Timeline 5000 BC Amerindians from South America settle in Trinidad 4000 BC Amerindians from Central America settle in Cuba 2500 BC Amerindians from Orinoco basin settle in eastern and western Caribbean 600 Development of Taino society in Hispaniola and Puerto Rico 1100 Development of more sophisticated Taino societies, characterized by chiefdoms rather than along tribal lines. 1492 Columbus lands in the Bahamas 1493 Columbus’ second voyage – establishes Spanish colony, Hispaniola 1498 Columbus’s third voyage 1502 Nicolás de Ovando sent to Hispaniola to rescue the colony 1504 Ovando destroys Taino leadership 1511 Antonio do Montesinos preaches sermon against the treatment of the Amerindians 1515 Spanish introduce sugar cultivation to Hispaniola 1516 Las Casas appointed Protector of the Indians 1562 John Hawkins successfully trades African slaves in Hispaniola 1585 Francis Drake sacks Santo Domingo, the capital of Hispaniola 1624 English and French settle St. Kitts 1627 English settle Barbados 1635 French settle Guadeloupe and Martinique 1640-50 Development of sugar cultivation in Barbados 1655 English capture Jamaica from the Spanish 1664 French establish the French Company of the West Indies to supply slaves to her Caribbean colonies 1672 Royal Africa Company chartered to supply slaves to the English colonies in the Caribbean 1674 Establishment of first Jamaica Coffee House in London 1692 Port Royal, Jamaica destroyed by earthquake 1697 France acquires Saint Domingue from the Spanish 1733-34 Rebellion in St. John, Danish Virgin Islands 1736 Outbreak of slave conspiracy/revolt in Antigua 1739 Treaty between the Jamaican Maroons and the British 1750 Thomas Thistlewood arrives in Jamaica and keeps important diary 1760 Outbreak of Tacky’s Revolt in Jamaica 1761 Jamaica passes law making it illegal for whites to leave property worth more than £1200 to any free person of colour 1768 Danish pass law obliging free coloureds to wear a cockade or badge at all times 1783 First Quaker petition to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire 1787 Establishment of the Abolition Society in Britain 1789 Outbreak of the French Revolution 1790 Meeting of the Colonial Assembly in Saint Domingue 1791 Outbreak of slave revolt in Saint Domingue 1792 French National Assembly grants full civil rights to the free people of colour 1794 French National Assembly abolishes slavery 1795 Outbreak of Fédon’s Rebellion in Grenada and the Second Maroon War in Jamaica 1796 Toussaint L’Ouverture made Deputy Governor of Saint Domingue 1800 Tousssaint becomes Governor of Saint Domingue 1802 Napoleon reimposes slavery in all French colonies 1804 Saint Domingue becomes independent and is renamed Haiti 1808 Britain and the United States abolish the slave trade 2 1812 Outbreak of the Aponte conspiracy in Cuba 1816 Outbreak of “Bussa’s Rebellion” in Barbados 1823 Outbreak of slave rebellion in Demerara and establishment of the Anti- Slavery Society in Britain 1831 Outbreak of the Christmas Rebellion in Jamaica led by Sam Sharpe and establishment of the Agency Committee seeking immediate emancipation in the British colonies 1833 Free coloureds and free blacks attain full civil rights in the British colonies 1834 Abolition of slavery and beginning of Apprenticeship System in the Anglophone Caribbean (except for Antigua) 1838 Ending of Apprenticeship System in the Anglophone Caribbean 1844 Conspiracy of La Escalera breaks out in Cuba; Outbreak of the Guerre Nègre in Dominica 1848 Uprising of the enslaved in St. Croix, Danish Virgin Islands 1848 Abolition of slavery in French and Danish West Indian colonies 1862 Riots in St. Vincent 1863 Abolition of slavery in the Dutch West Indian colonies 1865 Outbreak of Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica 1866 Establishment of Crown Colony Government in Jamaica; subsequently, in most of the Anglophone Caribbean 1868-78 Outbreak of Ten Years’ War in Cuba 1873 Slavery abolished in Puerto Rico 1876 