Year
|
Event
|
4000 B.C.
|
First artifacts found of human inhabitants |
| 2000 B.C. |
Second migration into the Caribbean |
| 1000 B.C. |
Two cultures meet near Puerto Rico |
| 250 B.C. |
Taínos enter the Caribbean bringing pottery |
| 1450 A.D. |
Caribs begin expanding into the Caribbean
|
1492
|
Columbus sails for the Indies
Columbus lands in Bahamas
Santa Maria sinks
Men left at Navidad on Hispaniola
|
| 1493 |
Columbus returns to Spain
Queen decides to firmly colonize lands
Sends Columbus back with agricultural supplies
Pope divides world
between Portugal and Spain |
| 1496 |
Hispaniola's capital changed from Isabella to Santo Domingo
Columbus
returns to Spain
Henry VII gives Cabot the right to explore |
| 1498 |
Roldan revolts in Hispaniola
Columbus leaves on third voyage |
| 1499 |
Queen revokes Columbus' power in colonies
Bobadilla appointed as governor
Ojeda discovers Curaçao, Bonaire, maybe Aruba |
| 1500 |
Bobadilla arrives, finding civil war
Columbus reports much gold on Hispaniola |
| 1502 |
Bobadilla, ship, and gold sink on return trip to Spain
Ovando arrives,
takes control - first women and children arrive
Columbus attempts a 4th
voyage and lands on Martinique
|
| 1503 |
Columbus stranded in Jamaica's St. Ann's Bay for 1 year |
| 1504 |
Indian chiefs massacred by Velazquez
Columbus finally returns home
Queen Isabella dies |
| 1506 |
Columbus dies
|
1508
|
Ovando lets Ponce de Leon go to Puerto Rico where he founds San German |
| 1509 |
Ovando's leadership ends
Diego Columbus becomes new governor
Appoints
Esquivel as governor of Jamaica, Narvaez his 2nd - create Sevilla Nueva
near St. Ann's Bay
Ojeda explores Colombia
Nicuesa explores Central
America |
| 1511 |
Arawak on Puerto Rico rebelled with Carib help
Ponce de Leon replaced
as governor on Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico founded. Vasquez
founds Havana, Cuba
King authorizes slaving expeditions in Caribbean |
| 1512 |
Audiencia arrives on Hispaniola to settle problems between Diego
Columbus and settlers
King of Spain attempts to improve conditions for
Indians in colonies
Gold rush in Cuba |
| 1513 |
Balboa takes over remaining men from Ojeda and Nicuesa's groups, crosses Panama
Pedrarias becomes governor of Panama |
| 1514 |
Santiago, Cuba founded |
| 1516 |
Las Casas appointed Protector of the Indians |
| 1518 |
Most colonists on other islands returned to Hispaniola
Sugarcane widely produced |
| 1519 |
Jamaican colonists follow Garay to Mexico
Cuban colonists follow
Velazquez to Mexico
Panama City founded
Balboa beheaded by Pedrarias
|
| 1520 |
Nearly all Indians removed to Hispaniola from Lesser Antilles and ABC islands |
|
1522 |
Buccaneer Verrazanno for France takes three Spanish ships |
|
1525 |
Attempt to farm on Curaçao, some Indians returned |
|
1529 |
Pedrarias steps down in Panama |
| 1531 |
Las Casas requests importation of African slaves to relieve Indian problems |
|
1532 |
Spain fails to colonize Trinidad |
|
1542 |
Indian slavery abolished |
|
1550 |
Encomienda system abolished
Havana becomes permanent residence for Spanish governors |
1562
|
British Sir John Hawkins traded slaves in Hispaniola |
| 1569 |
Spain fails to colonize Trinidad |
| 1573 |
Sir Francis Drake captures Peruvian silver shipment |
| 1588 |
Defeat of Spanish Armada by Britain |
| 1592 |
Spain colonizes Trinidad |
| 1600 |
Netherlands colonizes Sint Eustatius |
| 1605 |
British attempt to colonize St. Lucia but are driven out by the Caribs |
| 1609 |
British attempt to colonize Grenada but are driven out by the Caribs |
| 1621 |
Truce ends between Netherlands and Spain
Dutch West Indies Company created |
| 1624 |
British claim St. Kitts, Nevis, and some Virgin Islands
Governor named
for St. Kitts, Nevis, Barbados, and Montserrat
Dutch claim Berbice (in
Guyana, South America)
Dutch West Indies Company attacks Brazil |
1625
|
Dutch attempt to take El Moro Fort in Puerto Rico
French claim St. Kitts
British and Dutch claim occupancy of St. Croix
|
1628
|
Dutch fleet takes Mexican treasure fleet |
| 1635 |
