Colony of Jamaica

Consists of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands

Dominant culture: British

History
First colonized by the Spanish in 1509, the island was conquered by the English in 1655. The 1500 Spanish settlers were expelled. However the 7000 English troops that captured the island were wrecked by disease until only about 2500 of them where left. The Spanish made several attempts at recapturing the island but eventually they signed a treaty ceding Jamaica and the Cayman islands to England. The English made Port Royal their main coastal town. It was a haven for pirates for most of that time but in 1692 an earthquake, and the landslides and tsunami that followed, destroyed the city. It lost roughly 3/4 of it's population to the disaster and the following diseases. The northern part of the city fell into the sea. In 1703 the rebuilding attempt was destroyed by fire, then several hurricanes and a flooding in 1722. It is now 1750 and another fire has just burned down Port Royal again. Kingston, which lies on the other side of the bay, is now the economic center of the Island. Jamaica was the site of several large revolts of escaped slaves in the previous decades. A lot of these slaves lived in the mountains where there ancestors had fled to when the British conquered the Island from the Spanish. These so called Maroons used guerilla tactics and caves and canyons that could easily be defended to withstand the British soldiers sent to root them out. In 1740 the British, realizing they could not defeat the Maroons, made an agreement with them. The Maroons are now allowed to live in their five free towns. They have their own rulers but there is a British supervisor present in each of those towns, they also agree not to harbor any runaway slaves. The island is very valuable because of the great revenues of sugar cane and coffee it was able to produce. It is governed by a crown-appointed governor and a House of Assembly that consisted of rich plantation owners to advice the governor.

Points of Interest

 * Kingston, founded by the survivors of the 1692 earthquake it soon became the largest town and new economic center of Jamaica.
 * Port Royal, the previous economic center of Jamaica, the ruins of this town are across the bay from Kingston. The latest rebuilding attempt has been destroyed by fire again.
 * Spanish Town, capital of Jamaica.
 * Accompong, a semi-sovereign city of runaway slaves and Taíno natives. The largest of the Maroon cities and probably the most important. There is a statue of Cudjoe, the greatest of the Maroon leaders here. Cudjoe was a short, dwarf-like man whose brother now rules over this city which bares his name.
 * Trelawny Town, Moore Town, Scott's Pass and Nanny Town. The four other Maroon towns on Jamaica. Of these Nanny Town is probably the most important, it is ruled by the 85 year old Queen Nanny. Nanny Town is the center of Voudou religion on Jamaica, most of the population converted after Queen Nanny did so first. Nanny is a genius when it comes to herbs, she has more knowledge about this than anybody else on the Island.

Notable Inhabitants

 * Edward Trelawny, Governor of Jamaica.
 * Sir Henry Moore, plantation owner and educated in law.
 * Accompong, brother of Cudjoe, the leader of the Maroon War. The city of Accompong is named after him. Current leader of that city.
 * Robert Duckinfield, plantation owner on Jamaica. He is married to Isabella Miller and has one daughter with her also named Isabella. He has a long standing relationship with Jane Engusson, a free woman of color and has two Mulatto children with her named William and Magaret. Jane and his two mulatto children all appear in his will and receive a significant part of his wealth. Robert is a member of the Colonial Assembly on Jamaica.
 * Queen Nanny, when she was younger she was a famous leader of the Maroons and is rumoured to have personally freed over 800 slaves. She established Nanny Town and while she is 85 years old she still rules over it. She is an amazing organiser. It is also well known that she is an Obeah woman, a powerfull spellcaster. She has converted to Voudou a few years ago and the religion has become widespread in Nanny Town.

Link Sites

 * Port Royal, the Link site lies in the ruins of this city forcing people from Kingston to make the trip across the bay.
 * Accompong
 * Nanny Town