Meet St. Kitts and Nevis: our History

2009-02-02 23:52:06 by

Although "discovered" by Columbus in 1493, St. Kitts was not settled by Europeans until 1623, when Brits landed at Sandy Bay. St. Kitts is called "the mother colony of the West Indies," because it was the first English colony in the Caribbean. Next came the French, and Nevis was colonized in 1628 by an English party from St. Kitts.

The French and British uneasily shared the islands until 1713, when the Brits gained control. During the cohabitation, the 2 countries joined together in military operations to eliminate the Carib Indians, who were the original peoples there long before the Europeans. After many years of sparring between the English and French, finally in 1783, the British gained solid rule under the Treaty of Versailles.

As on other Caribbean Islands, St. Kitts and to a lesser degree, Nevis, undertook the plantation economies maintained by African slaves and overseen by wealthy landowners. Sugarcane became the most important crop, but eventually soil erosion and depletion on Nevis led to the demise of sugarcane agriculture and the rise of smaller land holdings.

After various British administrative changes, St. Kitts and Nevis became associated states with domestic self-government. In 1983, both islands declared independence.

For an excellent discussion of the politics resulting from the British plantation economy, read this article in WorkMall.com.