French create Compagnie des Isles d'Amerique
Guadeloupe and Martinique settled by the French |
| 1636 |
French attack Caribs on several islands |
| 1637 |
Dutch West Indies Company takes Brazillian forts
Rum produced on Barbados |
| 1641 |
Barbados cut off from financial backing by civil war in the UK |
1644
|
Steuyvesant on Curaçao attacks St. Martin |
| 1645 |
Steuyvesant made Governor of New Amsterdam and Curaçao
British drive
Dutch out of St. Croix onto St. Martin and St. Eustatius
Dutch lose
forts in Brazil |
| 1647 |
Dutch West Indies Company re-chartered |
| 1648 |
Thirty Years' War ends between Dutch and Spanish
French and English divide St. Martin |
| 1649 |
Barbados has armed uprising by servants
St. Kitts' governor Sir Thomas
Warner encourages immigration
Charles I of England dies |
| 1650 |
Barbados' civil fighting ends; declare allegiance to exiled Prince Charles
Spanish drive English out of St. Croix
|
1651
|
First Navigation Act in England
French buy St. Croix and St. Kitts from the Spanish |
| 1652 |
First Anglo-Dutch War begins |
| 1653 |
French attack Caribs on Grenada |
| 1654 |
French attack Caribs on St. Vincent
Caribs in St. Lucia and Martinique
attack French
England attacks Hispaniola, trying to take it from
Spain
Dutch lose last Brazillian fort
Spanish lawmakers turn a blind
eye to illegal Dutch trade with colonies |
| 1655 |
England takes Jamaica from Spain |
| 1657 |
On Jamaica pirates invited to Port Royal |
| 1658 |
Cromwell dies in England and Charles II becomes King in England |
| 1660 |
British and French sign peace treaty leaving islands to the Caribs |
| 1661 |
Louis XIV became King in France |
| 1662 |
Spain allows Dutch trade in colonies |
| 1663 |
Third Navigation Act passed. Barbados begins 4.5% export tax |
| 1664 |
French West Indies Company created
British Leeward Islands begin 4.5% export tax |
| 1665 |
Second Anglo-Dutch War begins
French Bertrand d'Ogeron leads
Hispaniola and Tortuga
English pirates hit St. Eustatius, Saba, and
Tobago
|
1666
|
Pirates loot Spanish instead of Curaçao during Second Anglo-Dutch War
Nevis' governor surrendered to French
French took Antigua and
Montserrat
|
| 1667 |
British defeat Dutch-French armada near Nevis
Recapture Antigua and
Montserrat
Treaty of Breda restored former island ownerships, except
Tobago, which becomes French |
| 1669 |
French recapture Antigua and Montserrat |
| 1670 |
England wins war and Spain cedes Jamaica officially in Treaty of Madrid |
| 1671 |
French return St. Kitts to England
Morgan's attack on Panama City
Leeward Island Union created nominally
Danish West Indies Company created |
| 1672 |
Third Anglo-Dutch War begins
British leave war
France and Netherlands fight |
| 1674 |
Morgan knighted, becomes lieutenant governor of Jamaica |
|
1676 |
Netherlands retakes Tobago and St. Martin
|
|
1678 |
Treaty of Nijmegen gives French Tobago;
British Tortola and Virgin Gorda;
Dutch St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, and Saba |
|
1682 |
Governor Lynch on Jamaica enforced anti-piracy laws |
| 1683 |
French take treasure port Vera Cruz in Mexico |
|
1684 |
Spanish sacked Providence
Treaty of Ratisbon brought peace to France and Spain
|
| 1685 |
Code Noir instituted by France |
|
1686 |
Pirates return to Providence |
| 1688 |
France declares war on Holland (Spain and other countries join against France)
|
|
1689 |
James II of England deposed for William III
English join Nine Years'
War against France
French destroy St. Eustatius and take St. Kitts |
|
1690 |
Codrington leads British to retake St. Kitts and Anguilla
French burn Spanish St. Iago on Hispaniola (Dominican Republic)
First Maroon War on Jamaica |
| 1691 |
Codrington invades Guadeloupe but fails
Spanish burn Cap-Français on Hispaniola (Haiti) |
|
1692 |
Earthquake devastates Jamaica |
|
1693 |
Codrington invades Martinique and fails
|
|
1694 |
French du Casse attacks Jamaica's south coast |
| 1695 |
Attack on Cartagena, Colombia |
| 1697 |
Treaty of Ryswick gave French rights to Hispaniola (Haiti); ends Nine Years' War |
