The Taínos are subdivided into Classic Taínos

The Taínos are subdivided into Classic Taínos, who occupied Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, Western Taínos, who occupied Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamian archipelago, and the Eastern Taínos, who occupied the Leeward Islands.^[1] Trinidad was inhabited by both Carib speaking and Arawak-speaking groups. HP Pavilion DV6z artist edition 2 Laptop Keyboard New scientific DNA studies have changed some of the traditional beliefs about pre-Columbian indigenous history. Juan Martinez Cruzado, a geneticist from theUniversity of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez designed an island-wide DNA survey of Puerto Rico's people. According to conventional historical belief, HP G42-364LA Laptop Keyboard Puerto Ricans have mainly Spanish ethnic origins, with some African ancestry, and distant and less significant indigenous ancestry. Cruzado's research revealed surprising results in 2003. It found that, in fact, 61 percent of all Puerto Ricans have Amerindian mitochondrial DNA, 27 percent have African and 12 percent Caucasian.^[2]  DELL Vostro PP37L Laptop Keyboard This scientific evidence shows that the official history of Puerto Rico has been incorrect. Soon after the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Americas, both Portuguese and Spanish ships began claiming territories in Central and South America. These colonies brought in gold, and other European powers, most specifically England, SONY VAIO VGN-C2S Series Laptop Keyboard theNetherlands, and France, hoped to establish profitable colonies of their own. Imperial rivalries made the Caribbean a contested area during European wars for centuries. During the first voyage of the explorer Christopher Columbus (mandated by the Spanish crown to conquer) contact was made with the Lucayans in the Bahamas and the Taíno in Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola, HP pavilion DV7-1000 Laptop Keyboard and a few of the native people were taken back to Spain. Small amounts of gold were found in their personal ornaments and other objects such as masks and belts. The Spanish, who came seeking wealth, enslaved the native population and rapidly drove them to near-extinction. To supplement the Amerindian labor, HP G42-364LA Laptop Keyboard the Spanish imported African (slavery/slaves) (see also Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies) Although Spain claimed the entire Caribbean, they settled only the larger islands of Hispaniola (1493), Puerto Rico (1508),Jamaica (1509), Cuba (1511), and Trinidad (1530),  TOSHIBA 9J.N7482.901 Laptop Keyboard although the Spanish made an exception in the case of the small 'pearl islands' of Cubagua and Margarita off the Venezuelan coast because of their valuable pearl beds which were worked extensively between 1508 and1530. The other European powers established a presence in the Caribbean after the Spanish Empire declined, TOSHIBA Satellite U305-S2804 Laptop Keyboard partly due to the reduced native population of the area from European diseases. The Dutch, the French, and the British followed one another to the region and established a long-term presence. They brought with them millions of slaves imported from Africa to support the tropical plantation system that spread through the Caribbean islands. HP 597635-001 Laptop Keyboard Francis Drake was an English privateer who attacked many Spanish ships and forts in the Caribbean, including San Juanharbour in 1595. His most celebrated Caribbean exploit was the capture of the Spanish Silver Train at Nombre de Dios in March, 1573. Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard British colonisation of Bermuda began in 1612. British West Indian colonisation began with St. Kitts in 1623 and Barbadosin 1627. The former was used as a base for British colonisation of neighbouring Nevis (1628), Antigua (1632),^[3]Montserrat (1632), Anguilla (1650) and Tortola (1672). DELL Vostro 1014 Laptop Keyboard French colonisation too began on St. Kitts, the British and the French splitting the island amongst themselves in 1625. It was used as a base to colonise the much larger Guadeloupe (1635) and Martinique (1635), St. Martin (1648), St Barts (1648), and St Croix (1650), but was lost completely to Britain in 1713. From Martinique the French colonised St. Lucia (1643), Grenada (1649), Dominica (1715), and St. Vincent (1719). Lenovo 3000 N200 Laptop Keyboard

• The English admiral William Penn seized Jamaica in 1655 and it remained under British rule for over 300 years.^[4]

Piracy in the Caribbean was widespread during the early colonial era, especially between 1640 and 1680. The term "buccaneer" is often used to describe a pirate operating in this region.  HP Pavilion zv6223ea Laptop Keyboard In 1625 French buccaneers established a settlement on Tortuga, just to the north of Hispaniola, that the Spanish were never able to permanently destroy despite several attempts. The settlement on Tortuga was officially established in 1659 under the commission of King Louis XIV. In 1670 Cap François (later Cap Français, now Cap-Haïtien) was established on the mainland of Hispaniola. Under the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, Spain officially ceded the western third ofHispaniola to France.^[5]  Lenovo Thinkpad T520 Laptop Keyboard

• The Dutch took over Saba, Saint Martin, Sint Eustatius, Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba,^[6] Tobago, St. Croix, Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Anguilla and a short time Puerto Rico, together called the Dutch West Indies, in the seventeenth century.

