfavorable winds.

In this second account, the port where this happened, he named Puerto Bueno, is shaped like a horseshoe. Puerto Bueno, was again mentioned as the port where Columbus's beached his shipwrecked and sought refuge from a storm on his fourth voyage when he remained stranded on the island for a year.

Between the two accounts, we know that the place where they first landed was named Santa Gloria and the place where he repaired his ships was named Puerto Bueno. There is no conclusive proof of the actual location of either of these places, but the generally accepted answer is that Santa Gloria where he first landed, is in St Ann's Bay, close to Seville, and Discovery Bay with its horse show harbor, lying about 14 miles to the west is where he stayed for 4 days while he repaired his ships.

The reason for going in search of Jamaica was also covered in Fernando's account. Columbus wanted to confirm what he had heard on other islands, that Jamaica was rich in gold. This is an important point because the lack of gold was a key reason why the island fell so easily to the English a century and a half later. No gold was ever found and the Spanish Crown lost interest in the island, leaving it under-developed and lightly defended.

1503

Columbus Shipwrecked in Jamaica

Columbus departed on his fourth and final voyage on May 9, 1502, from Cádiz, Spain; a voyage that was filled with misfortune. After a year of difficult sailing, two ships had to be abandoned in Panama. The remaining two, severely damaged by shipworms, were barely seaworthy. Columbus, now an ailing 52-year-old, and his crew struggled to reach the north coast of Jamaica on June 24, 1503, near the place where he had landed before. The hardships of this voyage are well documented in Columbus's own words, in a letter to the Spanish monarchy written while on the island.

The following excerpt is from the letter he wrote in Jamaica to the Spanish Monarchy:

On the thirteenth of May I reached the province of Mago, which borders on Cathay [JTL: North China was known as Cathay in medieval Europe. Columbus thought Cuba was part of the mainland of China], and thence I started for the island of Española. I sailed two days with a good wind, after which it became contrary. The route that I followed called forth all my care to avoid the numerous islands, that I might not be stranded on the shoals that lie in their neighborhood. The sea was very tempestuous, and I was driven backward under bare poles. I anchored at an island, where I lost, at one stroke, three anchors; and, at midnight, when the weather was such that the world appeared to be coming to an end, the cables of the other ship broke, and it came down upon my vessel with such force that it was a wonder we were not dashed to pieces; the single anchor that remained to me was, next to the Lord, our only preservation. After six days, when the weather became calm, I resumed my journey, having already lost all my tackle; my ships were pierced by borers more than a honey-comb and the crew entirely paralyzed with fear and in despair. I reached the island a little beyond the point at which I first arrived at it, and there I turned in to recover myself after the storm; but I afterwards put into a much safer port in the same island. After eight days I put to sea again, and reached Jamaica by the end of June; [JTL: June, 23rd, 1503] but always beating against contrary winds, and with the ships in the worst possible condition. With three pumps, and the use of pots and kettles, we could scarcely clear the water that came into the ship, there being no remedy but this for the mischief done by the ship-worm.

Columbus and his men remained stranded on Jamaica for a year and 5 days. On July 17, 1503, desperate for help, Columbus sent Diego Méndez and Bartolomeo Fieschi, captains of the wrecked ships, La Capitana and Vizcaíno, in two canoes with some natives, to get help from Hispaniola. When they arrived, the Governor, Nicolas de Ovando y Caceres, who was no ally of Columbus, took his time arranging a rescue mission for the stranded crew.

1504 - Columbus Rescued from Jamaica

During their long wait for the return of the dispatched men, relationships with the Indians began to sour. Columbus, in attempt to secure the continued support of the local Indians, gathered all the Caciques (local chiefs) in the area on February 29, 1504 and made the following proclamation...

"To punish you for your cruel conduct, the Great Spirit whom I adore, is going to visit you with his most terrible judgment. This very evening you will observe the moon turn red; after which she will grow dark, and withhold her light from you. This will only be a prelude to your calamities if you obstinately persist in refusing to give us food."

