# The Chronicle of Jamaica: From the Taino land of Xaymaca to a sovereign Caribbean nation whose reggae and runners carry its name across the world. History of Jamaica: From the Taino land of Xaymaca to a sovereign Caribbean nation whose reggae and runners carry its name across the world. 6 eras and… Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/JAM/chronicle Updated: 2026-06-15 Founding: Independence from Britain — 6 Aug 1962. Jamaica became an independent nation within the Commonwealth on 6 August 1962, ending more than three centuries of English and then British colonial rule that had begun with the conquest of 1655. Independence followed the collapse of the West Indies Federation, which Jamaica voted to leave in a referendum on 19 September 1961, and a general election won that April by Alexander Bustamante, who became the country's first prime minister. The new state retained the British monarch as head of state, represented by a governor-general, with Norman Manley's People's National Party and Bustamante's Jamaica Labour Party as the two pillars of its democracy. Jamaica's history runs from the Arawak-speaking Taino, who called the island Xaymaca, through Columbus's arrival in 1494 and a Spanish colony that all but annihilated them. The English conquest of 1655 built a brutal sugar-and-slavery economy, the wealth and wickedness of buccaneer Port Royal, and a centuries-long struggle for freedom led by the Maroons of the Blue and John Crow Mountains and by rebels from Tacky to Sam Sharpe. Emancipation in 1838 and the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865 gave way to the Pan-Africanism of Marcus Garvey, the rise of Rastafari, a labour movement, and the two-party democracy of Bustamante and Manley. Independence came on 6 August 1962, since when this small nation has projected outsized cultural and sporting power through reggae, Bob Marley, and the world's fastest sprinters. This file carries the chronicle's sourced event record — every event with its year, summary and source keys (resolved under References below). The full reading narrative lives on the canonical page. ## Xaymaca: The Taino Island — c. 600 - 1494 Long before Europe, the Arawak-speaking Taino settled the island they called Xaymaca, building villages, gardens, and a society of caciques that Columbus's arrival would destroy within a generation. - c. 600 CE: **Taino settlement of Xaymaca** — Arawak-speaking peoples settle the island they call Xaymaca, building villages led by caciques and farming cassava and corn. [loc-columbus-taino, britannica-jamaica-history] - 5 May 1494: **Columbus reaches Jamaica** — On his second voyage Christopher Columbus arrives off the north coast, claiming the island for Spain and naming a harbour Santa Gloria. [britannica-jamaica-history, loc-columbus-taino] ## Spanish Colony and English Conquest — 1494 - 1692 A neglected Spanish possession for a century and a half, the island was seized by Cromwell's England in 1655 and turned into a sugar colony whose pirate capital, Port Royal, became the wickedest city on earth. - 1509 CE: **Sevilla la Nueva founded** — Spain establishes its first permanent settlement on the north coast, beginning a colonial era that all but exterminates the Taino. [britannica-jamaica-history] - 1655 CE: **English conquest** — An English force under Penn and Venables seizes the island for Cromwell, launching the sugar-and-slavery plantation economy. [britannica-jamaica-history, britannica-jamaica-british-rule] - 7 June 1692: **Port Royal earthquake** — A powerful earthquake and tsunami sink much of the buccaneer city of Port Royal, killing thousands and ending its golden age. [britannica-jamaica-history] ## Sugar, Slavery, and Resistance — 1692 - 1838 As Jamaica became Britain's richest sugar colony, enslaved Africans resisted ceaselessly: the Maroons won their mountain freedom by treaty, while Tacky and Sam Sharpe led revolts that helped break slavery itself. - 1739-1740: **Maroon treaties** — Treaties with Cudjoe's Leeward Maroons and Nanny's Windward Maroons end the First Maroon War, granting them land and autonomy. [britannica-jamaica-british-rule, nlj-maroons, unesco-blue-mountains] - 1760 CE: **Tacky's Revolt** — A major slave rebellion led by the Akan leader Tacky sweeps the island before being crushed with the aid of the Maroons. [britannica-jamaica-british-rule] - Dec 1831 - 1832: **The Baptist War** — Samuel Sharpe leads a Christmas rebellion of tens of thousands; its suppression hastens the end of slavery in the empire. [britannica-jamaica-british-rule] - 1 Aug 1838: **Emancipation** — After the Abolition Act of 1833 and a period of apprenticeship, the enslaved people of Jamaica gain full freedom. [britannica-jamaica-british-rule, britannica-jamaica-history] Figures: - Nanny of the Maroons (c. 1686 - c. 1760) — Leader of the Windward Maroons. Akan-born military and spiritual leader who guided the Windward Maroons through their fiercest resistance to the British from the Blue Mountains. Jamaica's only female National Hero, she gives her name to the Nanny Town heritage of the World Heritage site. - Samuel Sharpe (1801 - 1832) — Baptist deacon and rebellion leader. Self-educated enslaved Baptist deacon who led the Christmas Rebellion, or Baptist War, of 1831-32. Executed at Montego Bay in 1832, he is honoured as a National Hero whose revolt helped force the abolition of slavery. ## Crown Colony, Morant Bay, and Garvey — 1838 - 1938 Freedom did not bring equality. The Morant Bay rebellion of 1865 ushered in direct crown rule, while Marcus Garvey forged a global Pan-African movement and labour unrest set the stage for self-government. - Oct 1865: **Morant Bay rebellion** — Paul Bogle's uprising is brutally crushed; Bogle and George William Gordon are executed, and Jamaica becomes a crown colony. [britannica-jamaica-british-rule] - 1914 CE: **Garvey founds the UNIA** — Marcus Garvey establishes the Universal Negro Improvement Association, building the largest Pan-African movement of its age. [britannica-garvey] - 1930s: **Birth of Rastafari** — The Rastafari movement emerges in Jamaica after the crowning of Haile Selassie I, drawing on Garvey's vision of African redemption. [britannica-rastafari] - 1938 CE: **Labour