History of Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia was inhabited by the Arawak and Kalinago Caribs before European contact in the early 16th century. It was colonized by the British and French in the 17th century and was the subject of several possession changes until 1814, when it was ceded to the British by France for the final time. In 1958, St. Lucia joined the short-lived semi-autonomous West Indies Federation. Saint Lucia was an associated state of the United Kingdom from 1967 to 1979 and then gained full independence on February 22, 1979.
Pre-colonial period
The more aggressive
16th century
Christopher Columbus may have sighted the island during his fourth voyage in 1502, since he made landfall on Martinique, yet he does not mention the island in his log. Juan de la Cosa noted the island on his map of 1500, calling it El Falcon, and another island to the south Las Agujas. A Spanish Cedula from 1511 mentions the island within the Spanish domain, and a globe in the Vatican made in 1502, shows the island as Santa Lucia. A 1529 Spanish map shows S. Luzia.[1][2]: 13–14
In the late 1550s the French
17th century
In 1605, an English vessel called the Oliphe Blossome was blown off-course on its way to
English documents claim colonists from Bermuda settled the island in 1635, while a French letter of patent claims settlement on 8 March 1635 by a Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc, who was succeeded by his nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet. Thomas Warner sent Capt. Judlee with 300-400 Englishmen to establish a settlement at Praslin Bay but they were attacked over three weeks by Caribs, until the few remaining colonists fled on 12 October 1640.[2]: 22–27 In 1642, Louis XIII extended the charter of the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique for twenty years.[8] The following year, du Parquet, who had become Governor of Martinique, noted that the British had abandoned Saint Lucia and he began making plans for a settlement.[9][10][11] In June 1650, he sent Louis de Kerengoan, Sieur de Rousselan and 40 Frenchmen to establish a fort at the mouth of the Rivière du Carenage, near present day Castries.[9] As the Compagnie was facing bankruptcy, du Parquet sailed to France in September 1650 and purchased the sole proprietorship for Grenada, the Grenadines, Martinique and Sainte-Lucie for ₣41,500.[12] The French drove off an attempted English invasion in 1659, but allowed the Dutch to build a redoubt near Vieux Fort Bay in 1654. On 6 April 1663, the Caribs sold St. Lucia to Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham, English governor of the Caribbean. He invaded the island with 1100 Englishmen and 600 Amerindians in 5 ships-of-war and 17 pirogues forcing the 14 French defenders to flee. However, the English colony succumbed to disease. The French took over again, but the English came back in June 1664 and retained possession until 20 Oct. 1665 when diplomacy gave the island back to the French. The English invaded again in 1665, but disease, famine and the Caribs forced their fleeing in Jan. 1666. The
Date | Country |
---|---|
1674 | French crown colony |
1723 | Neutral territory (agreed by Britain and France) |
1743 | French colony (Sainte Lucie) |
1748 | Neutral territory (de jure agreed by Britain and France) |
1756 | French colony (Sainte Lucie) |
1762 | British occupation |
1763 | Restored to France |
1778 | British occupation |
1783 | Restored to France |
1796 | British occupation |
1802 | Restored to France |
1803 | British occupation |
1814 | British possession confirmed |
18th century
Both the British, with their headquarters in Barbados, and the French, centered on Martinique, found Saint Lucia attractive after the slave-based sugar industry developed in 1763, and during the 18th century the island changed ownership or was declared neutral territory a dozen times, although the French settlements remained and the island was a de facto a French colony well into the 18th century.