Columbus had predicted a lunar eclipse, using an ephemeris (a table of astronomical predictions). It could have been Regiomontanus's tables, published in 1474, or others like it, which show the day-to-day positions of the heavenly bodies. [JTL: Ephemerides existed before Regiomontanus, but his tables were highly influential.] That evening, the natives who witnessed the eclipse, saw it as a fulfillment of "the prophecy". The Caciques were mesmerized by the demonstration of such "power", and were quick to pledge their continued support

Diego Mendez, returned to Jamaica on June 29, 1504 with a ship to rescue the Columbus and his men. Columbus left the island arriving in Hispaniola on August 13 of that year, and on November 7, sailed back to Sanlúcar, Spain to find that Queen Isabella, his main supporter, was dying.

1506

Columbus Death Sparks Legal Battle

Christopher Columbus dies in 1506.

When Christopher Columbus embarked on his second voyage in 1492, his son Diego was made a page at the Spanish court and he was promised shares in any wealth discovered in the New World, and over the years had been given titles of Viceroy, Governor and Admiral of the Sea. As time progressed, these privileges and titles were gradually taken away from him.

After his father’s death in 1506, Diego began a long struggle to regain his father’s former privileges in the Indies. He sued the crown to regain the recognition and titles that had been stripped from his father. Diego had married the cousin of King Ferdinand, María Álvarez de Toledo, which gave him some influence, and in 1508 he was accredited governor of the Indies.

He arrived at Santo Domingo in July 1509, but, unsatisfied with that assignment alone, he wanted all of his father’s privileges. In May 1511 he received the hereditary title of viceroy of the islands, but he believe the position did not carry the recognition nor the power and rights that he deserved. He made several trips to Spain to make his petitions and defend his position but he died before any final decision on his rights were decided, after which the Crown voided all previous decisions arising from the suit.

The fight was picked up by his wife and in June 1536, a final compromise and settlement was made. Their son Luis Columbus, and grandson of Christopher Columbus, was given the title of admiral of the Indies. As part of the settlement, he would renounce all other rights in return for a perpetual annuity of 10,000 ducats and the island of Jamaica given in fief, and an estate of 25 square leagues [JTL: 1 league = 3.4 miles] on the Isthmus of Panama with the titles of duque de Veragua and marques de Jamaica. He was forbidden to fortify Jamaica without the King's permission, a condition that may have played into Britain's relatively easy success at conquering it.

The gift of the island to the Columbus family was a small compromise to the Crown because it had served little economic benefit. No gold, silver or other precious gems had been discovered. It wasn't until much later that the Crown began to show renewed interest in the island when they began to realize that the island was wealthy in in pimento spices.

Fief and Feudal Society

In European feudalism, a fief was a source of income granted to a person (called a vassal) by his lord in exchange for his services. The fief usually consisted of land and the labor of peasants who were bound to cultivate it.

Short Video; What was Feudalism?

1508

Jamaica Settled by the Spanish (Colony of Santiago)

In 1508, Columbus's son, Diego Columbus, became Governor of the Indies. He appointed Juan de Esquivel, a conquistador who had accompanied Columbus on his second trip in 1494, as his Lieutenant in Jamaica.

Esquivel landed at Santa Gloria with 80 citizens and their families to colonize Jamaica. He founded the seat of government near St Ann's Bay close to the Taino Village of Maima. It was called Sevilla la Nueva, and later called Sevilla d'Oro (Golden Seville), in anticipation of finding gold. The Spanish had high hopes of finding gold based on the gold ornaments that adorned the natives. It is still unknown where the gold came from, but the idea persisted through to later English settlers who spoke of "the King of Spain secret gold mines. The idea also found its way in the folk lore of future African slaves with allusions to hidden treasures and gold mines.

1511

Spanish Settlers urged to use Tainos for Labor

In 1511 Esquivel noted that Jamaica lacked any significant gold deposits and the monarchs of Spain urged settlers to use native Indian laborers to grow food crops in support of other expeditions in Cuba and South America. The settlers were given lots of 150-200 Indians to use for mining, construction, transportation and farming. The lack of gold was pivotal in Spain losing interest in the colony, leading to a slowing rate of development and fewer arrivals of new settlers, and an island less defended as compared to Cuba and Hispaniola.

1517

The first black slaves are shipped to Jamaica by the Spanish

The first black slaves brought to Jamaica in 1517. They did not come directly from Africa but were either Africans, or the descendants of Africans, who had been enslaved for a time in Spain.

