Year (A.D.)
|
Event
|
650
|
First Arawak Arrival |
850-900
|
Second Arawak Arrival |
1493
|
Columbus departs on second voyage |
| 1494 |
Columbus arrives in Jamaica |
| 1502 |
Columbus' fourth voyage departs |
| 1503 |
Columbus lands at St. Ann's again |
| 1504 |
Columbus leaves Jamaica |
| 1506 |
Columbus dies |
| 1508 |
Diego Columbus is appointed Governor of the Indies |
| 1510 |
First town founded on Jamaica (Sevilla la Nueva, New Seville) |
1512
|
Motion to move Jamaican colonists to Cuba |
|
1520 |
A plague kills many Arawaks
|
|
1524 |
New Seville abandoned
Moved to Villa de la Vega/St. Jago de la Vega, now Spanish Town |
|
1555 |
Chased away French ships |
| 1580 |
Portuguese and Spanish monarchs marry, many Portuguese Jews immigrate |
|
1581 |
Brother Francisco Marques de Villalobos became the first abbot on Jamaica |
|
1597 |
Sir Anthony Shirley landed and sacked Spanish Town
Fernando Megarejo becomes Governor |
|
1598 |
Governor Megarejo proposes a reservation for the Arawaks, it is rejected |
|
1624 |
Britain begins colonizing the Caribbean |
|
1640 |
Spanish crown took control of the colony |
|
1643 |
Captain William Jackson plunders Spanish Town |
|
1644 |
Jamaicans send word to Spain about frequency of attacks |
|
1653 |
Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, plans"Western Design" |
|
1654 |
Admiral Penn attacks Santo Domingo on Hispaniola |
|
1655 |
English capture Jamaica at Kingston Harbour, Arawaks have been wiped out |
|
1656 |
Governor of Nevis Luke Stokes moves to Jamaica with colonists to Port Morant |
|
1658 |
Cromwell dies, Charles II ascends to English throne
Spanish forces attempt to reclaim Jamaica |
|
1660 |
Spanish combatants flee to Cuba |
|
1661 |
D'Oyley becomes first civil governor of Jamaica |
|
1662 |
D'Oyley leaves Jamaica, unhappy with the government policies
Lord Windsor leads for 10 days |
|
1663 |
Offer made to Maroons of land and freedom in exchange for surrender |
|
1664 |
Sir Thomas Modyford appointed Governor of Jamaica
Began sugar cultivation |
1670
|
Jamaica ceded to England officially in the Treaty of Madrid |
|
1677 |
Charles II puts Jamaica under Poyning's Law |
|
1678 |
The Earl of Carlisle arrives to put in place the new law |
|
1690 |
Slaves in Clarendon rebel and join the Maroons
Cudjoe begins to organize First Maroon War |
|
1694 |
Buccaneer du Casse from French Hispaniola attacks the island |
1702
|
War of the Spanish Succession causes heightened defenses in the Caribbean |
| 1713 |
Peace treaty between Britain and Spain signed |
| 1717 |
King's Pardon offered to pirates who surrendered within a set time
First printing press in Kingston |
| 1718 |
War between Britain and Spain broke out
|
| 1720 |
"Calico Jack" caught off the north coast of Jamaica |
| 1721 |
Treaty of Madrid ends war between Britain and Spain
|
| 1722 |
Hurricane destroys much of Jamaica, including Kingston Harbour |
| 1728 |
Planter Lawes introduces coffee at Temple Hall estate |
| 1729 |
Revenue Act passed by the Assembly, ensuring Jamaican self-government
|
| 1734 |
Captain Stoddart attacks Maroons at Nanny Town in the Blue Mountains successfully
|
| 1738 |
Colonel Guthrie offers Cudjoe of the Maroons peace terms
|
| 1739 |
Colonel Guthrie and Cudjoe agreed to peace, giving Maroons freedom
War of Jenkins' Ear between British and Spanish
|
| 1741 |
Quao of the Maroons makes peace with British
British attack Cartagena, Colombia
|
|
1744 |
France joined Spain in the war
Hurricane and earthquake hit
Jamaica, Kingston
Accidental introduction of guinea grass to
Jamaica |
1745
|
Unsuccessful slave conspiracy |
|
1748 |
War ends with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
|
|
1754 |
Moravian missionaries arrive in Jamaica, teach slaves Christianity |
|
1755 |
Governor Admiral Knowles attempts to transfer capital from Spanish Town to Kingston |
1756
|
Seven Years' War between France and Britain |
| 1758 |
Spanish join French in war |
| 1760 |
Tacky's Rebellion, Jamaica's most serious slave revolt, began
|
| 1763 |
Treaty of Paris ends Seven Years' War
Britain gains Dominica, Grenada,
Grenadines, St. Vincent, and Tobago
Spain regains Florida and Havana |
| 1765 |
Slave uprising in St. Mary
Britain passes the Stamp Act
|
| 1766 |
Slave uprising in Westmoreland |
| 1768 |
Slave uprising against Kingston discovered and stopped |
| 1775 |
Fighting begins in American Revolution
Jamaica writes bill slowing the importation of slaves, crown does not pass bill |
| 1777 |
Slave uprising in Hanover and Westmoreland stopped before it could begin |
| 1778 |
France joins the North American colonies against England in the war
Ackee plant brought to Jamaica
|
|
1779 |
The American Revolution shifted to the Caribbean
French
fleet arrives in Haiti
Spain declares war on England - not siding with
America |
| 1780 |
Nelson goes to fight for Lake Nicaragua, returns with fever
