20/05/2015
OUR HISTORY
The Amerindians were well established in St. Lucia, long before the first European ever set foot on the island. At that time, the island bore the Amerindian name ‘Ioüanalao’ or ‘Hewanorra,’ meaning
“there where the iguana is found”.
were the supreme rulers of the Windward Islands. However, with the arrival of the first European ships, the development of the Caribbean changed radically. Even though historians credit the Spaniards for giving the island her modern-day name, (“Santa Alousie” was first used in the late sixteenth century), they gave the island a wide berth and never bothered to colonize it. They did not want to tangle with the Kalinago and St. Lucia was not known to have gold deposits. But the Europeans were inexorable, and their coming finally put an end to Amerindian supremacy.
The first European to settle in St. Lucia was François Le Clerc, known as Jambe de Bois or Wooden Leg. He was a French pirate who set himself up on Pigeon Island from where he attacked passing Spanish vessels.
The English first landed in 1605, having been blown off course on their way to Guyana aboard their vessel, the Olive Branch. Sixty-seven settlers landed and purchased huts from the Kalinago. One month later only 19 were left, and these were forced to flee from the Kalinago in a canoe.
The French arrived in 1651, when representatives of the French West India Company purchased the island from the French monarchy. Eight years later, ownership disputes between the French and English ignited hostilities that would endure for 150 years. During this time, the island changed hands fourteen times. From the late 18th century, St. Lucia attempted to develop a sugar-producing economy, using African slave labour. However, the endless battles between the French and English for control of St. Lucia impeded agricultural development. St. Lucia’s central location in the Antillean chain was of strategic importance to the British and the French. In 1793, the French revolutionary cry of ‘Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité’ reached St. Lucia.
Under Revolutionary law, slavery was abolished. The political equality of the coloured man was officially recognized. Freed slaves proceeded to wipe out the plantation infrastructure. Resistance against British attempts to re-take the island was orchestrated by the Maroons: renegade ex-slaves who lived in secret hideouts in inaccessible parts of the island. The Maroons joined forces with the French Revolutionary army to form L’Armée Française des Bois. St. Lucia became Ste. Lucie la Fidèle and all of the towns were given revolutionary names such as La Patriote (Laborie), La Revolution (Gros Islet), and Le Republicain (Dennery). The Revolutionaries held St. Lucia for fifteen months against the British. The Maroons finally surrendered arms in 1797 but refused to submit to British re-enslavement. According to British records these men were repatriated to Africa.
St. Lucia was finally ceded to the British in 1814. Slavery was abolished for good in 1834. After Emancipation, many former slaves were unwilling to stay on as labourers on the plantations and the British sought alternative manpower. In 1882, the first Indian immigrants arrived from the provinces of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. A bout half of them returned home at the end of their indenture while t he others settled per manently in St. Lucia, enriching the island’s cultural diversity.
St. Lucia’s economic base has traditionally been agricultural. Sugar, the first mono-crop, was eventually abandoned in the 1950s when bananas became the largest export crop. However, the privileged access enjoyed by the West Indian banana to the European market has ended.
Tourism is now the most important source of foreign exchange. St. Lucia is also one of the largest transshipment points for containerised cargo in the Eastern Caribbean. The colonial motto “statio haud malefidia carinis” – a safe haven for ships, still applies to the island.
In 1842, English became the island’s official language but St. Lucia retains a strong French heritage. The majority of the island’s village and town names are French, and the Creole language born of St. Lucia’s Amerindian, African and European roots is widely spoken.
St. Lucia moved towards independence in 1951 when suffrage was granted to all citizens over twenty one. In 1967, England granted the island full self-government. On 22nd Februar y 1979, St. Lucia, a member of the British Commonwealth, became an independent nation. The island retains the Westminsterbased parliamentary system but a Senate made up of government and opposition appointees debate s house bills. According to the latest census, St. Lucia’s population stands at 173,720.
