History History

Long before the arrival of Columbus' caravels, the terrible and vindictive Caribbean warriors (Karibs or Kalinagos) constantly harassed the Arawaks (or Tainos), destining the prisoners to their cult and the women to slavery. This is why the peaceful Amerindians, driven out of the rainforests of Venezuela and the banks of the Orinoco River, emigrated in successive waves to the islands now known as the Greater Caribbean. This large island, chosen by a hundred thousand Arawaks, became Xaymaca, the land of rivers and forests

Christopher Columbus set foot on the north coast of the island covered with primitive forest in the present Discovery Bay during his second voyage. The welcome of the Arawak population is slightly hostile. A few arrows are launched from the canoes. But the Spanish canons and dogs, making some victims, quickly get the better of this rather symbolic resistance. It is in the name of the Catholic sovereigns that Christopher Columbus takes possession of the island which he names Santiago. The very next day, the Arawaks came to bring gifts and food as a token of friendship. After a brief reconnaissance, the Spanish caravels left, not without having disembarked a few men who founded Puerto Seco ("the dry port"), in this bay without a source of fresh water.
Christopher Columbus did not return to the island until 9 years later, during his fourth voyage, forced to stop for more than a year near the present-day locality of New Seville, because of his caravels which had been eaten by worms on their way back to Europe. After this involuntary retreat, he finally returned to Spain, never to return to the New World. The Castilian sovereigns then granted the island to the Columbus family

When the admiral died in 1506, his son Diego Columbus became Marquis of Jamaica. But if fresh water abounded in Jamaica, the coveted gold was not there. The island was abandoned to a few noble families who settled in Rio Bueno.

Sevilla Nueva, established by the Spanish Crown in 1509, has only a fort, a castle and a church. The insalubriousness of the swampy coast and the absence of gold pushed the Spaniards towards the interior of the island. In 1534, they founded the capital, Santiago de la Vega, today Spanish Town. The island became a second-rate agricultural colony, where cattle and pigs were raised and sugar cane and sweet potatoes were grown.
The settlers' farms replaced the destroyed indigenous farms, the population was forcibly conscripted into violence and repression. In about fifty years, the Arawak population disappeared. The so-called "Indians" - in reality Amerindians - were decimated by tens of thousands, dying of exhaustion under the mistreatment of the colonizers or annihilated by unknown diseases coming from Europe (smallpox, tetanus or typhoid fever). Still others preferred suicide to the tutelage of the colonists

In 1611, a report sent to the King of Spain mentions 74 "Indians" still living on the island. It was therefore necessary to replace this inexpensive, slave labor force

The quarrels between the Church and the governors and the repeated attacks of the pirates weaken the Spanish authority. At the same time, the rich neighbouring Hispaniola was the first target of the English fleet in 1654. Despite their numerical superiority, the English lost a thousand men. The nearby Jamaican coasts offered a convenient retreat and appeased English desires. Jamaica, sparsely populated, forgotten by politicians and soldiers, poorly defended and poorly armed, would do the trick. On May 10, 1655, some 40 ships and 10,000 men disembarked in Kingston Bay. The expedition marched towards Santiago de la Vega (Spanish Town), the capital. Surprised, the Spaniards did not even defend themselves. Cornered, they surrendered and accepted the surrender.

French, English and Dutch freebooters and adventurers, who arrived with the first settlers, formed the piracy. Their headquarters were located on the island of Turtle, north-east of Hispaniola. But many chose Jamaica as their strategic base to scour the Caribbean. The north coast was ideally placed on the route of the Spanish galleons, and PortRoyal, connected to the land by a thin coastal strip, provided a well-protected retreat

Since the 17th century, sugar has been the mainstay of the Jamaican economy. Cocoa, indigo - there were up to 40 plantations - and tobacco were also prosperous crops, but much less profitable than sugarcane. Solid fortunes accumulated in the tropics. Farms and the sugar trade developed, requiring an abundant workforce capable of working hard in tropical climatic conditions. More and more slaves were imported from the western coasts of Africa. The Dutch, experienced traders, organized the trade of Blacks from the coasts of West Africa, from present-day Senegal to Angola, marking the beginning of the slave era and the triangular trade. Ships sailed from Africa to the Caribbean with slaves, from the Caribbean to Europe with sugar and from Europe to Africa and the Caribbean with consumer goods.
From 1672, the slave trade was organized directly by London for its colonies, with the creation of the Royal African Company, importing Africans from the Coromantes, Eboe, Mandingos, Fanti and Ashanti tribes from the West coast of Africa, as well as from the Ibo and Yoruba tribes from the territories that are today Nigeria. Jamaica was the first stop on the ships' route. The most unruly and unruly individuals were disembarked there, the strong heads that would lead rebellions and revolts

