St.+Vincent+and+the+Grenadines





=__Introduction of St. Vincent and the Grenadines__= This country is also known to the Caribs as Hairoun, which means " Land of the Blessed". This country, St. Vincent was first populated by the Ciboney, a group of Meso-Indians. They depended on marine resources such as fish for their economy and food. They had used old, basic things such as tools and weapons to build rock shelters and small villages to live in. The Arawak, another type of tribe, also were living on the island, and soon replaced the Ciboney. They studied agriculture and had more advanced stuff and better culture. They were a peaceful tribe, and they fished and formed plots of land. The fish are plentiful there and the combination of the whole island population had developed a political and social structure.



The Caribs arrived in St. Vincent 100 years before the Europeans took control of the Arawak and flipped something in Vincentian history. The Caribs are efficient at keeping unwanted exploreres from their place. Christopher Columbus might have sighted this island on his third voyage during 1498 to 1500 in his New World voyage. St. Vincent could not be conquered because the Carib resisted and so it took longer for people to take control unlike the other Caribbean islands. In 1627, Charles I of England gave the island to Lord Carlisle but in 1672, Charles II gave its power to Lord Willoughby. The British, French and Spanish fought for its possession, while the Caribs tried to resist the conquerors.



In 1635, the first settlers came on to the shores of St. Vincent. They were African slaves who survived from the sinking ships of the Dutch which the ship they were being transported in were sunk. The Africans made friends with the Caribs and learned their language. They were called to as "Black Caribs" to separate them from the real Caribs. "Yellow Caribs" are referred to the Garifuna, which means "cassava eating people", who nowadays live in Belize and the Honduras. Both groups had agreed in 1700 to divide the islands for themselves, the Yellow Caribs living the Leeward and the Black Caribs in the Windward.

The British had claimed the Caribbean islands by giving them huge amounts of funds, but they also had to fight against the French were wanted to set up settlements in 1700. The 1748 treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the War of the Austrian Succession. This treaty made sure that St. Vincent remained silent and neutral. The 1763 treaty of Paris ended the war between St. Vincent and the British. During 1772-1773,the First Carib War started. During this war, the Caribs set up guerrilla warfare and destroyed fields and plantations and set them on fire. Withe the help of the Caribs, the French conquered the island in 1779, but gave it up to Britain in 1783 because of the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1795, the country was ruled by James Seton, but the Caribs started the two year war known as the Second Carib War. The French rebels from Martinique had helped them and the Caribs wanted the British out of their country. Chatoyer and DuValle, who were the two chiefs of the Caribs plotted that Chatoyer would lead the rebels to the Leeward side while DuValle would lead the Windward Side. News that war had broken out got to Kingstown on March 8.