Admiral George Rodney commands the fleet
Hurricane devastates Jamaica |
|
1781 |
British capture St. Eustatius
Another hurricane destroys much of Jamaica |
| 1782 |
Battle of the Saints takes place, Jamaica remains in British hands
Mango brought to Jamaica
|
|
1783 |
American Revolutionary War ends |
|
1784 |
Jamaica devastated by hurricane |
|
1785 |
Jamaica devastated by hurricane |
|
1786 |
Jamaica devastated by hurricane |
| 1787 |
Captain Bligh goes to Pacific in search of new foods for Jamaicans to grow |
|
1789 |
French Revolution begins |
|
1790 |
Haitian blacks begin revolting in Hispaniola |
|
1791 |
Assembly decides to support cultivation of foodstuffs
|
|
1793 |
Breadfruit brought to Jamaica by Captain Bligh
Louis XIV killed
Britain wars with France
Jamaica's Governor ordered to suppress the Haitian Revolution
|
| 1795 |
Trelawny Town Maroon uprising and Second Maroon War
General Williamson takes command of troops in Hispaniola
|
|
1796 |
Second Maroon War ends, Maroons deported |
|
1798 |
Brigadier-General Maitland made terms with Toussaint L'Overture to end the fighting
Black troops left on Hispaniola |
1803
|
French settlers evacuated from Hispaniola |
| 1805 |
Martial law declared with news of a French fleet on the way |
| 1807 |
British Act of Parliament makes importation of slaves illegal for British subjects |
| 1808 |
Duke of Manchester arrives as Governor
Law passed declaring slave trade unlawful in Britain |
| 1812 |
American War of 1812 increased trade with Jamaica |
| 1815 |
French Revolution officially ends |
| 1823 |
Anti-Slavery Society founded in England |
| 1827 |
Law passed charging slave traders as pirates, with punishment of death |
| 1830 |
Law passed giving mulattoes equal rights with whites in Jamaica |
| 1831 |
Sharpe's Rebellion Christmas week |
| 1833 |
England passes the Abolition of Slavery Act, providing for emancipation the following year |
| 1834 |
Jamaican act restricting voting
Date set by Emancipation Act for young slaves to be freed and apprenticeship of older slaves
|
1836
|
Second act on Jamaica restricting voting; both acts disallowed in England |
|
1838 |
Date of full freedom for non-field slaves; later re-scheduled date of all slaves' full freedom
Indian immigration begins
|
|
1839 |
Parliament passes the West Indies Prisons Act |
|
1840 |
Africans encouraged to become indentured servants on Jamaica |
|
1846 |
England passed a law equalizing sugar tariffs |
|
1850 |
Outbreak of Asiatic cholera |
|
1852 |
Parliament steps in with the Assembly
Outbreak of smallpox |
|
1853 |
Second outbreak of cholera |
|
1860 |
Chinese immigration begins |
1862
|
Edward John Eyre becomes Governor |
| 1865 |
Petition sent to Queen Victoria for help;"Queen's Letter" received
Morant Bay Rebellion occurs
Jamaica becomes a Crown Colony |
| 1866 |
Sir John Peter Grant arrives as Governor |
| 1870 |
Rio Cobre Irrigation Works began to irrigate lands near Spanish Town
Captain Baker works to expand banana exports |
| 1872 |
Capital transferred from Spanish Town to Kingston |
| 1879 |
Baker begins widely exporting bananas to the U.S.
French begin work on the Panama Canal |
| 1883 |
Sir Henry Norman brings improved constitution to Jamaica |
| 1889 |
Sir Henry Blake became Governor |
| 1907 |
Earthquake destroys Kingston |
| 1914 |
WWI begins |
| 1915 |
First Jamaicans sail to join in the war |
| 1917 |
Conscription Law passed |
| 1918 |
WWI ends |
| 1921 |
Commission sent to examine Jamaica's government |
| 1927 |
Marcus Garvey returns to Jamaica, works to improve the situation of blacks |
| 1929 |
Jamaica Banana Producers Association forms
Great Depression causes sugar prices to drop |
| 1936 |
Jamaica Banana Producers Association becomes a private trading company |
| 1938 |
West Indies Sugar Company estate workers strike |
| 1940 |
Britain leases air bases to the U.S. for WWII
Colonial Development and Welfare Act passed |
|
1944 |
New Constitution ends the Crown Colony status of Jamaica |
|
1953 |
Constitution modified to create the position of Chief Minister and 7 others |
| 1955 |
Norman Manley elected to head Government
People's National Party (PNP) wins majority |
|
1957 |
More constitutional changes creating Cabinet Government |
1958
|
Federation of the West Indies forms with British colonies |
|
1961 |
Jamaica leaves the Federation |
|
1962 |
Jamaica becomes independent |
|
1965 |
Bustamante retires |
|
1969 |
Norman Manley dies
Michael Manley takes control of PNP, cultivates Democratic Socialism |
| 1972 |
PNP wins control in elections |
|
1974 |
PNP under Manley affiliates itself with Castro and socialism, begins government control of businesses |
|
1980 |
Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) wins in elections |
|
1989 |
PNP wins in elections |
|
1992 |
Manley retires; Patterson takes his place |
|
1997 |
Patterson re-elected |
|
2002 |
Patterson re-elected |
