Territorial evolution of the Caribbean
This is a timeline of the territorial evolution of the Caribbean and nearby areas of North, Central, and South America, listing each change to the internal and external borders of the various countries that make up the region.
The political evolution of the land surrounding the Caribbean reveals the significant role the region played in the colonial struggles of the European powers since Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492.
In the 20th century the Caribbean was again important during World War II, in the decolonization wave in the post-war period, and in the tension between Communist Cuba and the United States (U.S.).
Genocide, slavery, immigration and rivalry between world powers have given Caribbean history an impact disproportionate to the size of this small region.
[24] On St. Kitts the French made one more major attack on British troops in 1706 during the War of the Spanish Succession taking the whole of the island.
[36] The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ratified by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784 and by the King of Great Britain on April 9, 1784 (the ratification documents were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784), formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule starting in 1775.
The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of these see Peace of Paris (1783).
[50] The Treaty of Amiens is signed which ends the hostilities between France and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars.
It was signed on 25 March 1802 (Germinal 4, year X in the French Revolutionary Calendar) by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace".
[61] Spanish Haiti's independence was short-lived, as Haitian forces, led by Jean Pierre Boyer, invaded and took control of the country just nine weeks later in February 1822.
[68] After a brief time as part of the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide became a state in the Federal Republic of Central America on July 1, 1823.
The Congress then declared that the individual states could establish their own governments, and on July 7, 1838 recognized these as "sovereign, free, and independent political bodies."
On September 11, 1842, Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna proclaimed the "irrevocable union" of Soconusco with Chiapas.
In 1838 Juan Pablo Duarte founded a secret society called La Trinitaria, which sought the complete independence of Santo Domingo without any foreign intervention.
[75] Ramón Matías Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez (the latter of partly African ancestry),[76] despite not being among the founding members of La Trinitaria, were decisive in the fight for independence.
They were backed by Pedro Santana, a wealthy cattle rancher from El Seibo, who became general of the army of the nascent Republic.
[78] On 28 January 1860 Britain and Nicaragua concluded the Treaty of Managua, which transferred to Nicaragua the suzerainty over the entire Caribbean coast from Cabo Gracias a Dios to Greytown (now San Juan del Norte) but granted autonomy to the Miskito Indians in the more limited Mosquito Reserve (the area described above).
[82] Unionists captured President Davis at Irwinville, Georgia, on May 10,[83] and the remaining Confederate armies had surrendered by June 1865.
[22][44] Treaty of Paris (1898) was the result of the Spanish–American War which gave control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the Americans.
[86] Only 2 Republicans voted against ratification, George Frisbie Hoar of Massachusetts and Eugene Pryor Hale of Maine.
Philippe Bunau-Varilla went to Washington, D.C. and New York City to negotiate the terms with several U.S. officials, most prominently, Secretary of State John Hay.
[89] Cuba was placed under U.S. occupation and a U.S. governor, Charles Edward Magoon, after a rebellion led by José Miguel Gómez.
Horacio Vásquez Lajara defeated Francisco J. Peynado and with his inauguration on July 13, 1924 America ends its control.