|
1698 |
British turn down law designed to encourage food crops on West Indies islands |
1701
|
British and French sent fleets to the Caribbean |
| 1702 |
War of Spanish Succession begins |
| 1714 |
War ends with Peace of Utrecht
Spain begins taking direct control of Cuba |
| 1716 |
French open trade to ships based out of 5 major ports |
| 1717 |
France removes nearly all export taxes on its Caribbean colonies
Spain
takes governmental control of Cuba's tobacco production - uprising
occurs |
| 1718 |
Former pirate Rogers becomes Governor of The Bahamas
|
| 1721 |
British planters insist new islands not grow sugar |
| 1729 |
Treaty of Seville; Britain agrees not to trade with Spain |
1733
|
Parliament passes Molasses Act
Danish purchase St. Croix as slave market |
| 1734 |
Danish West Indies Company slave monopoly ends |
| 1739 |
War of Jenkins' Ear begins |
| 1741 |
Nearly all French ships allowed to trade slaves |
| 1747 |
Beet sugar provides important competition to cane sugar |
| 1748 |
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends war |
| 1752 |
Mackandal unites Maroons on Hispaniola |
| 1756 |
Seven Years' War begins |
| 1758 |
Mackandal killed |
| 1760 |
Tacky's Rebellion on Jamaica |
| 1762 |
British forces occupy Havana |
| 1763 |
Treaty of Paris ends war
England gains St. Vincent, Dominica,
Grenada, Tobago, Florida, Canada
France gains St. Lucia, keeps
Guadeloupe, Martinique |
| 1764 |
Britain passes Sugar Duties Act |
| 1765 |
Charles III lightens trade restrictions on Cuba
Puerto Rico cleans up,
allowed foreign slave trade
Britain passes the Stamp Act |
| 1775 |
St. Kitts is the richest British colony
Puerto Rico opens to artisans and planters, Catholic and Spanish
|
1776
|
American Revolutionary War begins |
| 1779 |
Anglo-Spanish war begins Spanish trade with the U.S. |
| 1783 |
Treaty of Versailles establishes American Independence |
| 1784 |
Le Maniel forces a treaty with free blacks on French Hispaniola |
| 1788 |
King Louis XVI of France announces a meeting of the Estates General and Revolution begins |
| 1789 |
Foreign slave traders allowed in to Spanish islands |
| 1792 |
Louis XVI overthrown by Jacobins, family murdered |
| 1793 |
Britain joins the war against the French |
| 1794 |
French slaves declared free |
| 1799 |
Napoleon comes to power in the Caribbean |
| 1801 |
Black republic of Haiti founded
Constitution gives Toussaint authoritarian control |
| 1802 |
Leclerc arrives in Hispaniola |
| 1803 |
Britain again declares war on France |
| 1804 |
Dessalines becomes governor-general of Haiti |
| 1805 |
Dessalines names himself Emperor |
| 1806 |
Dessalines dies in an uprising |
| 1815 |
Napoleonic wars end |
1820
|
Slave trade abolished on Cuba
Christophe dies in uprising on Haiti |
| 1822 |
Boyer takes over Spanish Hispaniola |
| 1825 |
Spain's crown gives island governor-generals nearly unlimited powers
France recognizes Haiti |
| 1826 |
Rural Code on Haiti brings back slave-like conditions |
| 1828 |
Dutch attempt to create a federation of their holdings |
| 1834 |
Slavery abolished on British islands, apprenticeship begins |
| 1838 |
All British slaves truly free, apprenticeship ends
First railroad crosses Cuba |
1839
|
Danish decree calls for free elementary education for all residents |
| 1844 |
Dominican Republic gains independence from Spain |
| 1847 |
Danish slave rebellion
Soulouque takes control on Haiti |
| 1848 |
Slavery abolished in Danish islands
Dutch abolish slavery on Sint
Maarten
The French abolitionists gain power and Scholecher committee
is appointed, slavery is abolished |
| 1849 |
Laws in Puerto Rico designed to abolish squatting and regulate labor
Laws in Danish Virgin Islands impose restrictions on labor
Soulouque
becomes Emperor Fausti I of Haiti |
| 1850 |
Indian indentured servitude becomes extremely important |
1857
|
Planters on Cuba wanted Spain to pay to free the slaves |
| 1858 |
Dutch official church involved in the abolition movement |
| 1860 |
The Vatican recognizes Haiti |
| 1863 |
