This is a timeline of the territorial evolution of the Caribbean and nearby areas of North, Central, and South America, listing each change to the internal and external borders of the various countries that make up the region.
The region covered is the Caribbean, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts, as well as the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, Central America, and the northern region of South America.
The political evolution of the land surrounding the Caribbean reveals the significant role the region played in the colonial struggles of the European powers since Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. In the 20th century the Caribbean was again important during World War II, in the decolonization wave in the post-war period, and in the tension between Communist Cuba and the United States (U.S.). Genocide, slavery, immigration and rivalry between world powers have given Caribbean history an impact disproportionate to the size of this small region.
At the time of the European discovery of most of the islands of the Caribbean, three major Amerindian indigenous peoples lived on the islands: the Taíno in the Greater Antilles, The Bahamas and the Leeward Islands; the Island Caribs and Galibi in the Windward Islands; and the Ciboney in western Cuba. 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. Trinidad was inhabited by both Carib speaking and Arawak-speaking groups.
17th century
In 1700 Spain controlled most of the mainland portions of North America, Central America, and South America that surround the Caribbean as well as most of the largest islands of the Caribbean. Other players were the:
Kingdom of England who controlled: Mosquito Coast – The Mosquito Coast or eastern portion of what is now [Nicaragua] was declared to be under the protection of the English crown in 1687.In 1687 the English governor of Jamaica named a Miskito who was one of his prisoners, "King of the Mosquitia Nation", and declared the region to be under the protection of the English crown. Anguilla – In 1650, English settlers arrived from Saint Kitts and colonized Anguilla. In 1656 Indians from a neighboring island came and destroyed the settlement. The French temporarily overtook the island in 1666 but under the Treaty of Breda it was returned to English control. Antigua and Barbuda – As part of the Treaty of Breda France formally ends its claim of Antigua in 1667 giving control to the British. In 1685 the plantation owner Christopher Codrington, a sugar planter from Barbados leases the island of Barbuda from the British crown. Bahamas – In 1670 King Charles II granted the islands to the Earl of Craven a Lord Proprietor of the Carolinas, who rented the islands from the king with rights of trading, tax, appointing governors, and administering the country. Barbados – British sailors who landed on Barbados in 1625 arrived at the site of present-day Holetown. From the arrival of the first British settlers in 1627–1628 until independence in 1966, Barbados was under uninterrupted British control. British Honduras (Belize)" English buccaneers began cutting logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum), which was used in the production of a textile dye. English buccaneers began using the coastline as a base from which to attack Spanish ships. Buccaneers stopped plundering Spanish logwood ships and started cutting their own wood in the 1650s and 1660s. Logwood extraction then became the main reason for the English settlement for more than a century. A 1667 treaty, in which the European powers agreed to suppress piracy, encouraged the shift from buccaneering to cutting logwood and led to more permanent settlement.Bolland, Nigel. "Belize: Historical Setting". In A Country Study: Belize (Tim Merrill, editor). Library of Congress Federal Research Division (January 1992). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. British Virgin Islands – During the 1698 negotiations between the Netherlands and the British over the ownership of the islands an order from the King become known. The King in 1694 issued an order to prevent foreign settlement in the Virgin Islands. In February 1698 Governor Christopher Codrington was told to regard the earlier 1694 orders as final, and the British entertained no further claims to the islands. Cayman Islands - The islands were captured, then ceded to England in 1670 under the Treaty of Madrid. Jamaica – Jamaica was captured, then ceded to England in 1670 under the Treaty of Madrid Montserrat – Fell under English control in 1632. Saint Kitts and Nevis – After the Kalinago Genocide of 1626, Saint Kitts was partitioned between the British and French, with the French gaining the ends, Capisterre in the North and Basseterre in the south, and the British gaining the centre. In 1689, during the War of the Grand Alliance, France re-occupied the entire island, and decimated the British farms. English retaliation by General Codrington defeated the French forces and deported them to Martinique. The Treaty of Rijswijk in 1697 restored pre-war conditions. Nevis was ruled by the British Saint Lucia – In 1664, Thomas Warner (son of the governor of St Kitts) claimed Saint Lucia for England. He brought 1,000 men there to defend it from the French, but after two years there were only 89 left, mostly due to disease. Turks and Caicos Islands – Bermudians claimed the islands for Britain and came to Turks & Caicos to rake the salt and take it back to Bermuda. Salt was a precious commodity back then as it was used not only for flavoring food but for preserving it as well. They held the islands until 1706
Dutch Republic The Dutch Republic controlled: Aruba – Acquired in 1636 by the Dutch and remained under their control for nearly two centuries. Netherlands Antilles – In the 17th century, the islands were conquered by the Dutch West India Company and were used as military outposts and trade bases, most prominent the slave trade. Guyana – The Dutch West India Company, which administered most of the colony from 1621 to 1792, granted early Dutch and then British settlers ownership over 100-hectare tracts of land.
