Transcript File - Ms Hicks` Classes

Aka the West Indies
The Caribbean
 Comprised of more than 700 islands
 The islands and the surrounding coastal regions are
included
 Some islands are their own independent nations
(Cuba, Jamaica)
 Others technically belong to other countries and are
dependent territories (Anguilla and Turks & Caicos are
part of the UK, Aruba and Curacao belong to the
Netherlands)
West Indies
 Sometimes the area is
called ‘The West Indies’
 Christopher Columbus
thought he had landed
near India, so he called
it the West Indies.
 The East Indies are
South Asia and
Southeast Asia
Greater Antilles
-Cuba
-Puerto Rico
-Jamaica
-Cayman Islands
-Haiti/
-Dominican
Republic
-94% of the land
mass
-90% of the
population
Lesser Antilles
 U.S. Virgin Islands
 British Virgin Islands
 Anguilla (UK)
 Antigua & Barbuda
 Saint Martin




(France/Netherlands)
Saint Barthelemy
(France)
Saint Kitts & Nevis
Monserrat (UK)
Guadeloupe (France)
Windward Islands
 Dominica
 Martinique





(France)
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent
and the
Grenadines
Grenada
Barbados
Trinidad and
Tobago
Leeward Antilles
 Aruba
 Curacao
 Bonaire
 Some small
Venezuelan
islands
Where Does the Name Come From?
 The region takes its
name from that of
the Carib, a Native
group who lived
there at the time of
the Spanish
conquest.
Its Geography
 Some islands are very
flat, example Aruba and
the Bahamas
 Others have rugged
towering mountainranges like the islands of
Cuba, Jamaica, Saint
Lucia, etc
Its Weather and Climate
 The region enjoys year-
round sunshine
 It is divided into 'dry'
and 'wet' seasons, with
the last six months of the
year being wetter than
the first half
 Hurricane season lasts
from June to November
What Languages Are Spoken There?
 Spanish (Cuba, Dom.
Rep., Puerto Rico)
 English (Jamaica,
Bahamas)
 French (Haiti,
Martinique)
 Dutch (Aruba, Curacao)
 Haitian Creole
 Papiamento – a
Spanish/Portuguese type
of Creole, spoken in the
Dutch Antilles
What are Patois and Creole?
 Patois: came from a mix of older English and West
African languages
 Creole: came from a mix of old French with influences
from Portuguese, Spanish, indigenous and West
African languages.
 These languages emerged from contact between
European settlers and African slaves
European Colonies
Native Inhabitants
 Humans migrated to the Caribbean region around
4,000 BCE from North and South America
 Native groups were called Arawak and Carib
 Each group settled on different islands in the Caribbean
 Fishermen, farmers, hunters
Columbus and his “New World”
 Christopher Columbus (from Spain) landed in San
Salvador, Bahamas in 1492
 Trying to find a western route from Europe to
India
 Instead Columbus found the Caribbean Islands, a
“New World”
 Established first European settlements on
Hispaniola (island shared by Haiti and Dominican
Republic)
Disease, Conquest, Gold
 News of Columbus’ “New World” reached Europe
 Britain, France and Netherlands set sail to claim
territory in Caribbean
 Looking for gold to bring back to Europe, but found very
little
 European explorers brought measles and smallpox,
infected and killed many Caribbean natives
Pirates
 Pirates roamed Caribbean Sea,
robbing European ships laden
with gold or goods for trade
 Used numerous bays and
channels of Bahamas as pirate
bases
 One of the most famous pirates
was Edward Teach “Blackbeard”
The Pirate City
 Port Royal, Jamaica was
called “the wickedest city
on Earth”
 Was once the richest city in
the Caribbean
 Full of pirates, thieves and
prostitutes
 In 1692 there was a strong
earthquake and 2/3 of the
city fell into the ocean
Caribbean Commodities
European explorers came to Caribbean for exotic
goods to sell in Europe
Sugarcane “Brown Gold”
 Very valuable good to sell and trade around the
world
Tobacco
Cattle
Bananas
“Sugar-Coated” Slavery
 Sugar cane was cultivated on plantations in the
Caribbean islands
 Slaves brought from Africa to Caribbean to work
on plantations
 slave ships carried hundred in cramped and
inhumane conditions
 Disease and death common during trip from Africa
to Caribbean
 Estimated 10 million slaves brought to Caribbean
The Triangular Trade
Ships left Europe and first stopped in Africa
1.

Trade European weapons, liquor, metal and cloth
for African slaves
Ships travelled to Caribbean
2.

Trade slaves for sugar, rum, salt, spices
Ships return to Europe
3.

Sell Caribbean goods in European markets
Slavery
 African slave population began to outnumber
European and Native American
 Slave rebellions common
 Slave trade abolished in Caribbean
 Britain 1834
 France 1838
 Netherlands 1863
 Spain 1880
Independence
Food






Beans and rice
Ackee & saltfish
Jerk chicken
Rotis
Stewed goat
Dishes with rice, plantains,
beans, cassava, cilantro
(coriander), bell peppers,
chickpeas, tomatoes, sweet
potatoes, coconut
Scuba Diving
The Great Blue Hole
Gondola ride over the jungle,
St Lucia
St Lucia
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Havana, Cuba
Curacao
Dunn’s River Falls, Jamaica
Stingray City, Cayman Islands
Swim with dolphins in the Bahamas
Barbadoes
Frenchman’s Cove, Jamaica
Pink Sands beach, Bahamas
El Yunque tropical rainforest,
Puerto Rico
Explore the French and Dutch
sides of St Martin
Bioluminescent Bay, Puerto Rico