Initially, we are starting with a brief history. In time we will expand!
The earliest settlers on our island were the Amerindians with archeological evidence of Arawak settlements existing as early as 200 A.D. A peaceful tribe, they exhibited highly advanced traditions of agriculture, pottery, weaving and building. Nearly 800 years later, the warlike Caribs arrived effectively annihilating the Arawaks. Numerous artefacts and petrogliphic evidence serve to document this long period in the island’s history.
A precise date for the European discovery of St. Lucia is not known but the island appears on the map of Spanish explorer Juan de la Cosa made in 1500. The first European settler was the pirate Francois Le Clerc, also known as Jambe de Bois (‘Wooden Leg’) who, beginning around 1550, used Pigeon Island to attack passing Spanish ships. While the Spanish never attempted colonization of the island, they are credited with giving St. Lucia her name.
In 1605, a British settlement was established at the southern end of the island. Within a few weeks, most had been killed by the Caribs and the remaining 19 settlers fled in a canoe. Around 1625, the Dutch built a fort in the same vicinity, which provided the name for the present day town of Vieux Fort. The British made a second attempt to settle the island in 1639, this time lasting one year before being wiped out by the hostile Caribs.
The French attempted colonization in 1651 when the Governor of Martinique purchased and claimed the island. In 1659, a dispute over St. Lucia’s ownership arose between the French and the British, who were established in Barbados. Thus began a long period of hostility between the two countries that resulted in St. Lucia changing hands between the French and English some 14 times until 1814 when St. Lucia finally remained under British control. Numerous important battles were fought during this period with interesting and popular historical sites remaining today on Pigeon Island and at Morne Fortune overlooking Castries.
During the hostilities the French offered freedom to slaves under the condition that they fight for the French against the British. The slaves accepted the agreement but soon fled into the remote parts of the island to become guerrilla freedom fighters, known as the Brigands. Numerous Brigand historical sites remain today in tribute to St. Lucia’s first heroes.
English commercial law was finally established in 1827 with emancipation coming in 1834.
St. Lucia became an independent nation on February 22, 1979.
