History of

St. Lucia originally was inhabited by Indians. By AD 800, they were replaced by Carib Indians. In the past, it was said that discovered St. Lucia in1498, but that event is now discounted. There is no official record of the first European discovery of the island. The first English settlers came in 1605 and the French arrived in 1651.Eight years later, the two groups began fighting over land ownership. Hostilities endured for 150 years and St. Lucia changed hands between the powers 14 times. After the wars between the British and the French, the Caribs were expelled to the island of , and African slaves were imported to work on plantations. St. Lucia was finally ceded to the British in1814, when France lost the Napoleonic Wars.

St. Lucia remained a British colony until 1967, when the West Indies Act extended self-rule over internal affairs. Full independence came in 1979, although St. Lucia remains amember of the Commonwealth.

John Compton’s United Workers Party (UWP) prevailed in government from 1964 until independence, when the opposition St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) managed to take office. By1981, public discontent with the SLP led its leaders to resign, and John Compton became prime minister. The UWP dominated politics during the 1980s and early 1990s, but the SLP returned to power in 1997. The SLP government worked to diversify the economy and reduce the island’s widespread unemployment. However, unemployment remained an issue and, coupled with high crime rates, led to a UWP victory in2006, bringing John Compton to power once again. Compton died in office in 2007 and was replaced by Stephenson King.

References:

“Saint Lucia.” CultureGrams World Edition. 2008.

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