Who came to Jamaica before the Tainos?

Who came to Jamaica before the Tainos?

The original inhabitants of Jamaica are believed to be the Arawaks, also called Tainos. They came from South America 2,500 years ago and named the island Xaymaca, which meant ““land of wood and water”. The Arawaks were a mild and simple people by nature.

What year did the African came to Jamaica?

1513
The first Africans arrived in Jamaica in 1513 as servants to the Spanish settlers. These Africans were freed by the Spanish when the English captured the island in 1655. They immediately fled to the mountains where they fought to retain their freedom and became the first Maroons.

What year did the Tainos came to the Caribbean?

1492
Columbus and his crew, landing on an island in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, were the first Europeans to encounter the Taíno people. Columbus described the Taínos as a physically tall, well-proportioned people, with a noble and kind personality.

What year did the English came to Jamaica?

1655
In 1655 a British expedition under Admiral Sir William Penn and General Robert Venables captured Jamaica and began expelling the Spanish, a task that was accomplished within five years.

Where in Jamaica did the Tainos settled?

Kingston area
The tainos settlement in the Kingston area, Jamaica.

Where did the Taino people of Jamaica come from?

By the time of Columbus’s arrival in 1494 the Jamaican Tainos were part of approximately 6 million Arawakan speaking people of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas (where they were known as the Lucayans). They knew Jamaica as ‘Yamaye’, the land of springs. Jamaica had over 200 village sites ruled by chiefs or caciques.

Where did Christopher Columbus find the Taino people?

At the time of European contact in the late fifteenth century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The Taíno were the first New World peoples encountered by Christopher Columbus during his 1492 voyage.

Who was the first person to come to Jamaica?

Jamaica’s first inhabitants, the Tainos (also called the Arawaks), were a peaceful people believed to be from South America. It was the Tainos who met Christopher Columbus when he arrived on Jamaica’s shores in 1494.

When did the Taino people become extinct in the Spanish colonies?

For instance, a smallpox epidemic in Hispaniola in 1518–1519 killed almost 90% of the surviving Taíno. The remaining Taíno intermarried with Europeans and Africans, and became incorporated into the Spanish colonies. The Taíno were considered extinct as a people at the end of the century.