Jamaica The Land of Wood and Water (A brief History of Jamaica)

Jamaica is a beautiful Island which is located in the Caribbean Sea, its neighboring islands are Cuba, Haiti and Dominica Republic. The first to inhabit the Jamaica were the Taínoes an Arawakan-speaking tribe they named the island Xaymaca which means the "Land of Wood and Water", or the "Land of Springs".

Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494 Jamaica was inhabited by Arawaks, these were people who lived in small communities who practiced fishing, hunting and planting. When the Spanish came these communities suffered immensely and they slowly left the Island. The Spanish brought about new diseases which destroyed these indigenous people and migration made the island over populated. Between 1494-1655 the Spanish used Jamaica as place for supporting the conquest of the Americas, especially Mexico who were known for producing gold and silver. The Spanish resided in a place in a Town called Santiago de la Vega which is now known as Spanish Town, the area was used to sort Spanish ships and economic activity consisted of domestic consumption.

The British expedition led by Admirals Penn and Venables took over in the Jamaica in the 1655 by this time the Spanish had been vanquished, they did very little to defend themselves from the British and the social, economic and political life of the Spanish became unimportant. The slave economy occurred between 1655-1838 The British tried to experiment with European labour but they were not successful and turned to importing Africans and used them as slaves on sugar plantations. During this time Jamaica was valuable to the British because they were apart of the Triangular Trade System were plantation owners deliver goods to Liverpool and Bristol which served Jamaica's trade among England (manufactured goods), and the Caribbean (sugar), it emerged as international economy.

The American war of independence disrupted the trade between that took place between North American Colonies about 15,000 thousand slaves died in Jamaica of the starvation. Plantations seemed to be the way of economic life and supported the slave system with it now destroyed, slaves ran away to live in the mountains as Maroons. Nanny was the leader of the Maroons and lead her troop top fight against the British. When the war calmed down Jamaica when back to exporting sugar and and plantations. At this point Jamaica had a political system it had elected a governor and his executive council an assembly of representatives based on the franchise of property ownership. The governor represented the crown and the assembly of planters controlled the slaves, the alliance broke down due to the fact that plantations were taxed.

In 1831, Rev.Sam Sharpe (now a Jamaican National Hero) lead the famous Christmas Rebellion of slaves. By the 18th century sugar became less important to the economy because its production cost was going up and beet sugar became more attractive. In 1838, the slaves were emancipated plantation owners had no choice but to pay wages to its workers. The development of the Peasantry took place between 1838-1938 at this time many ex-slaves had settled down as small farmers cultivating their own crops. Others settled down on marginal lands in plains near the plantations or on land that was organized and sponsored by Christian Groups such as the Baptists.

At this time people were fighting over the land and this brought about the Morant Bay Rebellion lead by the National Heroes George William Gordan and Paul Bogle. During this period the export of sugar declined and logwood coffee and bananas took over. The National Movement Decolonization occurred between 1938-1962, during this time Marcus Mosiah Garvey another Jamaican National Hero lead a national movement for independence in Jamaica he encouraged political ideas which caused rebellion in 1938. Political parties emerged The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), Bustamante Industrial Trades Union (BITU) founded by Alexander Bustamante and the National Workers Union (NWU) founed by Norman Manley. These parties helped to ensure self-government in 1944 and to also securing polical indepenence from England.

Political independence was granted in 1962 Jamaica had a government system that was similar to the Westminster style constitution, it had a governor which represented the British Crown

and a bicameral Parliament. There is also a house of representatives which had elected representatives and a Senate appointed by the Prime Minster and the leader of opposition Jamaica was on its way to a successful parliament. A prime minster leads the government but he has to consult with with the governor general and the leader of opposition before any decisions are made, the JLP formed the first two government in Jamaica.

Between the 1972 and 1980 Jamaica had its second decade of independence and the PNP held office they contributed to a shift of economic polices e.g. the imposition of the Bauxite Levy in 1974 it was put in place to help to increase Jamaica's share of the income in that industry. The PNP protected the weakest sections of the population and they helped the poor through food, housing, education and health. The party helped with international affairs, they allowed Jamaica to open up to non-capitalist countries and promoted the solidarity, of Third World international negotiation. The international was not very profitable to Jamaica because it made the aluminium market and bauxite industry, the inflation in food prices and the decline of capital inflows. This caused problems with unemployment inflation, and government by the end of the this decade the government sought help from the IMF, the World Bank and USAID.

Within the third decade of political independence was from 1980-1989 this time the JLP held political office they were committed to the same free market development policies as the IMF and the world trade bank and USAID. Jamaica benefited from this, the economy the currency was became less valuable and many public enterprises had to adjust. The eighties saw the development of Free Zone manufacturing garments they export garments to the USA it brought about the recovery of tourism from North America. It helped to improve the international economy especially the USA e.g. the Caricom trade. Now Jamaica is contributing to the world at large showing its potential in cultural activities, such as music and sports and has developed significantly.