The Danish first ruled part, then all of the present U.S. Virgin Islands since 1672, selling sovereignty over these Danish West Indies in 1917 to the United States which still administers them. ACER Aspire 4736Z laptop keyboard The development of agriculture in the Caribbean required a large workforce of manual labourers, which the Europeans found by taking advantage of the slave trade in Africa. The Atlantic slave trade brought African slaves to British, Dutch, French, Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas, including the Caribbean.  HP Pavilion DV7t-3100 laptop keyboard Slaves were brought to the Caribbean from the early 16th century until the end of the 19th century. The majority of slaves were brought to the Caribbean colonies between 1701 and 1810. Abolitionists in the Americas and in Europe became vocal opponents of the slave trade throughout the 19th century. HP Pavilion dv6-2150es laptop keyboard The importation of slaves to the colonies was often outlawed years before the end of the institution of slavery itself. It was well into the 19th century before many slaves in the Caribbean were legally free. The trade in slaves was abolished in the British Empire through the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. HP Pavilion dv6-3107ax laptop keyboard Men, women and children who were already enslaved in the British Empire remained slaves, however, until Britain passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833. When the Slavery Abolition Act came into force in 1834, roughly 700,000 slaves in the British West Indies immediately became free; other enslaved workers were freed several years later after a period of forced apprenticeship.  SONY VAIO VGN-FS415E laptop keyboard Slavery was abolished in the Dutch Empire in 1814. Spain abolished slavery in its empire in 1811, with the exceptions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo; Spain ended the slave trade to these colonies in 1817, after being paid ₤400,000 by Britain. Slavery itself was not abolished in Cuba until 1886. France abolished slavery in its colonies in 1848. HP Pavilion DV7-3165dx laptop keyboard "The official plantocratic view of slave marriage sought to deny the slaves any loving bonds or long-standing relationships, thus conveniently rationalising the indiscriminate separation of close kin through sales."^[8][a] "From the earliest days of slavery, indiscriminate sales and separation severely disrupted the domestic life of individual slaves."^[9] SONY VAIO VGN-NW25GF laptop keyboard Slaves could be sold so that spouses could be sold separately. "Slave couples were sometimes separated by sale .... They lived as single slaves or as part of maternal or extended families but considered themselves 'married.'"^[10] Sale of estates with "stock" to pay debts, more common in the late period of slavery, was criticized as separating slave spouses.^[9] Compaq Presario CQ71-317EA laptop keyboard William Beckford argued for "families to be sold together or kept as near as possible in the same neighburhood"^[9] and "laws were passed in the late period of slavery to prevent the breakup of slave families by sale, ... [but] these laws were frequently ignored".^[9] "Slaves frequently reacted strongly to enforced severance of their emotional bonds",^[9] feeling "sorrow and despair",^[9HP Pavilion dv6-2129ev laptop keyboard ^] sometimes, according to Thomas Cooper in 1820, resulting in death from distress.^[11] John Stewart argued against separation as leading slave buyers to regret it because of "despair[,] ... utter despondency[,]or 'put[ting] period to their lives'".^[12] Separated slaves often used free time to travel long distances to reunite for a night^[11] and sometimes runaway slaves were married couples.^[11] FUJITSU Lifebook P1610 laptop keyboard However, "sale of slaves and the resulting breakup of families decreased as slave plantations lost prosperity." European plantations required laws to regulate the plantation system and the many slaves imported to work on the plantations.  Packard Bell NEW90 laptop keyboard This legal control was the most oppressive for slaves inhabiting colonies where they outnumbered their European masters and where rebellion was persistent, such as Jamaica. During the early colonial period, rebellious slaves were harshly punished, with sentences including death by torture; less serious crimes such as assault, theft or persistent escape attempts were commonly punished with mutilations, such as the cutting off of a hand or a foot.