Jamaica: A Bit of History (1494-1962) Quiz

Answer: Land of wood and water

Columbus immediately annexed the island in the name of his patrons, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. The Spaniards eventually colonized Jamaica by building a town in the northern parish of St. Ann called Sevilla Nueva (New Seville) in 1509. Shortly after, they re-occupied the southern area of the island where the Tainos were living, making it the island's capital town of St. Jago de la Vega.

It is presently known as Spanish Town. The Taino natives were inevitably enslaved by the Spanish and were wiped out before the end of the 16th century, victims of disease, starvation, and overwork. African slaves were gradually imported to take their place.

Answer: Hispaniola

The city of Santo Domingo in Hispaniola, an island now known as Haiti/Dominican Republic, was the intended target. After being defeated, the British sailed for Jamaica where they forced the Spanish colonists to surrender in one day. Those Spaniards who did not surrender decided to engage in forms of guerrilla warfare against the occupiers. Led by Spanish ex-governor Don Cristobal Arnaldo de Ysassi, the guerrillas united with newly-freed slaves, called Maroons, to resist the British.

They held out until 1660. Defeats by British Governor (General) Doyley in 1657 and 1658 and defections by some Maroons proved costly, and the remaining Spaniards escaped to Cuba.

Answer: Henry Morgan

Sir Henry Morgan (1635-1688) was born in Germany, the son of a Welsh father and German mother. As an adult he eventually made his way to Jamaica where he joined with other pirates to loot and harass neighbouring habitats such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Panama. Because he always acted under directions from an existing authority, he was officially considered a privateer and not a pirate. Being the headquarters of Morgan and his raiding parties, Port Royal for a while became the richest town in the entire West Indies.
Unlike many other pirates who either perished on the gallows or in battle, Henry Morgan died a natural death, possibly from liver failure, on August 25, 1688, well respected and very wealthy.

A man whose legend included 14 wives, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach (November 23, 1675 - November 22, 1718) was an English pirate who roamed the Caribbean and the southern US coast during the late 1600s. Blackbeard had an ardent supporter in Governor Charles Eden of North Carolina (USA). It was rumoured that Eden profitted from pirate booty in exchange for pardons for Teach and his men. Despite this, Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia was concerned that Blackbeard might decide to settle in his jurisdiction. He dispatched Lieutenant Robert Maynard and some men of the British Royal Navy to hunt down Teach. The confrontation took place in and around an inlet off North Carolina where Teach was eventually killed and beheaded by Maynard and his crew.

William Kidd (? 1645 - May 23, 1701) was a Scottish-born pirate and privateer. Initially hired by British interests to raid and pillage French ships laden with booty, Kidd eventually became more desperate to obtain currency when French pickings were few and far between. Although he tried to maintain a policy of selective piracy, his men unfortunately did not see fit to distinguish between lawfully and unlawfully obtained treasure. This resulted in Kidd being declared a pirate (unlawful, non-sanctioned) and not a privateer (lawful, sanctioned by a Government). Learning that he was a wanted man, Kidd attempted to surrender himself to Boston (USA) authorities. Instead, he was arrested and sent back to England to stand trial on May 8, 1701. He was found guilty of murder and piracy and hanged at "Execution Dock", Wapping, in London on May 23.

Long John Silver was a famous fictional pirate in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Treasure Island".

Answer: Earthquake

At about 11:40 am, the inhabitants of Port Royal were interrupted by three successive shocks, the last one being the worst. Most of the city sank beneath the sea and the resulting powerful waves caught the people frantically trying to get to higher ground, killing hundreds. On other parts of the island, many were killed by landslides and minor aftershocks that continued for a few days. All told, the total death count numbered in the thousands.
In 1693, plans were made to relocate the city to the mainland. Located just west of where the isthmus meets the mainland, Kingston was thus born.
Attempts were made to restore Port Royal to its former glory but a widespread fire in 1704 destroyed all but a few stone buildings.

Footnote: During the Anglo-French War of 1778, a certain naval lieutenant was appointed Governor of Fort Charles, Port Royal (Jamaica) in the event of attacks by French fleets. He would eventually go on to become Britain's greatest naval hero at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805. His name was (later Admiral) Horatio Nelson (1758-1805).