In 1722, the
The 1730 census showed 463 occupants of the island, which included just 125 whites, 37 Caribs, 175 slaves, and 126 free blacks or mixed race. The French took control of the island in 1744, and by 1745, the island had a population of 3455, including 2573 slaves.[2]: 31, 36
During the
By 1779, the island's population had increased to 19,230, which included 16,003 slaves working 44 sugar plantations. Yet, the
In Jan. 1791, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly sent four Commissaries to St. Lucia to spread the revolution philosophy. By August, slaves began to abandon their estates and Governor de Gimat fled. In Dec. 1792, Lt. Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse arrived with revolutionary pamphlets, and the poor whites and free people of color began to arm themselves as patriots. On 1 Feb. 1793, France declared war on England and Holland, and General Nicolas Xavier de Ricard took over as Governor. The National Convention abolished enslavement on 4 Feb. 1794, but St. Lucia fell to a British invasion led by Vice Admiral John Jervis on 1 April 1794. Morne Fortune became Fort Charlotte. Soon, a patriot army of resistance, L'Armee Francaise dans les Bois, began to fight back. Thus started the First Brigand War.[2]: 60–65
A short time later, the British invaded in response to the concerns of the wealthy plantation owners, who wanted to keep sugar production going. On 21 February 1795, a group of rebels, led by Victor Hugues, defeated a battalion of British troops. For the next four months, a group of recently freed slaves known as the Brigands forced out not only the British army, but every white slave-owner from the island (coloured slave owners were left alone, as in Haiti). The English were eventually defeated on June 19, and fled from the island. The Royalist planters fled with them, leaving the remaining Saint Lucians to enjoy “l’Année de la Liberté”, “a year of freedom from slavery…”. Gaspard Goyrand, a Frenchman who was Saint Lucia's Commissary later became Governor of Saint Lucia, and proclaimed the abolition of slavery. Goyrand brought the aristocratic planters to trial. Several lost their heads on the guillotine, which had been brought to Saint Lucia with the troops. He then proceeded to re-organize the island.[15]
The British continued to harbor hopes of recapturing the island and in April 1796 Sir Ralph Abercrombie and his troops attempted to do so. Castries was burned as part of the conflict, and after approximately one month of bitter fighting the French surrendered at Morne Fortune on 25 May. General Moore was elevated to the position of Governor of Saint Lucia by Abercrombie and was left with 5,000 troops to complete the task of subduing the entire island.[15]
British Brig. Gen. John Moore was appointed Military Governor on 25 May 1796, and engaged in the Second Brigand War. Some Brigands began to surrender in 1797, when promised they would not be returned to slavery. Final freedom and the end to hostilities came with Emancipation in 1838.[2]: 74–86 [16]
19th century
The 1802
Also in 1838, Saint Lucia was incorporated into the British Windward Islands administration, headquartered in Barbados. This lasted until 1885, when the capital was moved to Grenada.
20th century to 21st century
During the Battle of the Caribbean, a German U-boat attacked and sank two British ships in Castries harbor on 9 March 1942.[2]: 275 [17]
Increasing self-government has marked St Lucia's 20th-century history. A 1924 constitution gave the island its first form of representative government, with a minority of elected members in the previously all-nominated legislative council. Universal adult
By 1957, bananas exceed sugar as the major export crop.[2]: 303
As an associated state of the United Kingdom from 1967 to 1979, St. Lucia had full responsibility for internal self-government but left its external affairs and defence responsibilities to the United Kingdom. This interim arrangement ended on February 22, 1979, when St. Lucia achieved complete independence. St. Lucia is a
In June 2016, the
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 colonial governors of Saint Lucia
- List of prime ministers of Saint Lucia
- Politics of Saint Lucia
- Spanish colonization of the Americas
References
- ^ a b c d "Saint Lucia History". All about St Lucia.
- ^ ISBN 9789769534001.
- ^ Servant 1914, pp. 8–11.
- ^ Roulet 2014, p. 201.
- ^ Crouse 1940, p. 18.
- ^ Honychurch 1995, pp. 38–39.
- ^ Crouse 1940, p. 38.
- ^ Crouse 1940, p. 117.
- ^ a b Crouse 1940, p. 204.
- OCLC 503705838.
- OCLC 7794183847. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ^ Crouse 1940, pp. 205, 209.
- ^ a b "World Statesmen: Saint Lucia Chronology". Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Montagu, John (1688?-1749)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- ^ a b "Soufriere History". Soufriere Foundation. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ They Called Us the Brigands. The Saga of St. Lucia's Freedom Fighters by Robert J Devaux
- ISBN 9780333747605.
- ^ "Allen Chastanet sworn in as new Saint Lucia Prime Minister". CARICOM. 7 June 2016.
- ^ "Pierre to be sworn in as Prime Minister | Loop St. Lucia". Loop News.
- Crouse, Nellis M. (1940). French Pioneers in the West Indies 1624-1664. New York, New York: ISBN 978-0-374-91937-5.
- Higgins, Chris (2001). St. Lucia. Montreal: Ulysses Travel Guides. ISBN 2-89464-396-9.
- Honychurch, Lennox (1995). The Dominica Story: A History of the Island (3rd ed.). London: ISBN 0-333-62776-8.
- Philpott, Don (1999). St Lucia. Derbyshire: Landmark Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-901522-28-8.
- Roulet, Éric (2014). "«Mousquets, piques et canons…». La défense des Antilles françaises au temps de la Compagnie des îles (1626–1648) ['Muskets, Pikes and Cannons…': The Defense of the French Antilles in the Days of the Compagnie des Îles (1626–1648)]". In Plouviez, David (ed.). Défense et colonies dans le mode atlantique: XVe-XXe siècle [The Atlantic Style of Defense and Colonies: XV-XX Centuries] (in French). Rennes, France: ISBN 978-2-7535-6422-0.
- Servant, Georges (1914). Les compagnies de Saint-Christophe et des îles de l'Amérique (1626-1653) [The Companies of Saint-Christophe and the Islands of America (1626–1653)] (in French). Paris: Édouard Champion for the Société de l’Histoire des Colonies françaises. OCLC 461616576.
- "History of Saint Lucia". Archived from the original on August 2, 2005. Retrieved September 23, 2005.