^[14] SONY VAIO VGN-FS640/W laptop keyboard Under British rule, slaves could only be freed with the consent of their master, and therefore freedom for slaves was rare. British colonies were able to establish laws through their own legislatures, and the assent of the local island governor and the Crown. British law considered slaves to be property, and thus did not recognize marriage for slaves,  HP 405963-001 laptop keyboard family rights, education for slaves, or the right to religious practises such as holidays. British law denied all rights to freed slaves, with the exception of the right to a jury trial. Otherwise, freed slaves had no right to own property, vote or hold office, or even enter some trades.^[14]  HP Pavilion G6-1223TX Laptop Keyboard The French Empire regulated slaves under the Code Noir (Black Code) which was in force throughout the empire, but which was based upon French practises in the Caribbean colonies. French law recognized slave marriages, but only with the consent of the master. French law, like Spanish law, gave legal recognition to marriages between European men and black or Creole women. SONY VAIO VGN-FS315M Laptop Keyboard French and Spanish laws were also significantly more lenient than British law in recognizingmanumission, or the ability of a slave to purchase their freedom and become a "freeman". Under French law, free slaves gained full rights to citizenship. The French also extended limited legal rights to slaves, for example the right to own property, and the right to enter contracts. TOSHIBA Satellite C650-182 Laptop Keyboard The exploitation of the Caribbean landscape dates back to the Spanish conquistadors around 1600 who mined the islands for gold which they brought back to Spain. The more significant development came when Christopher Columbus wrote back to Spain that the islands were made for sugar development.^[16] SONY VGN-FE21H laptop keyboard The history of Caribbean agricultural dependency is closely linked with European colonialism which altered the financial potential of the region by introducing a plantation system. Much like the Spanish enslaved indigenous Indians to work in gold mines, the seventeenth century brought a new series of oppressors in the form of the Dutch,  HP G72-b60SF laptop keyboard the English, and the French. By the middle of the eighteenth century sugar was Britain's largest import which made the Caribbean that much more important as a colony.^[17] Sugar was a luxury in Europe prior to 18th century. It became widely popular in 18th century, then graduated to becoming a necessity in the 19th century. HP Mini 110-3180sv laptop keyboard This evolution of taste and demand for sugar as an essential food ingredient unleashed major economic and social changes.^[18] Caribbean islands with plentiful sunshine, abundant rainfalls and no extended frosts were well suited for sugarcane agriculture and sugar factories. Following the emancipation of slaves in 1833 in the United Kingdom, many liberated Africans left their former masters. LENOVO IdeaPad S10 20015 laptop keyboard This created an economic chaos for British owners of Caribbean sugar cane plantations. The hard work in hot, humid farms required a regular, docile and low-waged labour force. The British looked for cheap labour. This they found initially in China and then mostly in India. The British crafted a new legal system of forced labour, which in many ways resembled enslavement.^[19] HP Mini 110-3180sv laptop keyboard Instead of calling them slaves, they were called indentured labour. Indians and southeast Asians, began to replace Africans previously brought as slaves, under this indentured labour scheme to serve on sugarcane plantations across the British empire. The first ships carrying indentured labourers for sugarcane plantations left India in 1836. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E125 laptop keyboard Over the next 70 years, numerous more ships brought indentured labourers to the Caribbean, as cheap and docile labor for harsh inhumane work. The slave labor and indentured labor - both in millions of people - were brought into Caribbean, as in other European colonies throughout the world.. HP Pavilion dv6-3230us laptop keyboard The “New World” plantations were established in order to fulfill the growing needs of the “Old World”. The sugar plantations were built with the intention of exporting the sugar back to Britain which is why the British did not need to stimulate local demand for the sugar with wages. ACER K052030A1 laptop keyboard A system of slavery was adapted since it allowed the colonizer to have an abundant work force with little worry about declining demands for sugar.