Answer: Nanny

Known to her followers as "Grand Nanny", she was a chieftainess of "Nanny Town", located in Jamaica's Blue Mountains in the eastern part of the island. Nanny became a symbol of unity and strength even after her death in 1734 during a raid on Nannytown by British soldiers. In 1969, she was named one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes and the only female one.

Miss Lou is my reference to Louise Simone Bennett-Coverley (September 7, 1919 - July 26, 2006), a very well-loved and admired storyteller in Jamaica. Among her appointments were the "Jamaica Order of Merit", "Order of Jamaica", and "OBE".

In 1738, the new Governor of Jamaica, Sir Edward Trelawny, negotiated a peace treaty with the Maroons that lasted despite isolated outbreaks of fighting afterwards, especially in 1793.

Due to an abundance of slave labor and huge sugar plantations, many absentee British landowners became very wealthy. They hired overseers (foremen) to protect and manage their property, visiting only occasionally. During the 1700's, Jamaica accounted for over one-fifth of the world's sugar production. By 1840, sugar production declined due to increased foreign competition. Increased cultivation of coffee and bananas compensated for the sugar decline.

Answer: Tacky

Eventually caught and defeated, the rioting slaves were either killed or deported to the former colony of British Honduras, now known as Belize. Tacky and the other ringleaders were executed.

Cudjoe was a Maroon who worked with Nanny in the early 1700s to resist the occupation by the British.

Calico Jack was the nickname of English pirate John Rackham. He was especially noteworthy for being the employer of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two of the most famous WOMEN pirates in history. Determined not to let convention get in the way of his love for then-married Bonny, Calico Jack commandeered a ship and was able to pass Bonny and Read off as male pirates. They roamed the Caribbean, raiding and plundering Spanish ships until October 1720, when they were caught by pirate-hunter Jonathan Barnet. Barnet had been employed by the Governor of New Providence (the Bahamas) to capture them. Calico Jack was tried in St. Jago de la Vega (Spanish Town), Jamaica on November 16, 1720 and hanged the next day.

Marley is my reference to Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley (February 6, 1945 - May 11, 1981), Jamaica's most famous musician. Although preceded by many talented musicians, it was Marley's talent as singer and songwriter that gained Reggae worldwide acceptance. Marley developed cancer in 1977 but refused most treatments to combat the melanoma. On route from Germany to Jamaica in 1981, Marley fell ill and died in Miami, Florida (USA) on May 11. He was the recipient of the "Order of Merit", Jamaica's third highest honor.

Answer: Sierra Leone

The exiled Maroons were initially dispatched to Nova Scotia, Canada (!), where a few stayed on. The rest were eventually shipped off to mainland Africa. The native Creoles of Sierra Leone are descended from Jamaican Maroons. The rest of the Maroon population not involved in the uprising were not punished. The treaty with (1738 Governor) Sir Edward Trelawny did not break.

Answer: Samuel Sharpe

Led by Baptist minister Rev. Sharpe, the ultimately doomed uprising lasted for four months. Samuel Sharpe believed that Emancipation had already occurred when he decided to hold a PEACEFUL protest during the critical sugar cane harvest. The landowners struck back with a military response and violence broke out. Eventually, Sharpe and the other ringleaders were captured and hanged in Charles Square, Montego Bay on the island's northeast coast, on May 23, 1832. Initially buried in the Montego Bay Harbour, his remains were transferred and reburied beneath the pulpit of the Burchell Baptist Church. In 1969, Samuel Sharpe was declared a National Hero.

In 1774, an official head count showed that Jamaica was occupied by 17,000 colonists and over 192,000 slaves. By 1807, the slave count had reached over 319,000.

Footnote: Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), known as South America's Greatest Liberator, went to Jamaica in 1815 as a political refugee. 1815 also saw Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon had by then lost his naval fleet to Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).