rebellions** — Island-wide worker uprisings give rise to Bustamante's union and Manley's PNP, founding modern Jamaican party politics. [britannica-jamaica-british-rule, britannica-jamaica-independent] Figures: - Marcus Garvey (1887 - 1940) — Pan-African leader and National Hero. Founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and the most influential Black nationalist of his era, preaching pride, self-reliance, and the unity of the African diaspora. He became Jamaica's first National Hero. - Paul Bogle (c. 1822 - 1865) — Baptist deacon and rebellion leader. Native Baptist deacon who led the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865 against post-emancipation injustice. Executed in its aftermath, he is honoured as a National Hero of Jamaica. ## Self-Government and Independence — 1938 - 1962 Universal suffrage, a brief federation, and a decisive referendum carried Jamaica from colony to nation, achieving full independence within the Commonwealth on 6 August 1962. - 1944 CE: **Universal adult suffrage** — A new constitution grants every adult the vote, the first in the British Caribbean, and Jamaica holds its first elections under it. [britannica-jamaica-independent] - 1958 CE: **West Indies Federation** — Jamaica joins the federation of British Caribbean colonies as its largest member, an experiment in regional union. [britannica-jamaica-independent, unesco-federation-archives] - 19 Sept 1961: **Referendum to leave the federation** — Jamaicans vote to withdraw from the West Indies Federation, dooming it and opening the way to separate independence. [unesco-federation-archives, britannica-jamaica-independent] - 6 Aug 1962: **Independence** — Jamaica becomes an independent nation within the Commonwealth, with Alexander Bustamante as its first prime minister. [britannica-jamaica-independent, jis-independence] Figures: - Alexander Bustamante (1884 - 1977) — Trade unionist and first Prime Minister. Charismatic labour leader who built a powerful trade union and the Jamaica Labour Party from the unrest of 1938. He became the first prime minister of independent Jamaica in 1962 and a National Hero. - Norman Manley (1893 - 1969) — Statesman and founder of the PNP. Lawyer and nationalist who founded the People's National Party in 1938 and, as premier, led the constitutional drive toward independence. Cousin and rival of Bustamante, he is a National Hero of Jamaica. ## Independent Jamaica and Global Culture — 1962 - present Since independence Jamaica has navigated political rivalry and economic strain while projecting extraordinary global influence through reggae, Bob Marley, the Rastafari faith, and the fastest sprinters on earth. - 1962 CE: **Two-party democracy** — Independent Jamaica settles into a competitive democracy contested by the JLP and the PNP, with peaceful alternations of power. [britannica-jamaica-independent] - early 1970s: **Reggae goes global** — Bob Marley and the Wailers bring reggae and the Rastafari message to a worldwide audience, making Jamaica a cultural superpower. [britannica-reggae, britannica-bob-marley] - 2008-2016: **Bolt's sprinting dynasty** — Usain Bolt wins the 100m and 200m at three straight Olympics, cementing Jamaica's dominance of world sprinting. [britannica-bolt] - 2015 CE: **World Heritage inscription** — The Blue and John Crow Mountains, refuge of the Maroons, become Jamaica's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. [unesco-blue-mountains] Figures: - Bob Marley (1945 - 1981) — Reggae musician and global icon. Singer, songwriter, and Rastafari adherent whose music with the Wailers made reggae a global force and Jamaica's most powerful cultural export. His Legend remains the best-selling reggae album of all time. - Usain Bolt (born 1986) — Sprinter and Olympic champion. Trelawny-born sprinter widely regarded as the greatest of all time, winner of Olympic gold in the 100m and 200m at three consecutive Games and holder of world records that still stand. Machine-readable claims — every event above as an addressable claim ID (TL:JAM:event::) with its sources and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/JAM/chronicle.claims.json ## References - [britannica-jamaica-history] Jamaica: History — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Jamaica/History - [britannica-jamaica-british-rule] Jamaica: British rule — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Jamaica/British-rule - [britannica-jamaica-independent] Jamaica: The independent country — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Jamaica/The-independent-country - [britannica-garvey] Marcus Garvey — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Garvey - [britannica-rastafari] Rastafari — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rastafari - [britannica-reggae] Reggae — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/art/reggae - [britannica-bob-marley] Bob Marley — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bob-Marley - [britannica-bolt] Usain Bolt — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Usain-Bolt - [loc-columbus-taino] Columbus and the Taino — Library of Congress · https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/exploring-the-early-americas/columbus-and-the-taino.html - [unesco-blue-mountains] Blue and John Crow Mountains — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1356/ - [unesco-federation-archives] The Federal Archives Fonds, 1958-1962 (West Indies Federation) — UNESCO Memory of the World · https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/lac/federal-archives-fonds-1958-1962 - [nlj-maroons] The Jamaican Maroons — National Library of Jamaica · https://www.nlj.gov.jm/history-notes/The%20Maroons%20edited%20final.htm - [jis-independence] Independence — Jamaica Information Service · https://jis.gov.jm/information/independence/ - [statedept-jamaica] A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition: Jamaica — U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian · https://history.state.gov/countries/jamaica Citation template: Terralore, "The Chronicle of Jamaica: From the Taino land of Xaymaca to a sovereign Caribbean nation whose reggae and runners carry its name across the world.", terralore.co/country/JAM/chronicle, retrieved .