Jamaica - History
Little is known about the island’s early history, except that there are many traces of Arawak habitation, and that Arawaks, agriculturists who made good-quality textiles and pottery, were living there when Christopher Columbus landed on 14 May 1494, on his second American voyage of exploration. The Arawaks led quiet and peaceful lives until they were destroyed by the Spaniards some years after Christopher Columbus discovered the island in 1494.
From 1494, when Christopher Columbus first set foot on what he described as "the fairest isle that eyes have beheld," to its emergence as an independent state on August 6, 1962, Jamaica passed through three main periods. First, it served for nearly 150 years as a Spanish-held way station for galleons en route to and from the Spanish Main (the mainland of Spanish America). Second, from the mid-1600s until the abolition of slavery in 1834, it was a sugar-producing, slave-worked plantation society. Thereafter, it was a largely agricultural, British colony peopled mainly by black peasants and workers.
The Arawaks had died out by the time an English expedition of 7,000 landed at Passage Fort on 10 May 1655.In 1655, British forces seized the island. Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables led a successful attack on Jamaica.
The Spaniards surrendered to the English, freed their slaves and then fled to Cuba. Most of the slaves the Spanish had imported from Africa remained in the interior using the opportunity to set up towns where they could live in freedom. It was this set of freed slaves and their descendants who became known as the Maroons. In 1662 the people of Jamaica were given the rights of citizens of England and the right to make their own laws, and in 1670, Great Britain gained formal possession.
The banana industry was established in the second half of the 19th century, on big estates and smallholdings. In the early 20th century, Jamaicans worked on banana plantations in Central America and Cuba, and in the construction of the Panama Canal.
The 1930s saw Jamaica heading towards another crisis. The contributing factors were discontent at the slow pace of political advance. For example, the distress caused by a world-wide economic depression, the ruin of the banana industry by the Panama industry Disease, falling sugar prices, growing unemployment aggravated by the curtailment of migration opportunities and a steeply rising population growth rate.
In 1938 things came to a head with widespread violence and rioting. Out of these disturbances came the formation of the first labour unions and the formation of the two major political parties. These were the Bustamante industrial Trade Union (BITU) named after the founder, Sir Alexander Bustamante. He was also the founder and leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in 1943, the political party affiliated with the BITU. Norman Manley was the founder of the National Workers’ union and the political party the People’s National Party (PNP). The PNP was formed in 1938 with the aim of establishing representative and responsible government for Jamaica within the Commonwealth. Both Sir Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley were instrumental in Jamaica’s move towards self-government.
After a long period of direct British colonial rule, Jamaica gained a degree of local political control in the late 1930s. In 1938 a royal commission was appointed to investigate the working conditions as well as other political and social conditions that were affecting the society. The investigations and reports led to the crafting and adoption of a new constitution on November 20, 1944 which ensured universal franchise for all Jamaicans regardless of race and class. The first general elections under Universal Adult Suffrage was held in December 1944.
In 1958, Jamaica and ten (10) other Caribbean countries formed the Federation of the West Indies. The concept of Caribbean unity was soon abandoned in 1961 when Jamaicans voted against the Federation of the West Indies. On August 6, 1962, Jamaica was granted its independence from England. Jamaica now had its own constitution which sets out the laws by which the people are governed. The constitution provides for the freedom, equality and justice for all who dwell in the country.
On independence in 1962 Bustamante was Prime Minister. With bauxite in demand, tourism flourishing and a revival in bananas, Jamaica’s economy boomed. In 1972, the PNP, led by Norman Manley’s son, Michael, won the elections, and remained in office until 1980, when the JLP under Edward Seaga came to power. The PNP, again under the leadership of Michael Manley, won the elections of 1989. Due to ill health, Prime Minister Michael Manley retired in March 1992 and was succeeded by P J Patterson, who led the PNP to another victory at elections in March 1993. The PNP won 52 seats, the JLP eight.
Jamaican politics was preoccupied with economic and security issues during the 1990s and this resulted in a high incidence of strikes, with all parties favoring economic liberalisation. In late 1995 the JLP split, leading to the creation of a third party, the National Democratic Movement, headed by Bruce Golding, former chairman of the JLP. Patterson and the PNP were returned in the general election in December 1997. The poll had been relatively peaceful and the international team of observers led by former US President Jimmy Carter judged it free and fair. With 56 per cent of the votes the PNP took 50 of the 60 seats in the lower house, while the JLP received 39 per cent of the votes and took ten seats.
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