Answer: George Gordon and Paul Bogle

Since Emancipation in 1838, the now-free slaves did not fare much better than before. Poverty and mistreatment were still the norm even though a few of the educated elite tried to change the conditions. George William Gordon, a free coloured landowner and a Member of the House of Assembly representing St. Thomas, was an outspoken critic of abuses imposed on the populace by, among others, the Anglican Church. Edward John Eyre, the new Governor (1864) of Jamaica and a devout Anglican, despised Gordon and deprived him of his commission as a Justice of the Peace. On October 11, Paul Bogle, a dedicated supporter of Gordon, marched with a band of men to demonstrate in front of the courthouse. The ruling official (Custos) at the time, Baron von Ketelhodt, called on the local militia to fire at the crowd. Bogle and his men stormed the courthouse, killing Ketelhodt and some of the militia. Eyre sent a warship that landed at Morant Bay and quashed the revolt quickly. Over 600 people were killed in retaliation for the rebellion.

Both Gordon and Bogle were hanged in Morant Bay. Bogle claimed to the end that Gordon knew nothing of the revolt. In 1969, both were declared National Heroes.

Jamaica currently has seven National Heroes. In addition to Nanny, Sharpe, Gordon, and Bogle, the other three are:

- Marcus Garvey (August 17, 1887 - June 10, 1940) was born in St. Ann. He was a founder of the UNIA-ACL (Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League) and encouraged those of African heritage to re-connect with their ancestral roots. He was credited with inspiring the "Nation of Islam" and "Rastafarian" movements, among others. Garvey died of a stroke in London, England, and his ashes were returned to Jamaica after the end of World War Two. He was the first to be declared a National Hero (November 15, 1964).

-Alexander Bustamante (February 24, 1884 - August 6, 1977) was the son of an Irish planter and Taino mother. Imprisoned in 1940 for his outspoken views against Colonial rule, he was released in 1942 and formed the "Jamaica Labor Party", or JLP, the following year. Bustamante served as Jamaica's first Chief Minister from 1953 - 1955 and went on to become Jamaica's first Prime Minister from 1962-1967. He was declared a National Hero in 1969.

-Norman Manley (July 4, 1893 - September 2, 1969), a cousin of Bustamante, was born in the Parish of Manchester. He founded the "People's National Party", or PNP, in 1938 and served as Chief Minister between 1955 - 1962. Although Manley never did serve as Prime Minister, his son Michael (Manley) served two terms (1972 - 1980, 1989 - 1992). Norman Manley was declared a National Hero shortly before his death in 1969.

Answer: Out of Many, One People

"Out of Many, One People" was adopted as the official Jamaica motto to reflect the multi-racial makeup of the island's population. In 2006 Jamaica had almost 3 million inhabitants. Of these, 90% were of African descent and the other 10% made up of Asian, Indian, and Caucasian races.

Some facts:

- The Flag. A yellow X with the top/bottom triangles in green and the left/right triangles in black.

- Coat of Arms. A male Arawak on one side and a female Arawak on the other side of a white shield with a solid red cross dotted with 5 pineapples. A Jamaican crocodile stands, facing left, on the Royal Helmet of the British Monarchy situated on the top-center of the shield.

- Fruit. The Jamaican ackee (Blighia sapida) is a popular delicacy often cooked with salted codfish.

- Flower. The lignum vitae (Guiacum officinale) was found by Christopher Columbus.

- Tree. The blue mahoe (Hibiscus elatus) is a tree indigenous to Jamaica. It is often used to make furniture.

- Bird. The swallow-tail hummingbird (Trochilus polytmus) is a species that is found only in Jamaica. The feathers of this hummingbird are considered to be among the most beautiful and colorful of all the species around the world.

- Industry. Worldwide, Jamaica has one of the largest reserves of bauxite, a raw material used to make aluminium (pop cans, etc). First produced in 1952, it has helped to generate much-needed foreign currency along with tourism.

This quiz is dedicated to:
- My two dear children, Rebecca and Benjamin. Their father was born in Jamaica.
- The peaceful indigenous Arawaks. They were gone before their time.
- All Jamaican-born people who display positive influences throughout the world.

Thank you for playing my ninth quiz creation.