Jamaica, British administration, 1/2 Penny – 1871

Description

After the failed attempt to take the Spanish, the English began the invasion of Jamaica in 1655, concluding it in 1660. Many Spaniards released the slaves before fleeing, forming communities in the mountains that would remain free for a long time. Given the Spanish attempts to reconquer the island, the English encouraged piracy, converting Port Royal into a pirate shelter. After the signing of the Madrid Treaty in 1670 in which British sovereignty of the island was recognized, the English tried to limit and control the pirate activity. During the 19th century, the economy grew spectacularly, especially for plantations, especially sugar, but also coffee or cotton. All these plantations were exploited with slaves in poor conditions, so they were common to the mountains, where they joined the existing cimarrones communities. This led to the First Cimarrona War, which was brought with an agreement in 1739/1740. Given the massive presence of slaves, the prohibitions in slave trade in 1807 and later of the institution itself in the British empire of 1834, caused numerous tensions, and ended up causing a huge lack of labor. Discrimination over the black population, which exceeded in more than 10 times the white population, caused cruelly stifled revolts by the British. Finally, at the beginning of the second half of the century, social reforms began and Jamaica became a colony of La Corona in 1866.