(From 650 A.D. to Independence in 1962)
Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica in 1494 and declared it for Spain. The island had already been inhabited by the Arawak people since 650 A.D. The Arawaks came from Guyana. They were very smart farmers, fishermen, and artisans. In the early 1500's Spaniards became to occupy the island and made slaves out of the Arawak people. The Arawaks were treated so harshly that all 60,000 of them had died within 50 years. The Spaniards then went to Africa to replace their slaves. They used the Atlantic Slave Trade routes to accomplish this.
In May 1655 British Forces led by Admiral Sir William Penn took over control of the island. The Spaniards fled to Cuba and the northern coast of the island.
From 1655 to 1663 a number of Governors and Generals ran the island until 1664 when the first House of Assembly was created with 23 elected officials. Many battles and changes in office took place until 1692. On June 7, 1692 an earthquake rocked the island and leaving it in ruins. The city of Port Royal was completely destroyed. In 1704 a fire broke out and burned everything to the ground except for the forts. Kingston was then built across the harbor from the old Port Royal.
In 1872 the capital city was officially changed from Villa de la Vega, now known as Spanish Town, to Kingston.
In 1938 Jamaica gained a small amount of local control with the emergence of the People's National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) which came around in 1943.
August 6, 1962 Jamaica gained its independence. They remain a member of the Commonwealth of Nations led from the U.K.
Emigration was mostly for agricultural work in the banana and the cane fields in Central America, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Into the 1950's most emigrants went to the United Kingdom. However, in 1962 the U.K. began to restrict immigration which made the United States a number one choice. Currently, about 20,000 Jamaicans emigrate to the United States each year.
Miami and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and New York City, New York have the largest population of Jamaicans. Over half of Jamaicans living in New York are living in the Brooklyn area.
Sources:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jamaica
Gleaner: http://www.discoverjamaica.com/gleaner/discover/geography/history1.htm