Great Events in the History of North and South America

by Charles A. Goodrich

Situation, Extent, &c.—Inhabitants—Political Divisions.—I. British West Indies: Jamaica—Trinidad—Barbadoes—Bahamas—St. Christopher—Bermudas or Sommers' Islands—St. Vincent.—II. Spanish West Indies: Cuba—Porto Rico.—III. French West Indies: Martinique—Guadaloupe.—IV. Dutch West Indies.—V. Danish West Indies.—VI. Hayti.

Situation, Extent, Climate, Productions, &c.—The West Indies constitute the great archipelago of the western continent, extending from latitude ten to twenty-eight degrees north, between the coast of Florida on the north, and the mouth of the river Orinoco in South America. They are a large cluster of islands, in their several portions variously denominated, according to their situations or other peculiarities, but will here be considered in their political divisions. The land area of the whole group is over ninety-three thousand square miles.

These islands have a general sameness of character, in some respects, from the position which they occupy on the face of the globe. The climate, as is to be expected, is generally very warm, though moderated and made comfortable, for the most part, by sea breezes. The thermometer frequently rises above ninety degrees; but its medium height maybe stated at about seventy-eight degrees of Fahrenheit. They are visited by periodical rains, which are often powerful, and in general the humidity of the atmosphere is very great, causing iron and other metals that are easily oxydated, to be covered with rust. Hurricanes are common to most of these islands, and frequently, in their incredible fury, produce the most desolating effects wherever they extend.

The productions of the West Indies are rich and varied, and constitute important articles of commerce. From the fertile soil spring the sugar-cane, the coffee-plant, the allspice or pimento, the nutritive banana or plantain, the pineapple, the luscious fruit of the anana, the yam, sweet potato, uca, maize, and cassava or manioc, with cocoa, tobacco, cotton, various dye-woods and stuffs (fustic, logwood, indigo, cochineal), and medicinal plants; such as arrow-root, liquorice-root, ginger, jalap, ipecacuanha, sarsaparilla, &c.; the mahogany and lignum-vitæ are included in the vegetable productions of this archipelago; but to this catalogue must still be added the bread-fruit, cocoa-nut, mango, papaw, guava, orange, lemon, tamarind, fig, cashew-nut, mammee, grenadilla, panilla, panda-nut, &c.

Inhabitants.—The white inhabitants of the West Indies are Creoles, Spanish, English, French, Germans, &c.; but the negroes are the most numerous class, though the mixed races are quite abundant. The Indians are extinct, except as mingled with negroes in a part of the island of St. Vincent. The general classes are those of master and slave, or were such before the act of emancipation took effect in the British portion of the islands. From the diversity of nations or races, several languages are necessarily in use, as the English, the French, the Spanish, with other European tongues, and the Creole, a jargon used in Hayti, composed of French and several African dialects.

Political Divisions.—These consist of the British islands, the Spanish islands, the French islands, the Dutch islands, the Danish islands, one Swedish island, and the independent island of Hayti. The British own twenty-two islands, of various dimensions; the Spanish, two, viz: the large islands of Cuba and Porto Rico; the French, six; the Dutch, four; and the single Swedish island is St. Bartholomews. The last is a small, but fertile, island, which was ceded to Sweden by France in 1785.

I. British West Indies.—The government of the British West Indies is modeled on the constitution of the mother-country. The several islands have a governor or lieutenant-governor, and a legislative council appointed by the crown; and the most of them have also a house of representatives, chosen by the people, who legislate upon all subjects of a local character.

The West Indies were formerly a great mart of that infamous traffic, the slave-trade, which, according to M'Culloch, was commenced by the Portuguese in 1542, and this nation seems disposed to be the last to relinquish it. By means of the noble exertions of Wilberforce, Clarkson, Sharp, and others, an act was passed in 1806 by the British parliament for abolishing the slave-trade; and the present age has witnessed another act highly honorable to the British nation, for the total abolition of slavery, at great expense, throughout the British colonies. By this memorable act, which was passed by parliament in 1833, the slaves were on the 1st of August, 1834, made apprenticed laborers to continue such, a part of them till the 1st of August, 1838, and a part till the 1st of August, 1840, when they were all to become completely free. To indemnify the owners of the slaves, parliament voted the sum of twenty millions pounds, as a compensation, payable in certain fixed proportions, according as each colony should be ascertained to have complied with the terms of the act.

Soon after the passing of this act, the slaves in the island of Antigua and the Bermudas were made free by the colonial governments, and acts were afterwards passed by the legislatures of Barbadoes, Jamaica, Nevis, Montserrat, St. Christopher's, St. Vincent, and Tortola, liberating all the slaves or apprenticed laborers in those islands on the 1st of August, 1838. Movements of a similar nature also, about the same time, took place in the other islands, bringing to a close the apprenticeship which had been established.[88]