History Of Jamaica From Spanish Invasion To Emancipation
Jamaica is an island which is surrounded by the Caribbean sea; situated about 90 miles south of Cuba and west of Haiti. Located North West of Jamaica is the Cayman Islands and further north is Florida which is the closest US state. Jamaica is also the third largest island in the Caribbean and is a part of the group of islands known as the Greater Antilles. The Greater Antilles are a group of islands that include Jamaica, Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. These islands are the largest of all the islands in the Caribbean and their combined land mass makes up about 90% of all the other islands put together. The Caribbean islands are also known as the West Indies of which Jamaica is one of them. Originally named St. Jago de la Vega by the Spaniards, was once the capital of Jamaica. Jamaica鈥檚 history has six major periods dating back from 1494 to present.
In this hub I will be focusing on the arrival of the Spaniards, slavery and the Morant Bay rebellion. The Parish of St. Ann was where the Spaniards first settled when they arrived in Jamaica. There they built a town called Sevilla Nueva (New Seville). This bit of Jamaica's history started in 1494, May 4, when Christopher Columbus visited Jamaica where he saw the island inhabited by a very peaceful group of people known as the Arawaks. These people never knew war, were never involved in violence. The Spaniards enslaved these gentle farmers and fishermen and in about half century they all died. The Arawaks made pots and eating utensils from clay which were molded and heated. Their clothing were made from the wild cotton that grew on the island, that they wove together to make cloth which was used to cover their lower bodies. These Arawak Indians, as they were called, were not hard laborers. The men fished and hunted while the women farmed cassava, beans and sweet potatoes.
They were a peaceful people who wore beads and ornaments around their necks. When the Arawaks in Jamaica died, the Spaniards went to Africa where the African people were captured with the help of other people such as the Arabians, who sold them to the Spaniards. The Spaniards first lived in what we now know as the parish of St. Ann where they built a town by the name of Sevilla Nueva. They also inhabited the parish we now know a St. Catherine where they also built a town by the name of St. Jago De La Vega. This town is now known as Spanish Town. It was Admiral Penn and General Venables who entered the Kingston harbor that fateful day. They were sent by Oliver Cromwell to capture the island of Hispaniola, now known as Haiti and Dominican Republic, but when they failed in that quest, decided to capture Jamaica instead.
Within one day the Spaniards surrendered to the British. Within a few days some left the island while a few fled to Cuba. Unknown to the British, some of the Spaniards fled to the northern part of the Island. Five months after the capture of the island by the British, General Sedgwicke arrived to take charge but he and most of his soldiers and sailors soon died from fever. It is also believed that the food and water contributed to their demise. Next was General Brayne who also died a short time after his arrival, however did manage to vamp up security of the British islands because he believed that the Spaniards who occupied Cuba would launch an attack. General Brayne was succeeded by the army officer, General Doyley, who later became Governor. The Spaniards from the northern end of the island did attack, with help from Cuba, but General Doyley was victorious on both occasions, thanks to the foresight of General Brayne. The Spaniards finally gave up their quest to recapture the Island when the Maroons formed an alliance with the British. They escaped to Cuba and never returned.
Port Royal was most famous for its treasures and the place where pirates came and pillage these riches. The place was like Sodom and Gomorrah, where there were reveling and parties all the time. Port Royal was also known as the wickedest place on earth. This was the major city on the island. On June 7, 1692, the great Port Royal was destroyed by earthquake at about 11:40 AM. There were three major shocks, of which the third was the worst which saw the walls of the stone houses collapse and most of the city buried under the sea. A tsunami ensued and engulfed Port Royal taking with it thousands of those who had survived the earthquake a few minutes earlier. The few remaining survivors tried to rebuild what was left of the city but a fire destroyed it in 1704. Only its forts remained. Port Royal has never been the same since. In 1662 there were approximately four hundred African slaves in Jamaica and this number grew tremendously throughout the next decade to approximately nine thousand five hundred.