^[24] In the 19th century wages were finally introduced with the abolition of slavery. The new system in place however was similar to the previous as it was based on white capital and colored labor.^[25]  DELL Inspiron 6400 Laptop Keyboard Large numbers of unskilled workers were hired to perform repeated tasks, which made if very difficult for these workers to ever leave and pursue any non farming employment. Unlike other countries, where there was an urban option for finding work, the Caribbean countries had money invested in agriculture and lacked any core industrial base.^[26] TOSHIBA NSK-TAJ01 Laptop Keyboard The cities that did exist offered limited opportunities to citizens and almost none for the unskilled masses who had worked in agriculture their entire lives. The products produced brought in no profits for the countries since they were sold to the colonial occupant buyer who controlled the price the products were sold at. ACER Aspire 7741G Laptop Keyboard This resulted in extremely low wages with no potential for growth since the occupant nations had no intention of selling the products at a higher price to themselves.^[27] The result of this economic exploitation was a plantation dependence which saw the Caribbean nations possessing a large quantity of unskilled workers capable of performing agricultural tasks and not much else. ACER Aspire 7741G Laptop Keyboard After many years of colonial rule the nations also saw no profits brought into their country since the sugar production was controlled by the colonial rulers. This left the Caribbean nations with little capital to invest towards enhancing any future industries unlike European nations which were developing rapidly and separating themselves technologically and economically from most impoverished nations of the world. SONY KFRMBA152B Laptop Keyboard The plantation system and the slave trade that enabled its growth led to regular slave resistance in many Caribbean islands throughout the colonial era. Resistance was made by escaping from the plantations altogether, and seeking refuge in the areas free of European settlement. Communities of escaped slaves, HP Pavilion dv6-3001so Laptop Keyboard who were known as Maroons, banded together in heavily forested and mountainous areas of the Greater Antilles and some of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. The spread of the plantations and European settlement often meant the end of many Maroon communities, although they survived on Saint Vincent and Dominica, and in the more remote mountainous areas of Jamaica, Hispaniola, Guadeloupe and Cuba.^[28] HP HDX18-1100 CTO Laptop Keyboard Violent resistance broke out periodically on the larger Caribbean islands. Many more conspiracies intended to create rebellions were discovered and ended by Europeans before they could materialize.^[29] Actual violent uprisings, involving anywhere from dozens to thousands of slaves, were regular events, however.  TOSHIBA Satellite C655-S9521D Laptop Keyboard Jamaica and Cuba in particular had many slave uprisings. Such uprisings were brutally crushed by European forces. Haiti, the former French colony of Saint-Domingue on Hispaniola, was the first Caribbean nation to gain independence from European powers in 1804. HP G42-380LA Laptop Keyboard This followed 13 years of warfare which commenced as a slave uprising in 1791 and quickly became theHaitian Revolution under the leadership of Toussaint l'Ouverture, where the former slaves defeated the French army (twice), the Spanish army, and the British army, before becoming the world's first and oldest black republic, and also the second-oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere after the United States. GATEWAY NV-53 Laptop Keyboard This is additionally notable as being the only successful slave uprising in history. The remaining two-thirds of Hispaniola were conquered by Haitian forces in 1821. In 1844, the newly-formed Dominican Republic declared its independence from Haiti.  HP 646568-001 Laptop Keyboard The nations bordering the Caribbean in Central America gained independence with the 1821 establishment of the First Mexican Empire - which at that time included the modern states of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.  