History of Saint Vincent : Discover

Discover : History of Saint Vincent

History

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were discovered and first inhabited by the Ciboney, who left their native South America on board their peculiar small boats to arrive and settle on the islands way before Egypt’s first pharaohs rose to power. Arawaks were soon to follow, bringing with them their rudimentary methods of farming and extraordinary fishing talents which permitted the development of a more elaborate political and social structure. Their peaceful society was eventually conquered by the arrival of Caribbean people (also known as Caribs), who gradually displaced the Arawaks towards the north due to their more warlike manners. European occupation was yet to follow.

Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Saint Vincent on the 22th January, 1498, and named it after the patron saint of the day. Saint Vincent and neighbouring Dominica were the two most important bases of the native Carib Indians, who displayed extremely strong resistance against French and English settlers, not only protecting their islands from colonisation but also sending out invading expeditions to surrounding islands, in order to reconquer these territories from the European intruders. Consequences of these crusades were heavy punishment campaigns led by Europeans, such as the one in 1654 decreed by Du Parquet to take revenge for the assassination of two missionaries and a couple of young Frenchmen. The islands’ population was to suffer greatly in the aftermath of these expeditions.

The Caribbeans and the English and French signed a treaty in 1660 agreeing on the rights of each party on the island. The King of England, Charles I’s letter granting the island to the count of Cariste was thus vetoed, as was the treaty according to which the inhabitants agreed to subdue to the English crown

Carib refugees, fleeing the occupation of the Europeans, began to arrive in great numbers on Saint Vincent, chased from their native Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia and Marie Galante. “Cimaroons” were soon to follow, settling on the island and adapting their way of life to that of the locals, forming a singular race of Black Caribs, who would soon dominate Saint Vincent.
A few French colonists also took root in the region, and the English made a futile try for domination in the beginning of the 18th century, which led to the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, proclaiming the neutral status of the island. The number of French settlers grew in the next couple of years, and the island remained included in the government of the Leeward Islands until it was ceded to the British in the 1762 Treaty of Paris, seized for good in the name of the British Crown by General Monkton.

Sharing the land proved to be a difficult nut to crack, though, and a number of incidents were to be dealt with, as Caribs refused any form of allegiance to the King of England. Defeated by North American troops, they were compelled to surrender in 1773, but in exchange received vast reserves of land that they could call their own in the northern parts of the island. With Carib aid, the French temporarily conquered the island in1779, but it was restored to Britain in 1783 under the Treaty of Versailles. Incited by Victor Hugues, the Caribs revolted in 1795, and devastated much of the island’s economy by burning plantations, ravaging habitations and assassinating colonists or locking them up in the vicinity of Kingstown. Sir Ralph Abercromby crushed the uprising in June 1796, and Black Caribs were interned on the island of Balliceaux, and subsequently deported to the island of Ruantan in the bay of Honduras to serve as punishment for their insolence. Their land was confiscated and rendered to the Crown, later to be distributed among loyal settlers. The small number of Yellow Caribs (the original Caribbean population) who managed to remain on Saint Vincent were forced to withdraw to the north of the island, around Sandy Bay, where their descendants live to our days within the community of Black Caribs.

The island of Saint Vincent thus became property of the British Crown and remained so until well into the 20th century. Between 1956 and 1963 it joined the ex-federation of the British West Indies. The simultaneous eruption of Mt Soufriere and Mt Pelee (Martinique) in 1902 severely damaged the island and killed 2000 of its inhabitants. In 1969 the archipelago became an associated state to Britain, until it gained total independence on the 27 October, 1979.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are inhabited by approximately 120 000 people today, with a population density of 308,02 inhabitants /km2. The archipelago’s capital, Kingstown is situated in the southern-central part of the island of Saint Vincent. The structure of its government is similar to that of Great Britain.

The islands became member of the United Nations on the 16 September, 1980, and member of the UNESCO on the 14 January, 1983. English is spoken everywhere, though the accent and vernacular used are quite singular to the area. The currency in use is the East Caribbean Dollar, GNP is 144,6 million US Dollars and revenue per inhabitant was a total of 1,268 US Dollars in 1989.

The nation’s flag gives a simple, methodical and shrewd view of the archipelago’s natural beauty and the character of its inhabitants. The vertical blue stripe reflects the sky and the extreme richness of the archipelago’s surrounding seas. The central yellow band symbolises the sun, inexhaustible source of warmth and life. The green band represents the land’s fertility and the love of its people for its rich soil. Three green lozenges are shaped in a V for St. Vincent, and reflect the plural nature of the thirty two islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.