History of Grenada
The history of Grenada in the Caribbean, part of the Lesser Antilles group of islands, covers a period from the earliest human settlements to the establishment of the contemporary nationstate of Grenada. First settled by indigenous peoples, Grenada by the time of European contact was inhabited by the Caribs. British colonists killed most of the Caribs on the island and established plantations on the island, eventually importing African slaves to work on the sugar plantations.
Control of the island was disputed by Great Britain and France in the 18th century, with the British ultimately prevailing. In 1795, Fédon's Rebellion, inspired by the Haitian Revolution, very nearly succeeded, taking significant military intervention to quell. Slavery was abolished in 1833, and in 1885, the island's capital, St. George's, became the capital of the British Windward Islands.
Grenada achieved independence from Britain in 1974. Following a coup by the Marxist New Jewel Movement in 1979, the island was invaded by United States troops and the government overthrown. The island's major crop, nutmeg, was significantly damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Early history
Grenada's geological foundation began forming approximately 40-50 million years ago through volcanic activity, with most of the island's current surface geology dating from the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. During periods of lower sea levels, particularly the Last Glacial Maximum when sea levels were 120 meters below present, the entire Grenada Bank formed a much larger landmass that supported diverse megafauna including extinct giant sloths, capybaras, and the endemic giant rice rat. Most of these terrestrial mammals arrived via over-water dispersal from South America but subsequently went extinct as rising sea levels reduced the available land area and flooded viable habitats following the end of the last ice age.The earliest potential evidence for human presence on Grenada comes from the increase of charcoal particulates and the decline of arboreal pollen from the original climax forests, around 3760–3525 BC, during the Archaic Age. This evidence remains controversial, as it could be natural. Several shell fragments from archaeological sites have been dated 1700–1380 BC, but are from mixed, insecure contexts. More secure are the shell middens at Point Salines, dated between 765 and 535 BC. None of these dates are associated with definitively human artifacts, however. The earliest human-made artifacts that have been scientifically dated are from Early Ceramic Age settlements at Beausejour, Pearls, and the early occupation of Sauteurs Bay.
Beginning around AD 750, the Amerindian population began to rise, probably as a result of continued migration from the South American mainland. Most of the 87 pre-Columbian sites identified in Grenada have a component during this period, marking the height Grenada's indigenous population. This period also represents major cultural and environmental changes throughout the Caribbean. Several waves of groups arrived in prehistory, often associated with Arawakan or Cariban languages, but linguistic reconstruction has shown the Cariban dialect to be fragmentary, the primary language family being Arawakan.
Christopher Columbus reportedly sighted the island on his third voyage in 1498, but he did not land and the name he gave never was used. By the 1520s, the island was known as "La Granada", after the recently conquered city in Granada. By the beginning of the 18th century, the name "la Grenade" in French was in common use, eventually Anglicized to "Grenada".
Partly because of indigenous resistance, Grenada remained uncolonized for nearly 150 years after Columbus passed by. When the French finally settled Grenada in 1649, there were at least two, separate indigenous groups: "Caraibe" in the north and "Galibis" in the south-east. Evidence suggests the "Galibis" were more recent arrivals from the mainland, whereas the group the French called "Caraibe" were living in villages that had been continuously occupied for over millennium, per archaeological evidence. That is, the indigenous names were somewhat reversed in Grenada: the people the French called "Caribs" were likely descendants of the earliest peoples on Grenada, whereas the Galibis appear to have been more recent arrivals from the mainland.
17th century
English attempted settlement
In April 1609 three English ships with 208 colonists landed in what was possibly the harbor of Saint Georges or somewhere nearby. After some months the three ships left to engage in illicit trade in Trinidad. On hearing that the colony was in distress they returned to Grenada in September. The survivors were taken on board and reached England in December. The original sources are poor and we don't know what caused the colony to fail or how many settlers died. Suggestions are tropical diseases, native hostility, poor planning, inexperienced colonists, spoiled food and lack of time to harvest a food crop. This was two years after the settlement of Jamestown and the backers of both colonies seem to have been in contact.French settlement and conquest
On 17 March 1649, a French expedition of 203 men from Martinique, led by Jacques Dyel du Parquet who had been the Governor of Martinique on behalf of the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique since 1637, landed at St. Georges Harbour and constructed a fortified settlement, which they named Fort Annunciation. A treaty was swiftly agreed between du Parquet and the indigenous Chief Kairouane to peacefully partition the island between the two communities. Du Parquet returned to Martinique leaving his cousin Jean Le Comte as Governor of Grenada. Conflict broke out between the French and the indigenous islanders in November 1649 and fighting lasted for five years until 1654, when the last opposition to the French on Grenada was crushed.The first major defeat of Grenada's Amerindians occurred in 1650, at a location known as Le Morne des Sauteurs, which overlooks Sauteurs Bay in the north of the island. A surprise attack by the French led a group of men to jump off the cliff rather than die by their enemy's sword. Archaeological excavations at the Sauteurs Bay site, west of the cliff have revealed a sizeable Amerindian settlement that was occupied continuously from AD 300 until the French conquest. The site includes a large burial ground and a settlement area containing European trade goods and charcoal dated to the Protohistoric period, corroborating historical accounts of the village attacked by the French. Since 2017, significant portions of this site, including human burials, have been destroyed by severe coastal erosion exacerbated by the construction of a breakwater.
The island continued for some time after to suffer raids by war canoe parties from St. Vincent, whose inhabitants had aided the local Grenadian islanders in their struggle and continued to oppose the French.
French administration
On 27 September 1650, du Parquet bought Grenada, Martinique, and St. Lucia from the Compagnie des Iles de l'Amerique, which was dissolved, for the equivalent of £1160. In 1657, du Parquet sold Grenada to Jean de Faudoas, Comte de Sérillac for the equivalent of £1890. In 1664, King Louis XIV bought out the independent island owners and established the French West India Company. In 1674 the French West India Company was dissolved. Proprietary rule ended in Grenada, which became a French colony as a dependency of Martinique.In 1675, Dutch privateers captured Grenada, but a French man-of-war arrived unexpectedly and recaptured the island.
18th century
French colony
In 1700, Grenada had a population of 257 whites, 53 coloureds, and 525 slaves. There were three sugar estates, 52 indigo plantations, 64 horses, and 569 head of cattle. Between 1705 and 1710 the French built Fort Royal at St. George's which is now known as Fort George. The collapse of the sugar estates and the introduction of cocoa and coffee in 1714 encouraged the development of smaller land holdings, and the island developed a land-owning yeoman farmer class. In 1738, the first hospital was constructed.British colony
Grenada was captured by the British during the Seven Years' War on 4 March 1762 by Commodore Swanton without a shot being fired. Grenada was formally ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris on 10 February 1763. In 1766, the island was rocked by a severe earthquake. In 1767, a slave uprising was put down. In 1771 and again in 1775, the town of St. George, which was constructed solely of wood, was burnt to the ground – after which it was sensibly rebuilt using stone and brick. Under British administration many French properties were bought out by Britons and restrictions were placed on the Catholic church. This caused trouble since most people continued to speak French.France recaptured Grenada between 2–4 July 1779 during the American War of Independence, after Comte d'Estaing stormed Hospital Hill. A British relief force was defeated in the naval Battle of Grenada on 6 July 1779. However, the island was restored to Britain with the Treaty of Versailles four years later on 3 September 1783. In 1784, the first newspaper, the Grenada Chronicle, began publication.