ACER Aspire One D150-1920 Laptop Keyboard The nations bordering the Caribbean in South America also gained independence from Spain in 1821 with the establishment of Gran Colombia - which comprised the modern states of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama. Cuba and Puerto Rico remained a Spanish colonies until the Spanish American War in 1898, HP AEUT5U00010 Laptop Keyboard after which Cuba attained its independence in 1902, and Puerto Rico became an unincorporated territory of the United States, being the last of the Greater Antilles under colonial control. Between 1958 and 1962 most of the British-controlled Caribbean was integrated as the new West Indies Federation in an attempt to create a single unified future independent state ACER Aspire One D150-1920 Laptop Keyboard - but it failed. The following former British Caribbean island colonies achieved independence in their own right; Jamaica (1962), Trinidad & Tobago (1962), Barbados (1966), Bahamas (1973), Grenada (1974), Dominica (1978), St. Lucia (1979), St. Vincent (1979), Antigua & Barbuda (1981), St. Kitts & Nevis (1983).  HP AEUT5U00010 Laptop Keyboard In addition British Honduras in Central America became independent as Belize (1981), British Guiana in South America became independent as Guyana (1966), and Dutch Guiana also in South America became independent as Suriname (1975). It should be noted that as of the early 21st century, not all Caribbean islands have become independent. APPLE A1278 Laptop Keyboard Several islands continue to have government ties with European countries, or with the United States. French overseas departments and territories include several Caribbean islands. Guadeloupe and Martinique are French overseas regions, a legal status that they have had since 1946. ACER 9J.N0F82.A1D Laptop Keyboard Their citizens are considered full French citizens with the same legal rights. In 2003, the populations of St. Martin and St. Barthélemy voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form separate overseas collectivities of France. After a bill was passed in the French Parliament, the new status took effect on 22 February 2007. HP G72-b66US Laptop Keyboard Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are officially insular areas of the United States, but are sometimes referred to as "protectorates" of the United States. They are administered by the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) within the United States Department of Interior. Since the Monroe Doctrine, the United States gained a major influence on most Caribbean nations. ACER 9J.N0F82.A1D Laptop Keyboard In the early part of the twentieth century this influence was extended by participation in The Banana Wars. Areas outside British or French control became known in Europe as "America's tropical empire". Victory in the Spanish-American war and the signing of the Platt amendment in 1901 ensured that the United States would have the right to interfere in Cuban political and economic affairs, militarily if necessary.  HP G72-b66US Laptop Keyboard After the Cuban revolution of 1959relations deteriorated rapidly leading to the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis and successive US attempts to destabilise the island. The US invaded and occupied Hispaniola (present day Dominican Republic and Haiti) for 19 years (1915–34), subsequently dominating the Haitian economy through aid and loan repayments. HP Mini 110-3180sv Laptop Keyboard The US invaded Haiti again in 1994 and in 2004 were accused by CARICOM of arranging a coup d'état to remove elected Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In 1965, 23,000 US troops were sent to the Dominican Republic to quash a local uprising against military rule. Lenovo 3000 N200 Laptop Keyboard PresidentLyndon Johnson had ordered the invasion to stem what he claimed to be a "Communist threat", however the mission appeared ambiguous and was roundly condemned throughout the hemisphere as a return to gunboat diplomacy. In 1983 the US invaded Grenada to remove populist left-wing leader Maurice Bishop. DELL Vostro 3450 Laptop Keyboard The US maintains a naval military base in Cuba at Guantanamo Bay. The base is one of five unified commands whose "area of responsibility" is Latin America and the Caribbean. The command is headquartered in a Miami, Florida office building. As an arm of the economic and political network of the Americas,  DELL Vostro 3550 Laptop Keyboard the influence of the United States stretches beyond a military context. In economic terms, the United States represents a primary