The Spanish began importing black slaves shortly after King Ferdinand, in 1501, authorized the governor of Hispaniola to import slaves of sub-Saharan African descent provided that they were born in Spain. This is the first known example of Europeans transporting black slaves across the Atlantic to the New World.

Excerpt of the letter from the Spanish Monarchs to The Governor of Hispaniola:

Because with great care we have procured the conversion of the Indians to our Holy Catholic Faith, and furthermore, if there are still people there who are doubtful of the faith in their own conversions, it would be a hindrance [to them], and therefore we will not permit, nor allow to go there [to the Americas] Moors nor Jews nor heretics nor reconciled heretics, nor persons who are recently converted to our faith, except if they are black slaves, or other slaves, that have been born under the dominion of our natural Christian subjects.

1518

New Seville, the First Capital of Jamaica and the First Slaves direct from Africa

The first Spanish settlement, which was located in the Taino Village of Maima was relocated closer to the sea in 1518, by the Spanish Governor, Francisco de Garay.

The lands forming the new settlement stretched from the fertile alluvial coastal plain in the north to the limestone highlands in the south and includes the land on which the present day Seville Great House still stands. The area today, is historically significant and important for three main reasons:

• The first capital of Jamaica under Spanish rule,
• one of the first sites in the region to receive a steady flow of African slaves and
• the location of the post-1655 British sugar plantation known as Seville.

Reconstruction of Maima and Sevilla la Nueva, c. 1525. courtesy of Peter Dunn, Archaeological Reconstruction Artist
View: North (bottom of screen) to South. The original Spanish colony Sevilla la Nuevo (aka Sevilla d'Oro) was in the Taino Village of Maima (X). It was relocated closer to the sea by the Spanish Governor, Francisco de Garay, around 1518 and the name simplified to Sevilla. He built himself a castle (1) and by 1525, Sevilla was a small colony with a stone fortress, a sugar factory (2), artist worksop (3) and Franciscan monastery (4).

The first Slaves arrive directly from Africa

In 1518 King Charles I of Spain (Ferdinand's successor) signed a four-year consent allowing an annual supply of 4,000 African slaves to enter Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. This decision to create a direct, more economically viable Africa to the New World slave trade fundamentally changed the nature and scale of the practice. By 1611 Jamaica had a population of approximately 558 black slaves, 107 free blacks, and between 1,200 and 1,400 Spaniards.

1530

The First Jews in Jamaica

The earliest Jews in Jamaica can be traced back to the early days of the Spanish colonization of the island, when a number of Portuguese Crypto-Jews fleeing the Inquisition began arriving on the island around 1530 and settled in Spanish Town.

In 1478, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella instituted the Inquisition, an effort by the Spanish clergy rid to the country of heretics. For over a century, acts of violence against Jews had been practiced by the Catholics in Spain, which greatly reduced Spain's Jewish population. Having already forced much of Spain's Jewish population to convert, the Church began rooting out those who were suspected of practicing Judaism in secret, oftentimes by extremely violent methods. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella after finally freeing Spain from Muslim rule, issued the Alhambra Decree on March 31st, mandating that all Jews be expelled from the country.

The results were catastrophic. Jews were given four months to leave the country, resulting in the hasty selling of their assets at deflated prices to Catholics. Many converted in order to remain in Spain, while others gave the appearance of conversion while continuing to secretly practice their religion. Modern historians believe around 40,000 Jews emigrated, with older estimates putting the number at several hundred thousand. Communities established by Spanish Jews, known as Sephardim in Hebrew, formed the foundation of the Sephardic communities that now make up a significant percentage of the world's Jewish population.

Defying the Spanish Inquisition, the grandson of Columbus, Portugallo Colon in 1530 allowed Jews to settle in Jamaica, and in that same year, the first ship load of Portuguese-Spanish Jews landed on the island. Many were Conversos, fleeing Europe to openly practice Judaism, who, despite the Inquisition, had continued to practice Jewish rituals in secret at great personal peril. In many other colonies of Spain and Portugal, Catholicism was stringently enforced and jews continued to be persecuted if found practicing of Jewish traditions, but in new colony of Jamaica, Colon turned a blind eye, enabling these settlers to practice Judaism, albeit only in secret, but without fear of being tortured.

