The Coming of the Europeans (The British and Spanish)

Grade: 5
Subject: Social Studies
Date: October 2020
Topic: The Coming of the Europeans (The British and Spanish)
A quick recap of the previous lesson is that the original inhabitants of Jamaica were the
 Taino and Arawak people.
They lived a modest life including fishing, farming, preparing the land, harvesting and
of course practicing there religious beliefs. 
As we learnt we know that aspects of the native inhabitants way of life are still
 apart of  culture today and words from their vocabulary are still used today. 
Though it would seem they seemed to have no interest in the outside world, as they were
 content with their simple way of life, the world was expanding its boundaries and had a
growing interest in the region.
 Which brings us to the arrival of the first European outsiders to arrive on the island,
 the Spaniards.
The Spanish

 May 5, 1494 Christopher Columbus, a European explorer sailed west to get to the East Indies
and came upon the region now called the West Indies, landed in Jamaica.
It was his second voyage to the West Indies. Columbus  heard about Jamaica from the
 Cuban people who described it as “the land of blessed gold” and called it then called Xaymaca. 

What Columbus was soon to find out was  that there was no gold in Jamaica.
He arrival at St Ann’s Bay, which was inhabited by  the Arawak Indians. Due to their
 appearance and behaviour Columbus thought these Indians were hostile, as they attacked
 his men when they tried to land on the island.

 Columbus was here to claim the land for the king and queen of Spain so he was not
 leaving until he accomplished his goal. 
 He sailed down the coast and docked at Discovery Bay, and found the Arawaks there also
 hostile towardshim and his men.
Columbus decided to use his dogs and crossbows  to wage war against the Arawak people 
who had simple weapons in comparison to what the Spaniards had at their disposal. 
Many Arawaks were killed and some wounded in this attack. Columbus was thereby able to
land and claim the island.
When they finally were ale to get on land, the Spaniards tortured and killed the Arawaks
to get their land.
The ones that survived the attacks were put to work through harsh and volatile conditions.

 The Spaniards carried diseases that the indigenous people had no immune resistance to and
so many died for that. 

They were also  so severely overworked and ill-treated that within a short time they had
all died. 
The island was  poor under Spanish rule as few Spaniards settled here.
Jamaica served mainly as a supply base: food, men, arms and horse were shipped here to
 help in conquering the American mainland.
Today we can identify the main areas the Spanish settled by the names they have, in
St Ann's Bay the first colonist lived and called the town Sevilla La Nueva (New Seville).
Another town that still exists today is Spanish Town which is also the old capital of Jamaica.
 It was called St. Jago de la Vega. 
Due to the poor state the island was in due to lack of funding and proper leadership along
 with frequent attacks from pirates the Spanish found the island very troublesome,
which gave way for the next European colonists to arrive.
The British

 May 10, 1655, Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables led a successful attack
 on Jamaica in the name of England,  the Spaniards surrendered and freed their slaves
after which then fled to Cuba. 
This set of freed slaves and their descendants who became known as the Maroons.
Port Royal was an insignificant town in Jamaica until the traders and pirates/ buccaneers
 started using it as their main port to dock their ships carrying goods, jewels, gold and spices.
 Due to the massive increase of wealth Jamaica became known as the Pearl of the
Caribbean and Port Royal became known as the "wealthiest and wickedest city in the world". 
A massive  earthquake destroyed Port Royal on June 7, 1692. The survivors of the earthquake
 who re-settled in Kingston abandoned the Port. Port Royal was then used as a important
naval base in the eighteenth century.
The English settlers cultivated sugar plantations on the island and formed great houses known
 as Plantations.

 On these plantations were slaves who would work the fields and take care of the great house
 as wellas their owners. 

Slaves were treated horrendously and forced to live in inhumane conditions, if they attempted
 to run away and were caught they would be severely flogged, brutalized or killed.
The slaves grew tired of that lifestyle and with the help of the maroons and bravery on their
 part they fought for their freedom.
It was a long and difficult strategic effort but it paid off in the end as Slavery and 
the Slave trade was abolished by the British parliament in 1834 and they were fully
Emancipated in 1838, four years later. 
Jamaica was under the rule of the English from 1670, which was when the Spanish finally
gave up ownership, to 1962 when Jamaica became Independent.