Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Saint Vincent



The 'Black Caribs' were a mix of native Carib people and West African slaves who escaped from Spanish shipwrecks and other slave islands. The Caribs aggressively managed to hold off European settlement of Saint Vincent until 1719. Some of the refugees were enslaved by the Caribs themselves, some became part of the community, some set up their own community. The First Carib War (1769-1773) saw initial success by the Black Caribs supported by the French. The British launch a full-scale attempt to subjugate the island, but it eventually resulted in a stalemate. The Second Carib War (1795-1797) again pitted the British against a coalition of runaway slaves, Black Caribs, and French Revolutionary advisers (The French had briefly taken control during the American Revolutionary Wars). Again initial success was met with a major intervention. The defeated natives were deported to the island of Roatán (65 kilometres off the coast of modern-day Honduras). 

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