EMANCIPATION TIME LINE

5000 B.C. – Ciboneys begin to arrive in St. Vincent

1 – 1200 A.D. – Arawaks arrive

After 1200 A.D. – Callinagos (Caribs) arrive

31st March 1660 – A treaty signed between the English, the French and the Caribs to leave Dominica and St. Vincent in the undisturbed possession of the Caribs.

1722 – King George I made a grant of St. Vincent and St. Lucia to the Duke of Montague {{more}}

1723 – By this time, the English had made very little headway in St. Vincent, while the French had already cleared the shoreline of Ooashegunny Bay (now Kingstown Harbour) and then laid out the three main streets of the town.

1748 – St. Vincent declared to be neutral under the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle.

1763 – Country brought under European control when the Treaty of Paris put the country in the hands of the British crown without any reservation of the rights of the Caribs.

1767 – The legislature of St. Vincent was set up.

1773 – Treaty signed between the Caribs and the British to put an end to all “hostile proceedings”, and in which the Caribs acknowledged the British king as the rightful sovereign of the island.

1783 – British win the French in the centuries long struggle for the control of the island. Sugar plantation slavery takes root and begins to grow.

March 14th 1795 – Chatoyer killed by the British at Dorsetshire Hill.

October 1796 – Most of the Black Caribs (approx. 5080) including Duvalle, Chatoyer’s son and many women and children gave themselves up and were transported to Balliceaux to await deportation.

March 11, 1797 – 2248 Black Caribs taken to Roatan island off the coast of Central America.

1808 – Slave trade abolished. Population of enslaved persons in St. Vincent is 25,000 persons.

1st August 1834 – All enslaved children under the age of six in the British Caribbean were freed, and all older enslaved persons became “apprenticed labourers.” Enslaved population – 22,250

1st August 1838 – Apprenticeship ends. All enslaved persons freed.

27th November 1845 – First group of 245 Portuguese immigrants arrived in St. Vincent on one year contracts as indentured labourers.

1861: First group of Indian immigrants arrive. They were expected to serve for 8 years.

1877 – Crown Colony Govern-ment introduced

1951 – Universal adult suffrage introduced. This gave the right to vote to all adults over 21 years.

1969 – Associated Statehood with Britain introduced (internal self government).

October 27, 1979 – Full political independence from Britian.

Bibliography:

(i) McDonald, Roderick A. – “Between Slavery and Freedom. Special Magistrate John Anderson’s Journal of St. Vincent During the Apprenticeship.”

(ii) Adams, Edgar – “People On The Move.”

(iii) Kirby, I.E, and Martin, C.I. “The Rise and Fall Of The Black Caribs”