Southern Caribbean - History

History

The Caribbean had been inhabited for about 7000 years by the Arawaks, Caribs, Taínos and their ancestors, who came to the Southern Caribbean on canoes from South America (primarily Venezuela). In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, European explorers and colonizers arrived. The Europeans replaced virtually the entire population of the native tribes through various means. The natives disappeared due to various reasons, including diseases brought in by Europeans to which they had no immunity, warring, enslavement and the removal of the natural resources upon which these tribes. European countries then made the Caribbean islands part of their respective empires. Most of these islands were disputed and fought over by European empires, such as Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and The Netherlands:

• The Spanish claimed: Trinidad & Tobago.
• The Portuguese claimed: Barbados.
• The French claimed: St Lucia, Grenada, St Vincent & the Grenadines Trinidad & Tobago (Briefly).
• The British claimed: Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada,Barbados, St Vincent & the Grenadines, St Lucia.
• The Dutch claimed: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.

Eventually all of the islands in the region except the Dutch islands Aruba and Netherlands Antilles were occupied by the British, who were in control from the 18th century onwards. The various islands declared their independence during the 1960s. The Dutch Caribbean islands are still part of Holland and none have yet declared full independence. Trinidad & Tobago was the first nation in the Southern Caribbean to become independent in 1962, followed by Barbados in 1966. All of the islands (except the Dutch Antilles) were part of the West Indies Federation from 1958 until its dissolution in 1962.