Slavery abolished on Dutch islands |
| 1865 |
African and Chinese immigrants came to the Caribbean
Morant Bay
Rebellion in Jamaica spurs Britain to greater island control
Cuba's
reformists petitioned for change
Danish push to sell Virgin Islands to
the U.S. |
| 1867 |
New Spanish government imposes harsh laws on Cuba
Danish approve sale of Virgin Islands to the U.S. |
| 1868 |
Revolt of Yara on Cuba called for Cuban independence, began Ten Years'
War
Revolt of Lares in Puerto Rico challenged Spanish control briefly |
| 1869 |
British government attempts a federation of Leeward Caribbean islands |
| 1871 |
British government creates a federation to unite Leeward colonies
All adult males could vote on French islands |
| 1873 |
Abolition of the 1849 labor laws in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican slaves freed and owners compensated by Spain |
| 1874 |
Spanish civil war ends and Spain sends troops to Cuba
Dictator Saget
became first Haitian president to serve his term and retire |
| 1876 |
Federation to join Barbados and Windwards, but riot breaks out on Barbados |
| 1878 |
Pact of Zanjon with General Campos
Full emancipation granted on Danish islands |
|
1880 |
Spain issues abolition without compensation in Cuba, patrionato follows |
|
1882 |
St. Kitts and Nevis joined
Heurueax takes power in Dominican Republic
|
|
1886 |
Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, and Tobago are joined to one group |
|
1889 |
Trinidad and Tobago joined |
| 1895 |
American-owned Santo Domingo Improvement Co. comes to restore Spanish Hispaniola |
|
1896 |
Captain-general Valeriano Weyler arrives and forces peasants into concentration camps on Cuba |
|
1898 |
All British islands are crown colonies
U.S. President McKinley
steps between Cuba and Spain
Treaty of Paris cedes Puerto Rico and
Guam to the U.S. and frees Cuba |
1900
|
First election on Cuba, held by the U.S.
Foraker Act put in place for Puerto Rico |
| 1901 |
Platt Amendment added to Cuba |
| 1902 |
Tomás Estrada Palma becomes first President of Cuba |
| 1906 |
Ramón Cáceres became Dominican Republic president
U.S. troops sent to
Cuba after uprising by José Miguel Gómez
Resignation by Estrada and
his Vice President |
| 1911 |
Cáceres assassinated |
| 1915 |
U.S. occupation of Haiti begins |
| 1916 |
U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic begins |
| 1917 |
Negotiations finish for sale of Danish Virgin Islands to the U.S.
Jones
Act provides for Puerto Rico's government
U.S. troops sent to Cuba |
| 1924 |
Gerardo Machado y Morales becomes Cuba's President, later dictator |
| 1927 |
Trujillo given command of the Dominican national guard
Citizens of the U.S. Virgin Islands given U.S. citizenship |
| 1928 |
National guard in the Dominican Republic becomes the army |
| 1930 |
Trujillo takes control in the Dominican Republic after the U.S. leaves
Hurricane hits the Dominican Republic |
| 1931 |
Trujillo became dictator in the Dominican Republic
The Department of the Interior gains control of the U.S. Virgin Islands |
| 1933 |
U.S. leaves Haiti and political struggles begin
U.S. forces
resignation of Cuba's President Machado
Sergeant Fulgencio Batista y
Zalvidar takes control in Cuba |
| 1934 |
Batista forces Cuba's President Grau to resign and names Carlos
Mendieta president
Roosevelt and U.S. recognize Batista's government
Platt Amendement annulled but maintain U.S. naval base |
| 1940 |
Batista elected in an honest election in Cuba with new constitution |
1945
|
Guadeloupe (incl. St. Barthelemy and St. Martin) and Martinique given full political union with France |
| 1947 |
Jones Law amended; Puerto Rico may elect its own governor
Industrial Incentive Act of 1947 encourages industry in Puerto Rico |
| 1948 |
Luis Muñoz Marín becomes Puerto Rico's first governor
Netherlands Antilles grant full adult suffrage |
| 1950 |
Public Law 600 allows Puerto Rico to create its own constitution
Netherlands Antilles given internal self-government |
| 1952 |
Puerto Rico becomes a commonwealth of the U.S.