1534

Sevilla abandoned. Villa de la Vega (Spanish Town) Established as the Island's New Capital

In 1534 the settlers moved to a new location, surrounded by good farming land that they named Villa de la Vega (Town of the Plain). It was later renamed to St Jago de la Vega and subsequently, Spanish Town by the English. This settlement served as the capital of both Spanish and English Jamaica from its foundation in 1534 until 1872, after which the capital was moved to Kingston.

Other settlements established by the Spanish include Esquivel (now Old Harbour Bay), Oristan (Bluefields), Savanna-la-Mar (Savanna-la-Mar), Manterias (Montego Bay), Las Chorreras (Ocho Rios), Oracabeza (Oracabessa), Puerto Santa Maria (Port Maria), Mellila (Annotto Bay) and Puerto Anton (Port Antonio).

1597

English Attacks, Sir Anthony Shirley's Raid of Jamaica

Source: "The Spanish Version of Sir Anthony Shirley's Raid of Jamaica, 1597. by: Don Fernando Melgarejo De Cordova. 1922"
EXTRACTS FROM FOUR HERETOFORE UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS, EXISTING IN THE ARCHIVO GENERAL DE INDIAS, SEVILLE, SPAIN

During the period of 1597, conditions in Jamaica were described by Francisco Hernandez, presbyter and canon of the holy church of Xamayca in 1597, as a place of hardship. The people lived with the constant threat from the English and the French, who would take loaded ships anchored in the harbors. By another account, it was described as sparsely populated with about 100 citizens most of whom were poor with no other business or trade except of that in cassava, hides and meat. These were shipped to Havanna and other Spanish settlements.

In February 1597, an English fleet of seven, four large ships and three launches, sailed along the south coast of Jamaica in search of the entrance to the principal port of island [JTL: Passage Fort, near present-day Portmore ], which was known to be poorly defended and not far from the only major town on the island, Villa De La Vega, known today as Spanish Town. The fleet sailed west, as far as Cabo de el Negrillo, Negril Point, before realizing that they had missed it. Doubling back, they sailed east eventually finding the port that they sought.

Leaving the larger vessels anchored at the mouth of the channel, three launches set sail towards the shore. Finding little defense, a band of about 200-300 men disembarked on Tuesday, February 4th, 1597, and began their advance on Villa de la Vega, located about 7 miles inland. The governor of the island, Licentiate Francisco de Nabeda Albarado, had received word of the ships, so he, and many of the town's citizens, set out towards the location where the English landed. When the governor saw the size of the invading force, he quickly realized that resistance would have been futile so he and the citizens retreated to the town, where they gathered what they could and fled to hide in the interior jungle.

The invading forces had been met by a local Indian native called Pedro [JTL: a Taino], who led them to the town. Finding the town empty General Shirley, found a messenger to convey a message to the governor who was in hiding. The message demanded a thousand arrobas of meat and four hundred cargas of Cassava and if the demand was not met, the town would be destroyed.

On receiving the terms of the ransom, the governor and his officials decided to consult with the officials of the church, so they traveled to place called Cayo de la Legua, where the abbott, Don Francisco Marques de Villalobos, the vicar and other friars of the Dominican convent, along with others from the town had fled to hide. After a discussion amongst themselves, the church officials advised the governor not to give in to the demands. They reasoned that it was far better for the town to endure the hardships than to give in to the demands, which would enable the invaders to continue their attacks on Spanish ships. The parties agreed that that was the right approach, so they began spreading the word that on penalty of death, it was forbidden for anyone to provide assistance or aid to the enemy.

The English were growing impatient, for it had been a week since they had occupied the town and had given their ultimatum. When they learned that payment was not forthcoming, they were incensed. They began a campaign of destruction, sacking the town, burning houses (about sixty were destroyed) and destroying plantations. Angry, Shirley said that he would not leave until he had captured abbot and the vicar because he had been told that they were responsible for not meeting the demands for the cassava and meat. which had been asked as ransom. They sent a search party guided by the local Indian named Pedro, to look for the abbott and the vicar. They found their camp, and destroyed it. They robbed and sacked the camp taking everything of value. One witness account, they said that the English took all the clothing and everything else not leaving a single thing behind. Nothing left was left but empty and broken chests and wool which was emptied from the mattresses. When town's accountant, Pedro de Castillo, learned of this, he sent a messenger to the abbot requesting him and the church officials to take refuge with him, at his plantation at Maimon.

