Saint Vincent - History

Carib Indians aggressively prevented European settlement on St. Vincent until the 18th century. African slaves--whether shipwrecked or escaped from St. Lucia and Grenada and seeking refuge in St. Vincent--intermarried with the Caribs and became known as "black Caribs."

Beginning in 1719, French settlers cultivated coffee, tobacco, indigo, cotton, and sugar on plantations worked by African slaves. In 1763, St. Vincent was ceded to Britain. Restored to French rule in 1779, St. Vincent was regained by the British under the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. Conflict between the British and the black Caribs continued until 1796, when General Abercrombie crushed a revolt fomented by the French radical Victor Hugues. More than 5,000 black Caribs were eventually deported to Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras.

Slavery was abolished in 1834; the resulting labor shortages on the plantations attracted Portuguese immigrants in the 1840s and east Indians in the 1860s. Conditions remained harsh for both former slaves and immigrant agricultural workers, as depressed world sugar prices kept the economy stagnant until the turn of the century.

From 1763 until independence, St. Vincent passed through various stages of colonial status under the British. A representative assembly was authorized in 1776, Crown Colony government installed in 1877, a legislative council created in 1925, and universal adult suffrage granted in 1951.

In the severe fighting against the French and Caribs, which occurred during the rebellion of 1795-6, the local Militia, assisted by the Volunteers and negroes took a prominent part; 31 colonists, it may be noted, were killed in the first serious engagement. In 1862 the colonists successfully put down some rather serious disturbances on the part of a number of negroes; and about this time a force was called together under a revised Militia Law, consisting of a troop of cavalry, a battery of artillery, and two companies of infantry. Two Volunteer companies each numbering 50 men were also embodied. Both Militia and Volunteers were disbanded in 1868, when Regular troops took their place. In 1873, on the withdrawal of the British infantry from the island, a quasi-military police was organised under an Ordinance of 1878, and consisted of about 70 men.

The formation of a Volunteer force is authorised under the Constitution. Volunteer Ordinance No. 2 of 1902, under which the Governor is empowered to accept the services of persons desiring to be formed into a Volunteer corps and offering their services for a term of three years. He had also power to disband corps when he deems it expedient to do so. The Governor was empowered to make regulations for the discipline, organisation, training and government generally of the force. No steps were initially taken to form a force under this Ordinance.

The Volunteers may be called out for actual military service within the colony in aid of the civil power in cases of riot or other disturbance, either by the Governor or Commanding Officer. The Governor may also call out the force for actual military service in case of actual or apprehended invasion or insurrection. When Volunteers are on actual military service or are undergoing inspection, or are voluntarily doing any military duty, the Governor may place them under the command of an officer of His Majesty's Regular army who must be senior in rank to every officer of the force so put under his command, but officers so put under the command of a regular officer will be led by their own officers.

There was one rifle club at St. Vincent called the St. Vincent Volunteer Rifle Association. It was originally established with a view to the formation of a Volunteer corps, but there proved to be insufficient material for an organisation of this nature. Under certain conditions the members are allowed to use the rifles belonging to the Police force (Sniders). The Governor of the Windward Islands lent a few Martini-Henry rifles to the Club. There were no conditions of membership, and no rules. Any question arising was settled by the Committee or by vote of the majority of the members. Each member pays for his own ammunition and a small monthly subscription was to pay for a drill instructor and armourer and other petty expenses.

During this period, the British made several unsuccessful attempts to affiliate St. Vincent with other Windward Islands in order to govern the region through a unified administration. The most notable was the West Indies Federation, which collapsed in 1962. St. Vincent was granted associate statehood status in 1969, giving it complete control over its internal affairs. Following a referendum in 1979, St. Vincent and the Grenadines became the last of the Windward Islands to gain independence.

Natural disasters have plagued the country throughout the 20th century. In 1902, the La Soufriere volcano erupted, killing 2,000 people. Much farmland was damaged, and the economy deteriorated. In April 1979, La Soufriere erupted again. Although no one was killed, thousands had to be evacuated, and there was extensive agricultural damage. In 1980 and 1987, hurricanes devastated banana and coconut plantations; 1998 and 1999 also saw very active hurricane seasons, with Hurricane Lenny in 1999 causing extensive damage to the west coast of the island.

Extensive landslides took place on the western side, removing a strip of coast, in places one hundred yards wide, continuously from the mouth of the Wallibou River to Morne Ronde village, a mile and a half to the north, and at intervals for two miles farther north. These landslides left precipitous walls along the shoreline, and deep water is found where villages stood and prosperous plantations existed before the eruption. Evidence suggests that the island of St. Vincent was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1498, and legend fixes the date of discovery as January 22, St. Vincent's feast day. Columbus claimed the island for the Spanish monarchs; however, the strength of the native Carib presence prevented immediate colonization and retarded settlement by any European nation until the late seventeenth century. The British managed to settle the island by making treaties with the Caribs, but the French vied for control during the Seven Years' War (1756—63). St. Vincent was formally ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. France also lost most of the Grenadine Islands to Britain at the conclusion of the war. During the next hundred years, the islands continued to change hands. Although the Caribs permitted St. Vincent to be divided between themselves and the British in 1773, the island was recaptured by the French in 1779. It was restored to Britain in 1783 by the Treaty of Versailles. Increasingly resentful of British sovereignty, the Caribs revolted and overran the island in 1795 with French assistance. The British subdued the Caribs by the following year and deported most of them to British Honduras (present-day Belize) in 1797. Some of the Grenadine Islands remained under French hegemony much longer, and they still retain a strong French cultural, architectural, and linguistic influence. The islands sustained numerous sugar plantations in the nineteenth century. Africans were imported to work in the cane fields until slavery was abolished in 1834. East Indians and Portuguese arrived soon afterward to alleviate the shortage of labor in the agricultural sector. When the world price of sugar fell in the mid-1800s, the islands suffered a depression that endured through the turn of the century. A hurricane in 1898 and a volcanic eruption in 1902 also hindered economic recovery for many years. Although the British established a joint government of several Windward Islands colonies in 1764, St. Vincent withdrew from this union in 1776 and was granted the right to have its own representative assembly. In 1877, however, the British imposed crown colony government. From the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century, the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines were affiliated with other Windward Islands in numerous associations ordained or encouraged by Britain, the last of which was the West Indies Federation. As a result of political fragmentation among the islands, each of the associations failed, and St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands reverted to colonial status under the administration of the British crown. Many of the former West Indies Federation states gained associated state status in 1967; however, internal political differences delayed St. Vincent and the Grenadines from acquiring associated statehood until October 27, 1969. Under the terms of this arrangement, which merged St. Vincent and the northern Grenadine Islands into a single nation, St. Vincent and the Grenadines assumed complete responsibility over its internal affairs, whereas Britain retained control of defense and foreign affairs. Exactly ten years later, after approval by a two-thirds majority both in the islands' House of Assembly and by plebiscite, the independent state of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was established.