Outbreak of riot in Tobago and Confederation Riots in Barbados 1880 Establishment of the patronato system in Cuba 1886 Abolition of slavery in Cuba 1887 Marcus Garvey born in Jamaica 1895-1898 Second Cuban War of Independence – death of José Marti 1889 J.J. Thomas publishes Froudacity 3 1902 Passage of the Platt Amendment in the United States limiting Cuban sovereignty; Establishment of Cuban Republic; Volcanic eruption of Mt. Pelée in Martinique kills 30,000 people; Riots in Montego Bay, Jamaica 1905 Riots in British Guiana 1906 U.S. intervenes in Cuba 1912 Massacre of blacks in Cuba 1914 Garvey establishes United Negro Improvement Association 1915 U.S. occupies Haiti 1916 U.S. occupies Dominican Republic 1917 U.S. purchases Danish Virgin Islands from Denmark 1923 Arthur Cipriani becomes president of the Trinidad Workingmen’s Association 1927 Garvey returns to Jamaica from the United States 1930 Crowning of Ras Tafari in Ethiopia and subsequent development of the Rastafarians in Jamaica 1933 Revolutionary government of Grau San Martín in Cuba 1934 Labour rebellions in Belize following by strikes and riots across the Anglophone Caribbean; U.S. abrogates Platt Amendment 1935 Riots in St. Vincent and St. Lucia 1937 Massacre of 20,000 Haitians in the Dominican Republic; Labour rebellions in Barbados and Trinidad 1938 Labour rebellion in Jamaica 1939 Aimé Césaire publishes Cahier d’un Retour au Pays Natal (Notebook of a Return to my Native Land) 1940 Death of Marcus Garvey in London 1944 First elections in Jamaica with universal suffrage 1945 Aimé Césaire elected mayor of Fort de France 1946 Universal adult suffrage in Trinidad; Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Martinique become overseas departments of France 4 1948 Arrival of the Empire Windrush with the first West Indian immigrants to Britain; Luis Muñoz Marin elected Governor of Puerto Rico 1951 Universal adult suffrage in Barbados 1952 Fulgencio Batista leads coup in Cuba; Puerto Rico becomes a Commonwealth 1953 First elections with universal suffrage in British Guiana; Castro unsuccessfully attacks Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba; Victory of Cheddi Jagan in British Guiana in 1953 1957 François Duvalier elected president of Haiti 1958 Establishment of West India Federation (dissolved in 1962) 1959 Fidel Castro topples Batista and takes over in Cuba 1961 Assassination of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic; Failure of invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs 1962 Independence for Jamaica; Trinidad and Tobago; Cuban missile crisis 1965 U.S. invades the Dominican Republic 1966 Independence for Barbados and Guyana 1968 Rodney Riots in Kingston, Jamaica 1970 Black Power demonstrations – also called the “February Revolution” - in Port of Spain, Trinidad 1970s Emergence of Bob Marley 1970s-80s Independence for many former British colonies, including Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Vincent, Antigua and Belize 1972 Michael Manley elected Prime Minister of Jamaica 1973 Establishment of Caribbean Comon Market and Commnity (CARICOM) 1975 Suriname becomes independent 1979 Establishment of Revolutionary Government of Grenada under Maurice Bishop 1980 Assassination of Walter Rodney in Guyana 5 1983 Assassination of Maurice Bishop and invasion of Grenada by U.S. 1988 Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica and much of the Caribbean 1989 Collapse of Soviet Union and of Soviet support for Cuba 1990 Jean Bertrand Aristide becomes president of Haiti; Attempted coup by Jammat al-Muslimeen led by Abu Bakr in Port of Spain, Trinidad; Publication of Derek Walcott, Omeros 1992 Patrick Chamoiseau publishes Texaco 1997 Eruption of Mt. Soufrière in Montserrat making two-thirds of the island uninhabitable 2004 Hurricane Ivan devastates Grenada 2008 Resignation of Fidel Castro and replacement by his brother Raúl 2010 Massive earthquake devastates Haiti and kills over 200,000 people 6 .