Meanwhile, the governor must have had enough of the wanton destruction. He authorized the treasurer, Francisco Arnaldo, and others, to negotiate with General Shirley on his behalf. An agreement was eventually struck, to stop the hostilities. Captain Francisco Bejarano, a Spaniard, sent with the general's ring, as a token of the legitimacy of the message, to command the party that was pursuing the abbott and the vicar, to return.

The English left after forty days on the island. They were given the meat and cassava that they demanded as well as carts and horses to carry it, and likely plunder, down to the shore, where it was loaded on the launches and transported back to the ships anchored offshore.

This raid, which happened fifty-eight years before the English conquered the island, is likely to have played a part in the decision to attack Jamaica after failing at securing Hispaniola. The fact that Jamaica was not well defended, would have been well known. Had the intelligence been otherwise, it would not have made sense for an already defeated, sick and demoralized army to immediately embark on another attack after being thoroughly defeated in Hispaniola.

1654

Anglo-Spanish War

In his book, Growth of English Industry and Commerce (1890), by William Cunningham, he made the observation the politicians of the sixteenth, seventeenth and greater part of the eighteenth century agreed in promoting the power of England relative to other nations by whatever means necessary. And they believed power depended on:

• the accumulation of treasure,
• the development of shipping and
• the maintenance of an effective population.

It is likely Cromwell was of this or a similar mindset when he waged a brutal war on Ireland determined to conquer the country in 1649 (see People: The Irish), the same year King Charles I was executed paving the way for him to accede to the position of Lord Protector of England. Or when he implemented his "Western Design".

World commerce had increased enormously since the discovery of the New World. It was probably clear to Cromwell that a plan was needed to break through Spain's monopoly in the West Indies and to gain control of Spanish America.

In December 1654, he sent a naval force to the Caribbean as part of his "Western Design".

The goal: Capture Hispaniola from the Spanish for England and attack other Spanish colonies.

Result: A failed attack on Hispaniola, Jamaica is captured and the start of the 1654-1660 Anglo-Spanish war.

1655

England Conquers Jamaica from Spain

After a disastrous assault on Hispaniola, and fearing to return to England empty handed, Venables and Penn set sail for neighboring Jamaica, which they knew to be weakly defended (a knowledge likely gained from the previous ventures of Sir Anthony Shirley in 1596 and Captain William Jackson in 1643. They landed at Passage Fort in May 1655 and Spanish Town was quickly overrun. The island was claimed for the British but pockets of Spanish forces continued resistance mostly in the mountains and along the north coast, for another 5 years.

The following text is based on the book "The Narrative of General Venables: With an Appendix of Papers Relating to the Expedition to the West Indies and the Conquest of Jamaica, 1654-1655", edited for the Royal historical society by C.H. Firth and published in 1900.

It provides through a series of letters an account of Jamaica's capture and early occupation during 1655, before things really started to deteriorate as the Spanish resistance, with the aid of the Maroons persisted. By the last letter written in November 1655, the English army in the Jamaica, were so sick that their dead were being buried in shallow graves, and the dogs were digging up and eating the dead. And, with the food supply gone those soldiers who remained were so starved that they were eating the dogs, horses, cattle and anything they could get their hands on.

Where possible the original language and spelling has been edited for easier reading. Wherever the exact meaning of the original text is unclear, the text is left as written. The following passages provide example of how the original text was changed:

Original: "...it was agreed that the Spaniard should come in that day sennight out of the woods where they then lay, and bring in all their armes..."
Modified: "...it was agreed that the Spaniards should come out of the woods in a week where they would then lay down their arms..." ["sennight" is old english for in the space of seven nights and days]

Original: "the Generall, Vice Admirall, and Rere Admirall shott severall guns at his funerall."
Modified: the General, Vice Admiral, and Rear Admiral shot several guns at his funeral.

