History of Dominica

The Arawak were guided to Dominica, and other islands of the Caribbean, by the South Equatorial Current from the waters of the Orinoco River.

The Caribs, who settled here in the 14th century, called the island Wai‘tu kubuli, which means "Tall is her body.

"[1] Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week on which he spotted it - a Sunday ('Dominica' in Latin) - which fell on 3 November 1493 on his second voyage.

In 1632, the French Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique claimed Dominica along with all the other 'Petite Antilles' but no settlement was attempted.

In 1715, a revolt of "poor white" smallholders in the north of Martinique, known as La Gaoulé,[3] caused an exodus of them to southern Dominica.

[4] Already installed in Martinique and Guadeloupe and cultivating sugar cane, the French gradually developed plantations in Dominica for coffee.

In 1831, reflecting a liberalization of official British racial attitudes, the Brown Privilege Bill conferred political and social rights on free nonwhites.

Following World War I, an upsurge of political consciousness throughout the Caribbean led to the formation of the representative government association.

Marshaling public frustration with the lack of a voice in the governing of Dominica, this group won one-third of the popularly elected seats of the legislative assembly in 1924 and one-half in 1936.

Shortly thereafter, Dominica was transferred from the Leeward Island Administration and was governed as part of the Windwards until 1958, when it joined the short-lived West Indies Federation.

After the federation dissolved, Dominica became an associated state of the United Kingdom on February 27, 1967, and formally took responsibility for its internal affairs.

Within a year of her inauguration she survived two unsuccessful coups and in October 1983, as chairperson of the Organisation of East Caribbean States, endorsed the US Invasion of Grenada.

[10] In the 2019 general elections The Dominica Labour Party (DLP) was given another overwhelming mandate – for a record fifth consecutive five-year term.

The party's charismatic but often maligned leader, Roosevelt Skerrit, will serve a new five-year term as the Prime Minister of Dominica.