History of Dominica

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The first written records in the history of Dominica began in November 1493, when Christopher Columbus spotted the island. Prior to European contact, Dominica was inhabited by the Arawak. Dominica was a French colony from 1715 until the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, and then became a British colony from 1763 to 1978. It became an independent nation in 1978.

Pre-colonial

The

Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week on which he spotted it - a Sunday ('Dominica' in Latin) - which fell on 3 November 1493 on his second voyage.

Daunted by fierce resistance from the Caribs and discouraged by the absence of gold, the Spanish did not settle the island. Many of the remaining Carib people live in Dominica's

In 1632, the French

Spain had little to no success in colonizing Dominica and in 1690, the French established their first permanent settlements in Dominica. French woodcutters from Martinique and Guadeloupe begin to set up timber camps to supply the French islands with wood and gradually become permanent settlers. They brought the first enslaved people from West Africa to Dominica. In 1715, a revolt of "poor white" smallholders in the north of Martinique, known as La Gaoulé,^[3] caused an exodus of them to southern Dominica. They set up smallholdings. Meanwhile, French families and others from Guadeloupe settled in the north. In 1727, the first French commander, M. Le Grand, took charge of the island with a basic French government; Dominica formally became a colony of France, and the island was divided into districts or "quarters".^[4] Already installed in Martinique and Guadeloupe and cultivating sugar cane, the French gradually developed plantations in Dominica for coffee. They imported African slaves to fill the labor demands replacing the indigenous Caribs.

In 1761, during the

As part of the 1763

In 1763, the British established a legislative assembly, representing only the white population. In 1831, reflecting a liberalization of official British racial attitudes, the Brown Privilege Bill conferred political and social rights on free nonwhites. Three Blacks were elected to the legislative assembly the following year. The abolition of slavery in 1834 enabled Dominica by 1838 to become the only British Caribbean colony to have a Black-controlled legislature in the 19th century. Most Black legislators were small holders or merchants who held economic and social views diametrically opposed to the interests of the small, wealthy English planter class. Reacting to a perceived threat, the planters lobbied for more direct British rule.

In 1865, after much agitation and tension, the colonial office replaced the elective assembly with one composed of one-half elected members and one-half appointed. The elected legislators were outmaneuvered on numerous occasions by planters allied with colonial administrators. In 1871, Dominica became part of the

Following World War I, an upsurge of political consciousness throughout the Caribbean led to the formation of the representative government association. Marshaling public frustration with the lack of a voice in the governing of Dominica, this group won one-third of the popularly elected seats of the legislative assembly in 1924 and one-half in 1936. Shortly thereafter, Dominica was transferred from the Leeward Island Administration and was governed as part of the Windwards until 1958, when it joined the short-lived West Indies Federation.

In 1961, a Dominica Labor Party government led by

Independence: 1978 to present day

On November 3, 1978, the Commonwealth of Dominica was granted independence by the United Kingdom.

In August 1979, Hurricane David, packing winds of 150 mph (240 km/h), struck the island with devastating force. Forty-two people were killed and 75% of the islanders' homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

Independence did little to solve problems stemming from centuries of economic

Chronic economic problems were compounded by the severe impact of hurricanes in 1979 and in 1980. By the end of the 1980s, the economy had made a healthy recovery, which weakened in the 1990s due to a decrease in banana prices.

In 1995 the government was defeated in elections by the United Workers Party of

In 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Dominica and was the most powerful and devastating hurricane ever recorded in Dominica.^[9]

President Charles Angelo Savarin was re-elected in 2018.^[10]

In the 2019 general elections The Dominica Labour Party (DLP) was given another overwhelming mandate – for a record fifth consecutive five-year term. The party’s charismatic but often maligned leader, Roosevelt Skerrit, will serve a new five-year term as the Prime Minister of Dominica.^[11]

See also

• British colonization of the Americas
• French colonization of the Americas
• History of the Americas
• History of the British West Indies
• History of North America
• History of the Caribbean
• List of prime ministers of Dominica
• Politics of Dominica
• Spanish colonization of the Americas

References