Original: ...we saw Jamaica Iland ...our souldiers in number 7000 (the sea regiment being none of them)
Modified: ...we saw Jamaica Island ...our soldiers in number 7,000 (excluding the naval force)

1656

Cromwell urges settlers to go to Jamaica

In a bid to to get traction on colonizing the newly captured island of Jamaica, Oliver Cromwell urged settlers from New England and other colonies in the Caribbean such as Nevis, to go to Jamaica. Luke Stokes, an English colonist who was twice governor of Nevis, in response to the petition, relocated his family and 1,600 other settlers to the Port Morant area located in todays parish the St Thomas. This was the first major settlement by English colonists on the island.

The choice of location that these early settlers chose to call home, was inauspicious. The Port Morant area, located at the base of Blue Mountains, the highest mountain range on the island and an area that gets the most rainfail, is one of the more fertile areas in Jamaica. The rivers begin in the high altitudes of the mountains, often flooding during the rainy season, washing the rich mountain soil to form a fertile delta in the lower regions before emptying into the sea. The rich soil of the delta is ideal for farming and the growing of a plantation, but the high precipitation and pools of water also create an ideal breeding ground for disease bearing mosquitoes. Within a year of settling there, Luke Stokes, his wife, and two-thirds of the settlers were dead from diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. The remaining settlers eventually moved to higher ground, where the ruins of the Stokes Hall Great House is today located.

The development of Jamaica continued to be slow until after the Restoration of the King, Charles II, when The Point was renamed Port Royal and Fort Cromwell became Fort Charles. Port Royal grew faster than any other town founded by the English in the New World. It became a notorious center for buccaneering and piracy against the Spanish, even after Spain formally ceded Jamaica to England under the terms of the Treaty of Madrid in 1670.

1657

The Spanish Attempts to retake Jamaica

The Spanish made several attempts to recapture Jamaica and in 1657, the former Spanish governor of Jamaica, Don Cristobal de Ysassi, returned with forces from Cuba to engage the British at Los Chorreros, present-day Ocho Rios. The attack was repulsed by Colonel Edward Doyley, who had been appointed military Governor of Jamaica. Ysassi returned that same year with thirty companies of foot soldiers and succeeded in establishing a fortified position at Rio Nuevo on the northern coast of Jamaica.

Meanwhile, in an effort to protect Britain's stronghold in the capital and around Kingston, Doyle embarked on a strategy to protect the Capital and the main harbor in Kingston from attacks by the spanish. He conceived of a strategy to encourage English privateers called the Brethren of the Coast to establish the island's main harbor as the foremost pirate homebase in the region. With ships frequenting the village of Cagway Point, which was later renamed to Port Royal, he believed a persistent presence of pirates would act as a deterrent to the Spanish in their ambition to retake the island. His plan proved to be immensely successful. Not only did the Spanish fail to retake Jamaica, but the economy of Port Royal quickly grew in commerce. Drinking establishments and businesses aimed at servicing the pirates, rich with illgotten gains, popped up like weeds in a rain soaked garden.

Doyle's plan was so successful, that the English later struggled to curb piracy when they eventually decided to end their depency on piracy. Local Governors found it more lucrative to collude with Pirates while feigning willingness to to stop the practise.

Pirates and Privateers

In general terms a pirate is anyone who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without having a commission from any sovereign nation. Privateers were state sponsored individuals who robbed and pillaged vessels at sea or land based settlements under papers of marque, i.e. a license issued by a country or state to arm a vessel and use it to commit acts which would otherwise have constituted piracy.

Privateers sometimes went beyond their commissions, attacking vessels that didn't belong to the targeted country, making these actions acts of piracy. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, Privateers were primarily private individual merchant mariners of English and French origin with commissions to target Spanish shipping.

Sir Francis Drake is probably the most famous privateer. He was an English admiral who became wealthy plundering Spanish settlements in the Americas after being granted a privateering commission by Elizabeth I in 1572. Henry Morgan is another well known Privateer that operated in the years following the capture of Jamaica in 1655.

The Brethren of the Coast were a loose coalition of pirates and privateers commonly known as buccaneers that were active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. They were based primarily on the island of Tortuga off the coast of Haiti and later in Port Royal, Jamaica. The original Brethren were mostly French Huguenot and British Protestants, but as piracy became more lucrative, they were joined by other adventurers of various nationalities including Spaniards, African sailors, as well as escaped slaves and outlaws of various sovereigns.

