Saint Kitts is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
expedition under
Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
discovered and claimed the island for Spain in 1493. A short-lived
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Huguenot settlement was established at Dieppe in 1538. The first
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
colony was established in 1623, followed by a French colony in 1625. The British and French briefly united to
massacre the local KalinagoThe Kalinago Genocide of 1626 occurred in the West Indian island of St. Kitts at Bloody Point. The Caribs realized that many more Europeans would come and settle in St.Kitts. The Caribs decided that the European settlers had to be destroyed. Large numbers of Caribs from Dominica and other...
(preempting a Kalinago plan to massacre the Europeans), and then partitioned the island, with the English in the middle and the French on either end. In 1629 a Spanish force sent to clear the islands of the area of foreign settlement
seizedThe Battle of St. Kitts or St. Cristopher was a successful Spanish expedition that seized the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis from the English and French during the Anglo-Spanish War .-Background:...
St. Kitts in 1629 but the English settlement was rebuilt following the peace between England and Spain in 1630.
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Saint Kitts is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
expedition under
Christopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
discovered and claimed the island for Spain in 1493. A short-lived
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Huguenot settlement was established at Dieppe in 1538. The first
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
colony was established in 1623, followed by a French colony in 1625. The British and French briefly united to
massacre the local KalinagoThe Kalinago Genocide of 1626 occurred in the West Indian island of St. Kitts at Bloody Point. The Caribs realized that many more Europeans would come and settle in St.Kitts. The Caribs decided that the European settlers had to be destroyed. Large numbers of Caribs from Dominica and other...
(preempting a Kalinago plan to massacre the Europeans), and then partitioned the island, with the English in the middle and the French on either end. In 1629 a Spanish force sent to clear the islands of the area of foreign settlement
seizedThe Battle of St. Kitts or St. Cristopher was a successful Spanish expedition that seized the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis from the English and French during the Anglo-Spanish War .-Background:...
St. Kitts in 1629 but the English settlement was rebuilt following the peace between England and Spain in 1630.
The island alternated repeatedly between English and French control during the 17th and 18th centuries, as one power took the whole island, only to have it switch hands due to treaties or further military action. Parts of the island were heavily fortified, as exemplified by UNESCO World Heritage Site at Brimstone Hill and the now-crumbling
Fort CharlesFort Charles is an old British fort on the island of St. Kitts. Its capture by the French was the reason for the construction of the more famous Brimstone Hill Fortress, which overlooks it....
. It was in 1783 that the island became British for the final time.
African slavery
The island originally produced
tobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, but changed to sugar cane in 1640 due to stiff competition from the colony of
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The labour-intensive farming of sugar cane was the reason for the large-scale importation of African and also European mainly Irish and Scottish slaves. The importation began almost immediately upon the arrival of Europeans to the region.
The purchasing of enslaved Africans was outlawed in the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
by an Act of Parliament in 1807. Slavery was abolished by an Act of Parliament that became law on 1 August 1834. This emancipation was followed by four years of apprenticeship, put in place to protect the plantation owners from losing their labour force. August the 1st is now celebrated as a public holiday and is called
Emancipation DayEmancipation Day is celebrated in many former British colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates in observance of the emancipation of slaves of African origin. It is also observed in other areas in regard to the abolition of serfdom or other forms of...
. In 1883 St. Kitts,
NevisNevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. The 93 km² island is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies...
and
AnguillaAnguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...
were all linked under one presidency, located on St. Kitts, to the dismay of the Nevisians and Anguillans. Anguilla eventually separated out of this arrangement in 1971, after an armed raid on St. Kitts.
Sugar production continued to dominate the local economy until 2005, when, after 365 years as a monoculture, the government closed the sugar industry. This was due to the industry's huge losses and
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
plans to cut sugar prices by large amounts in the near future.
Transportation
Robert L. Bradshaw International AirportRobert L. Bradshaw International Airport is an international airport located just northeast of Basseterre, on the island of Saint Kitts, serving the nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. It was named after the first Premier of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla , Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw.A major renovation was...
serves St. Kitts.
The Basseterre Ferry Terminal facilitates travel between St. Kitts and sister island Nevis.
Notable residents
Saint Kitts is or was the residence of:
- Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...
is a female singer/songwriter.
- George Astaphan
George Mario "Jamie" Sahely Chehin Astaphan, M.D., B.Sc. was a physician who became infamous for giving steroids to the sprinter Ben Johnson.Dr. Astaphan was born on the island of St. Kitts in the West Indies...
, born in St. Kitts, was a physician who gave steroids to the sprinter Ben JohnsonBen Johnson or Benjamin Johnson may refer to:* Ben Johnson , American actor* Ben Johnson , former American football offensive tackle of the National Football League...
.
- Pogus Caesar
Pogus Caesar is a British artist, television producer and director. He was born in St Kitts, West Indies, and grew up in Birmingham, England.-History:...
is a British artist, television producer and director.
- Kim Collins
Kim Collins is a track and field sprinter from the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. In 2003, he became the World Champion in the 100 m. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics on four occasions, from 1996 to 2008, and was the country's first athlete to ever reach an event...
is a former world champion sprinter (2003).
- Felix Dexter
Felix Dexter is an actor, comedian, and writer living in the U.K..-Early life:Dexter was born in St Kitts in the Caribbean, and moved to London with his family at the age of seven.-Radio:...
is an actor, comedian, and writer.
- Neil Strauss
Neil Darrow Strauss , also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American and Kittitian author, journalist and ghostwriter...
writer.
- Bertil Fox
Bertil Fox on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Kitts is a British former IFBB professional bodybuilder. Fox immigrated to London, England, with his family when he was only one year old. He then moved to Northampton. He did not return to St. Kitts for more than 40 years. He once said, "I'm 100%...
was born in St. Kitts, became a professional bodybuilder and was convicted of murder.
- Keith Gumbs
Keith "Kayamba" Gumbs is a St. Kitts and Nevis international football player who currently plays as a striker for the Indonesia Super League side Sriwijaya FC...
is an International football player who currently plays as a striker for the Liga Indonesia side Sriwijaya FC.
- Atiba Harris
Atiba Harris is a Kittitian footballer who currently plays for Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer. He is the first cousin of Manchester City footballer Micah Richards-Professional:...
is a Kittitian footballer who currently plays for Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer.
- Virgil Hodge
Virgil Hodge is a female sprinter from Saint Kitts and Nevis who specializes in the 200 metres. She was born in Basseterre....
is a female sprinter specialising in the 200 metres event.
- Tiandra Ponteen
Tiandra Ponteen is a Saint Kitts and Nevis sprinter who specializes in the 200 metres and the 400 metres.She won the 400 metres silver medal at the 2005 Central American and Caribbean Championships...
is a female sprinter specialising in the 200 metres and the 400 metres.
- Julius Soubise
Julius Soubise was a freed Afro-Caribbean slave who became a well-known fop in 1760s/1770s Britain. He was one of the most prominent black persons in Britain at the time....
was a freed Afro-Caribbean slave who became a well-known fop in the UK during the 1760s and 1770s.
- Desai Williams
Desai Williams is a former sprinter from Canada, who won an Olympic bronze medal in 4 x 100 metres relay in Los Angeles 1984....
is a former sprinter who won a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics.
See also
- Culture of St. Kitts and Nevis
The culture of St. Kitts and Nevis, two small Caribbean islands forming one country, has grown mainly out of the West African traditions of the slave population brought in during the colonial period. French and British colonists both settled the islands, and for a period of time the British...
- Map of Saint Kitts
- Nevis
Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. The 93 km² island is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies...
, St. Kitts' sister island.
External links