Caribbean History

More than five centuries have passed since history's most notable explorer-for-hire, Christopher Columbus, "discovered" the New World, which is made up mostly of North and South America but also includes the 2600-mile chain of islands that stretches from Florida to Venezuela. It was in these islands that Columbus first landed. Writing about them he said, "Always the beauty is the same, and the fields very green and full of an infinity of fruits as red as scarlet, and everywhere there is the perfume of flowers and the singing of birds."

The soft, caressing, never cold, clear, and buoyant water, complemented by miles of soft-sanded beaches, along with beautiful interiors that range from arid and prickled with cactus to fertile with tumbling vegetation convinced him he had found the Garden of Eden. The islands bask in a tropic sun, the heat of which is moderated by the trade winds that blow from both the boisterous Atlantic and the gentler Caribbean Oceans and bring seasonal, torrential rains. Columbus' admiration has been repeated ever since by nearly every traveler fortunate enough to visit this paradise.

Geologists believe that during the last ice age these islands formed a land bridge that spanned the distance between Florida and Venezuela. But melting glaciers at the end of that ice age raised sea levels and, coupled with repeated earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions, three torments that still plague the region, this unbroken isthmus was submerged leaving only the tops of some of the mountains above the water. But enough of the region's natural splendor survived to convince Columbus that he had found paradise.

However, soon after his chance discovery, these islands became pawns of the world's great powers and the struggles that ensued were to last more than five centuries. During this period the islands were divided between those powers which included the United States, England, France, Spain, Holland, and Denmark. Many of the larger habitable islands like Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, St. Thomas, St. Martin, Antigua, Guadeloupe, and Martinique were soon colonized by a mixture of people from Western Europe who were later joined by Lebanese, Syrians, Arabs, African slaves, and indentured servants from East India and China.

One dramatic and inevitable result of this mixing is the dynamic cuisine that is common today to all of the islands whatever their colonial past.

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Author: Richard Blunt
Issue: Sept, 2001

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