Kingdom of France At the year 1700 Louis XIV ruled as King of France and of Navarre. In the new world he controlled:
Dominica – The first permanent settlers on the Island were French smallholders from Martinique who arrived in 1715. The island would stay French until the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 when it was decided between, Great Britain and France to treat the island as neutral ground and leave it to the Caribs. Haiti – The first official settlement on Tortuga was established in 1659 under the commission of King Louis XIV. France established the first permanent French settlement on the mainland of Hispaniola, Cap François (later Cap Français, now Cap-Haïtien) in 1670. Under the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, Spain officially ceded the western third of Hispaniola to France. Grenada – On March 17, 1649 a French expedition of 203 men from Martinique, led by Jacques Dyel du Parquet who had been the Governor of Martinique on behalf of the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique (Company of the Isles of America) since 1637, landed at St. Georges Harbour and constructed a fortified settlement, which they named Fort Annunciation.Page 38 Grenada. A History of its People. Steele, Beverley A. 2003.Macmillan Publishers Limited. Guadeloupe – The island was first settled by the French in 1635. Along with the rest of the French Caribbean it became a crown colony of France in 1674.Page 690 – Martinique - The island was first settled by France after it was ceded by Spain in 1635 and evolved into a plantation society.Page 107- Saint Barthélemy- From 1651 to 1673 Saint Barthélemy was under the control of the Knights of Malta After 1673 it was returned to France. St. Vincent – While the English were the first to lay claim to St. Vincent in 1627, the French would be the first European settlers on the island when they established their first colony at Barrouallie on the Leeward side of St. Vincent shortly before 1700. Saint Kitts and Nevis – After the Kalinago Genocide of 1626, Saint Kitts was partitioned between the British and French, with the French gaining the ends, Capisterre in the North and Basseterre in the south, and the British gaining the centre. In 1689, during the War of the Grand Alliance, France re-occupied the entire island, and decimated the British farms. English retaliation by General Codrington defeated the French forces and deported them to Martinique. The Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 restored pre-war coniditons.
Denmark Denmark controlled what is now the: United States Virgin Islands – The Danish West India Company settled on Saint Thomas in 1672, on Saint John in 1694, and purchased Saint Croix from France in 1733.
18th century
1702
English forces annex the whole of the island of St. Kitts.
1706
On St. Kitts the French made one more major attack on British troops in 1706 during the War of the Spanish Succession taking the whole of the island.
1706
Spanish and French forces seized the Turks in 1706.
1710
English Bermudian forces expel the French and Spanish forces from Turks in what was Bermuda's only independent military operation.
1713
The French held St. Kitts for 8 years (1713) until the Treaty of Utrecht was signed. The treaty ceded the entire island of St. Kitts to the British.
1723
Saint Lucia becomes Neutral territory (agreed by Britain and France in the Treaty of Choc Island)
1733
Denmark purchases the island of Saint Croix from France in 1733 it is in what now is the United States Virgin Islands
1744
Saint Lucia becomes the French colony of (Sainte Lucie).
1748
Saint Lucia becomes Neutral territory (de jure agreed by Britain and France)
1756
Saint Lucia once again becomes a French colony (Sainte Lucie)
1759
In Guadeloupe from 1759 through 1763, as a part of the Seven Years' War, the British took control of the island and the main city Pointe-à-Pitre was established during these years.p 32 – the capitulation [of Guadeloupe had] been signed on May 2[, 1759]
1761
On June 7, 1761 a British expedition against Dominica led by Lord Rollo was successful and the island was conquered.pp. 537–541 – By noon of the [June] 6th they had arrived ... Rollo landed his men and entered the town ... He attacked accordingly, and drove out the French in confusion with trifling loss to himself. The French commander and his second being both taken prisoners, no further resistance was made and on the following day Dominica swore allegiance to King George
1762
Britain captured Martinique and Grenada during the Seven Years' War, holding it from 1762 to 1763. Saint Lucia becomes British.
1763
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on February 10, 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the Seven Years' War. In the treaty:
France formally ceded possession of Dominica,IX. The Most Christian King cedes and guaranties to his Britannick Majesty, in full right, the islands of Grenada, and the Grenadines, with the same stipulations in favour of the inhabitants of this colony, inserted in the IVth article for those of Canada: And the partition of the islands called neutral, is agreed and fixed, so that those of St. Vincent, Dominico, and Tobago, shall remain in full right to Great Britain, and that of St. Lucia shall be delivered to France, to enjoy the same likewise in full right, and the high contracting parties guaranty the partition so stipulated. – Treaty of Paris, 1763 St. Vincent, and Grenada to the Kingdom of Great Britain.