market for the export of Caribbean goods. Notably, this is a recent historical trend. The post-war era reflects a time of transition for the Caribbean basin when, as colonial powers sought to disentangle from the region (as part of a larger trend of decolonization), HP Pavilion dv6-2125ef laptop keyboard the US began to expand its hegemony throughout the region. This pattern is confirmed by economic initiatives such as the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), which sought to congeal alliances with the region in light of a perceived Soviet threat. The CBI marks the emergence of the Caribbean basin as a geopolitical area of strategic interest to the US. HP Pavilion dv6-2110ev laptop keyboard This relationship has carried through to the 21st century, as reflected by the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. The Caribbean Basin is also of strategic interest in regards to trade routes; it has been estimated that nearly half of US foreign cargo and crude oil imports are brought via Caribbean seaways. SONY VAIO VGN-N31Z/W laptop keyboard During wartime, these figures only stand to increase. It is important to note that the US is also of strategic interest to the Caribbean. Caribbean foreign policy seeks to strengthen its participation in a global free market economy. As an extension of this, Caribbean states do not wish to be excluded from their primary market in the US, ACER TravelMate 6252 laptop keyboard or be bypassed in the creation of “wider hemispheric trading blocs” that stand to drastically alter trade and production in the Caribbean Basin. As such, the US has played an influential role in shaping the Caribbean’s role in this hemispheric market. Likewise, building trade relationships with the US has always figured in strongly with the political goal of economic security in post-independence Caribbean states. SONY VGN-FE11M laptop keyboard The mainstay of the Caribbean economy, sugar, has declined gradually since the beginning of the 20th century, although it is still a major crop in the region. Caribbean sugar production became relatively expensive in comparison to other parts of the world that developed their own sugar cultivation industries, making it difficult for Caribbean sugar products to compete.^[30] TOSHIBA Satellite L750-ST4NX1 laptop keyboard Caribbean economic diversification into new activities became essential to the islands. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Caribbean islands enjoyed greater political stability. Large-scale violence was no longer a threat after the end of slavery in the islands. The British-controlled islands in particular benefited from investments in the infrastructure of colonies. ASUS X53S laptop keyboard By the beginning of World War I, all British-controlled islands had their own police force, fire department, doctors and at least one hospital. Sewage systems and public water supplies were built, and death rates in the islands dropped sharply. Literacy also increased significantly during this period, as schools were set up for students descended from African slaves. Acer eMachines E640 laptop keyboard Public libraries were established in large towns and capital cities.^[31] These improvements in the quality of life for the inhabitants also made the islands a much more attractive destination for visitors. Tourists began to visit the Caribbean in larger numbers by the beginning of the 20th century, although there was a tourist presence in the region as early as the 1880s. TOSHIBA Satellite L655-S5107 laptop keyboard The United States-owned United Fruit Company operated a fleet of "banana boats" in the region that doubled as tourist transportation. The United Fruit Company also developed hotels for tourist accommodations. It soon became apparent, however, that this industry was much like a new form of colonialism; HP Pavilion DV6z artist edition 2 laptop keyboard the hotels operated by the company were fully staffed by Americans, from chefs to waitresses, in addition to being owned by Americans, so that the local populations saw little economic benefit. The company also enforced racial discrimination in many policies for its fleet. Black passengers were assigned to inferior cabins, were sometimes denied bookings, SONY VAIO VGN-N250E/B laptop keyboard and were expected to eat meals early before white passengers.^[32] The most popular early destinations were Jamaica and the Bahamas; the Bahamas remains today the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean.