St. Vincent and the Grenadines 304


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SVG304 Post-slavery Chronology

The basic structure is based on the chronology Mary R. Murrin made for the New Jersey Historical Commission during the Columbus Quincentennial, with additions and emendations derived from various sources on the web.

Events of importance are indicated this way.

1807
The British abolished the trade in slaves

1812 -
First recorded eruption of La Soufriere volcano which resulted in many casualties.

1812
War between Britain and the US, the US Capitol burned (1814), US wins battle of New Orleans (1815) . War ends inconclusively.

1826
Joseph Niepice takes the first permanent photograph

1833
British abolish slavery in 1833. The full application of the slave economy and the absence of free Black Caribs only had a life of 40 years on St. Vincent; while plantation slavery on, for instance, Cuba lasted from 1600 to 1880. Slavery therefore had less of a psychological impact in St. Vincent than it had on some other Caribbean islands.

1837
Victoria takes British throne at 18

1848
Revolutions in Europe

1857
Indian Mutiny

1861 to 1865
Civil WAr in U.S.

1871
Paris Commune

1895 to 1898
Cuban War of Independence

1898
Spanish-American War, U.S. Acquires Puerto Rico

1898 Wells: War of the Worlds

1899 to 1902
Second Boer War

1902
Cuba Independent

1902
Eruption of La Soufriere volcano results in the death of 2,000 inhabitants. Eruption of Mt. Pelee in Martinique, 25,000 dead

1903
Panama independent of Cuba, U.S. begins canal.

1905 Einstein: Theory of Special Relativity

1906 to 1909
U.S. occupies Cuba

1914
Panama Canal open. U.S. occupies Haiti.

1914 to 1918
World War I

1916 to 1924
U.S. occupies Dominican Republic

1917
Russian Revolution

1917 to 1923
U.S. occupies Cuba

1929 to 1939
Great Depression

1930
Haile Selassie crowned in Ethiopia, Trujillo dictator in Dominican Republic.

1934
Revolutionary Government in Cuba

1935
Riots in Barbados, sugar strike imn St. Kitts, oil strike in Trinidad

1935
October 21, 1935 saw the a series of working people protests which the British colonial authorities tried to characterize as riots. The protests were led by a number of working women, including a Black Carib woman named Bertha Mutt. George McIntosh was subject to a hearing on the grounds that he incited rioting, but the charges were withdrawn.He later founded the St. Vincent Workingmen’s Association.

1938
Labor rebellions in Jamaica and Guyana

1939 to 1944
First Batista regime in Cuba

1939 to 1945
Second World War

1946
UN founded

1948 OAS Founded

1948 Ghandi Asassinated

1951
St Vincent granted universal adult suffrage. First Chief Minister, Ebenezer Joshua elected.

1952 to 1959 Second Batista regime in Cuba

1958 to 1962
St Vincent a member of the British-sponsored West Indies Federation.

1959 Cuban Revolution

1959 Sputnik

1961
Bay of Pigs.

1969
St Vincent granted internal self-government under Chief Minister Milton Cato, with Britain retaining responsibility for foreign and defense affairs.

1974
Grenada independent

1979
Grenada revolution

1979
October - St Vincent and the Grenadines become independent with Milton Cato of the center-left St Vincent Labour Party (SVLP) as Prime Minister.

1979
Third major eruption of La Soufriere volcano.

1979
On 8 December , the Government had to quell a brief uprising on Union Island, attributed to economic problems following the eruption of Soufriere in April. The eruption lasted for ten days, damaging agriculture and the new tourist industry, and caused widespread evacuation although there was no loss of life,.

1979
Three Mile Island

1980
Hurricane Allen struck the island, devastating the banana crop

1981
Workers stage a general strike in protest at new industrial relations legislation against the background of an economic recession.

1983
US Invades Grenada

1984
James Mitchell becomes Prime Minister after his center-right New Democratic Party (NDP) wins a surprising victory in the general election.

1989
In July 1989 fire broke out in the police barracks in Kingstown, and quickly spread destroying a large part of the centre of town.

1989
Mitchell returned to office after his NDP won all parliamentary seats.

1991
US invades Panama, Gulf War

1994
Mitchell and the NDP returned to office once again, but with a reduced majority.

1998
Mitchell and the NDP scrape a fourth term. Labor unions and opposition parties launch recall initiative.

2000
Mitchell resigns and is succeeded by his finance minister, Arniham Eustace.

2001
Ralph Gonsalves of the opposition coalition, elected Prime Minister

2001
September, UN holds conference on Racism in Durban. Barbados and St. Vincent are represented by Prof. Hilary Beckles.

2001
September 11: Islamic guerrillas crash commercial jets into World Trade Center and Pentagon. Thousands killed when buildings unexpectedly collapse.

2002
August. UN Conference on sustainable development in Johannesburg divided along racial lines.

2002
September. Followup to Durban Conference held in Barbados. Melanin-deficient participants, staff and journalists are expelled from the meeting.

2003
April. U.S. invades Iraq without U.N. approval.

2004 U.S. economy is weak and employment does not follow apparent improvement in corporate profits. Guerilla warfare continues in Iraq and elsewhere. Revival of evangelical religion.

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