Batista leads a second coup and takes leadership in Cuba |
| 1953 |
Fidel Castro leads a revolt against Batista in Cuba |
| 1954 |
Statute of the Realm rules the Netherlands Antilles |
| 1955 |
First tourist hotel built on Sint Maarten |
| 1956 |
British Leeward Islands Federation crumbles |
| 1957 |
François Duvalier,"Papa Doc" won the presidency in Haiti, became a dictator |
| 1958 |
British create West Indies Federation
British Virgin Islands do not join new federation |
| 1959 |
Batista leaves Cuba with much of its treasury
Fidel Castro takes leadership in Cuba, begins taking control of businesses |
| 1960 |
Rioting on Martinique over lack of island authority |
| 1961 |
Trujillo assassinated
Bay of Pigs invasion on Cuba
Castro declares his communist intent for Cuba |
|
1962 |
Juan Bosch becomes president in the Dominican Republic in free
elections
Montserrat becomes a Crown Colony again when West Indies
Federation crumbles
Jamaica becomes independent. Missile Crisis with
Cuba |
|
1963 |
Bosch was exiled to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic for
communist sentiment
Offshore banking begins in Curaçao because of U.S.
agreement |
|
1964 |
Muñoz Marín does not run for the position of Puerto Rico's governor |
|
1965 |
U.S. again invades the Dominican Republic |
| 1966 |
Joaquin Balaguer elected in honest election in the Dominican
Republic
New constitution in the Dominican Republic kept all-powerful
central government and president
Barbados becomes independent |
|
1968 |
U.S. Virgin Islands given limited self-government |
|
1970 |
Balaguer re-elected in the Dominican Republic
Bosch returns to
the Dominican Republic from exile, founds political party |
|
1971 |
"Papa Doc" Duvalier dies,"Baby Doc" Jean-Claude Duvalier
becomes successor
First election for governor of the U.S. Virgin
Islands |
|
1972 |
Turks and Caicos gain local government |
|
1974 |
Balaguer re-elected in the Dominican Republic
Grenada becomes independent |
1975
|
Cuba sends troops to Angola |
| 1976 |
First election on the Turks and Caicos |
| 1977 |
Cuba sends troops to Ethiopia
Jimmy Carter works to improve relations with Cuba |
| 1978 |
Balaguer loses election to Antonio Guzmán
U.S. steps in to oversee change of power in Dominican Republic |
| 1979 |
Hurricane devastates Dominican Republic but Guzman and appointees misappropriate funds |
| 1980 |
Mariel boat lift from Cuba |
| 1981 |
Antigua becomes independent |
| 1982 |
Salvador Jorge Blanco wins election in the Dominican Republic
Political changes in France cause upheaval in Martinique and
Guadeloupe
Anguilla gains own constitution, separated from St. Kitts
and Nevis |
| 1984 |
Riots over poverty in the Dominican Republic |
| 1985 |
Turks and Caicos chief minister Normal Saunders and councilmen arrested
for drug trafficking
Nathaniel Francis replaced Saunders as Turks and
Caicos chief minister |
| 1986 |
Balaguer re-elected in the Dominican Republic.
"Baby Doc" Duvalier
ousted and exiled from Haiti
Jorge Blanco investigated for corruption
in the Dominican Republic and fled to the U.S.
Aruba moves for independence from the Netherlands Antilles group
Francis declared unfit by government report in Turks and Caicos and
government increases governor's power
|
| 1988 |
U.S. support for Curaçao's offshore banking ends due to drug trafficking issues |
| 1989 |
Hurricane Hugo devastates many Caribbean islands |
| 1990 |
Balaquer re-elected in the Dominican Republic
U.S. forces
elections in Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected
Soviet collapse
causes changes in Cuba |
|
1991 |
Aristide ousted in Haiti
Jorge Blanco returns to the Dominican Republic and sentenced to 20 years in jail |
|
1994 |
Balaguer re-elected in the Dominican Republic
Aristide was
returned to power by U.S. invasion
Jorge Blanco released from prison
early in the Dominican Republic |
|
1995 |
Chances Peak volcano erupts on Montserrat |
|
1996 |
René Préval elected in Haiti
Leonel Fernández Reyna elected in the Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico ends tax exemptions for foreign investors
Aruba was a top drug transit location |
1997
|
Montserrat volcano erupts again |
|
2000 |
Aristide wins election in Haiti |
|
2004 |
Leonel Fernández Reyna becomes Dominincan president |