1660

The Battle of Rio Nuevo and the The Restoration of the King

After successfully establishing a small foothold on the north coast of the island in Rio Nuevo, St Mary, in 1657, Don Cristobal de Ysassi maintained a firm grip on his fortified position for the next 3 years. He used it as a base to launch attacks on the English.

In 1660, Edward Doyley marched with 750 of his best soldiers against Ysassi's fortified position. The battle proved to be the final battle that determined the fate of Jamaica. The Spaniards were decisively defeated and Ysassi and his surviving forces fled to Cuba. In a last ditch effort they freed and armed their slaves, with the hope that they would continue the fight. These freed slaves and those who has escaped under Spanish during their occupation of the island, known as the Maroons, continued to raid English plantations and settlements into the 18th century.

Edward Doyley was confirmed as the first English governor of Jamaica.

Spain formally conceded Jamaica to England by the Treaty of Madrid in 1670. The site of the final battle was declared one of Jamaica's sites of significant importance on May 13, 1999. The Beckford family who owned a significant portion of the property on which the battle took place donated an acre of the location where the battle was fought to the Jamaican government. Today, there is an inscription at the site that reads:

THE RIO NUEVO MEMORIAL
"The stockade that once stood here was captured on the 17th June 1658 by Colonel Edward D'oyley and the English forces under his command after a gallant defence by Don Cristobal de Ysassi the last spanish govenor of Jamaica."

The Monarchy Restored - King Charles II

King Charles I was executed in 1649 after the British Parliament abolished the monarchy and established a republic under Oliver Cromwell. The republic lasted 11 years, before being reinstated in May 1660.

After his death in 1658, Oliver Cromwell's son, Richard Cromwell, became his successor. Richard however, lacked the charisma and strong personality of his father and he failed to get the support he needed. Two years later in 1660, the nobles reinstated the monarchy and Charles II, the exiled son of Charles I, was returned to the throne.

In revenge for the death of his father, Charles II ordered Oliver Cromwell’s body be dug up the following year. His corpse was hung in chains then thrown in a pit and his severed head was displayed outside Westminster Hall for a couple of decades.

Charles II granted a charter to the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa led by his younger brother James, Duke of York (later King James II). The charter gave it a monopoly on British trade with West Africa, including gold, silver and slaves. The company collapsed in 1667 under mounting debt as a result of England's war with the Netherland. It re-emerged in 1672 as a new company named Royal African Company, whose monopoly was pivotal in establishing and proliferating the slave trade into the 18th century.

Edward Doyle becomes Governor and Establishment of a Governing Body

Edward Doyle, Military Governor of Jamaica, was formally appointed the first Governor of Jamaica by Charles II.

The following text is taken from the book, The History of Jamaica, Vol 1, Edward Long, 1774. He was an English born historian, plantation owner and Jamaican jurist. His family had owned property in Jamaica since the early days of colonization.

1661

New Governor and King Expands Rights of Settlers

With the first effort toward establishing an effective government proving to be ineffective, the king appointed Lord Windsor as governor of the island on 16th December, 1661. Lord Windsor was given broader powers. In his new commission, he was empowered to appoint a council, call assemblies, levy taxes in cases of emergencies and to make new laws, which could be enforced for a minimum of two years. Any longer than that would require confirmation by the king. Under his rule, a militia was established and the army formally disbanded.

The king also issued a decree that granted additional rights to the settlers. Under the decree, children of natural-born English subjects who were born in Jamaica, were declared free denizons of England with the same priviledges as free born subjects in England. Other settlers were given additional priviledges and concessions all designed to motivate a vested interest in growing the island's economy, building a more effective government and to entice other settlers to move to the island.

1663

First General Elections Held

The first General Election was held in December 1663, eight years after becoming a British colony. The voters' list consisted of about 300 men, while the census for that year showed a population of 4,205, including a small but significant number of slaves with very few plantations existing beyond the environs of Port Royal.

The franchise to vote to elect members of the Assembly was restricted to men who were white, a minimum age of 21 years and possessed freehold property worth no less than 10 pounds or payers of a specified amount of taxes. Those who could self nominate themselves to be elected to the Assembly had to own freehold property valuing no less than 300 pounds or a personal estate worth no less than 3,000 pounds. [History of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica - Prepared by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica September 2014]
Note: population number in Commission's report was updated by JTL to show census numbers