Freed by their Spanish masters when the British landed, the former indigenous slaves concentrated in Cockpit Country and the foothills of the Blue Mountains were in conflict with the colonizers for nearly a century. They were known as the Maroon, from the Spanish cimmarón, meaning "untamed savage.
From their mountains, they relentlessly harassed the English, raiding plantations, burning fields, stealing livestock and equipment, and then disappearing under the cover of dense vegetation. Other runaway slaves joined them in these hard-to-reach mountains. Their headquarters is Nanny Town, a secret village in the northeast of Blue Mountain Peak where Queen Nanny, one of the souls of the rebellion, is located. The humiliated English no longer control the situation.
In 1690, the Clarendon slaves, from the African warrior tribe of Coromantes, revolt, join the Maroons and lead, with General Cudjoe at their head, the first Maroon War. From ambushes to skirmishes, the Maroons wore down the resistance of the official forces

The English, guided by hunting dogs, eventually tracked down the former slaves and won the Battle of Nanny Town in 1734. The town was destroyed and many of the former slaves living there chose suicide rather than return to captivity. Today, the site is still haunted by the spirits of the brave warriors who perished in the battle.

In 1739, a treaty was signed between Cudjoe and Colonel Guthrie: the Maroons submitted in exchange for 600 ha of land in the Río Grande region, where they established Mooretown. The treaty required them to refuse aid to escaped slaves and to assist in their capture. Cudjoe was appointed commander at Trelawny Town. His status gave him legal authority over all crimes except those deserving capital punishment. A similar treaty was signed with Quao, the chief of the eastern Maroons in the Blue Mountains, marking the beginning of 50 years of peace.
During these rebellions, the foundations of a culture of resistance to colonialism emerged. Religions, beliefs, languages, music, rhythms, merge to give birth to the patois, the voodoo, the traditional Jamaican music, the mento, first foundations of a common identity. Even today, the descendants of the Maroons live in the free villages of the island's interior and enjoy a special status that dates back to the 18th century

In 1673, there were 57 plantations; in 1740 there were 430! Jamaica then became the world's leading sugar producer. It was thanks to sugar that the English colonies in the West Indies held considerable power over the British Crown. Thousands of African captives crossed the Atlantic in ships where hygiene was so bad and conditions so harsh that the mortality rate reached more than 35% during the crossing

Huge farms were established at the expense of small plantations that could not raise the capital necessary to compete. Greathouses, the houses of the masters, were built away from the bustle of the plantation, on a hillside benefiting from the cool winds while allowing for easier surveillance. But these homes were rarely lived in; as soon as the farm was up and running, the owner moved to the city where the social life was more interesting. For many, Jamaica was only a stopover. Most English planters came for the easy money, not to settle permanently. Once the exploitation was underway, and the fortune made, the stewards administered the property of the English, who sometimes returned to England; the plantations often changed hands. Slavery determined the economic success of the island and the despair of thousands of families.
As soon as the ships loaded with slaves arrived, the planters bought them in groups or individually at auctions. But care was taken to disunite families and tribes, to avoid the creation of clans within the plantations. Treated like cattle, they are branded with the number of the new owner and transported to the plantation. It is estimated that one third of them died during the first three years of abominable living conditions. Most slaves worked in the fields, under the whip of the overseer. Others worked in the mill, the sugar mill, and others were servants in the greathouse (mostly women).
Punishment and corporal punishment are their daily lot because they are considered as property of the planter. The slaves' lodgings are built nearby. They have the use of small plots of land on which they grow potatoes or plantains that they sell at the Sunday market, saving a little to buy back their freedom from the planter. Sunday is traditionally a day of rest. After a few years, slaves could theoretically buy their freedom or were emancipated by their masters; they constituted the caste of free blacks for those who were lucky enough.

Dismayed by the most serious of the slave revolts, the British colonial government asked for the help of the Maroons to quell the insurrection. Starting in Port Maria in the parish of Saint Mary, the rebellion was led by Tacky, a former African chief from Ghana. After looting an arms depot, he encouraged the slaves on the plantations to revolt, which soon spread throughout the country, before ending with Tacky's death and the collective suicide of the insurgent band. In 1764, Jamaica had a population of 166,000, of which 144,000 were slaves, the overwhelming majority.

The French Revolution and its liberal ideals, the Haitian slave revolt - the largest slave rebellion the world has ever known and which will result in Haiti's independence in 1804 - and the development of the anti-slavery movement in Great Britain are all ferments that lead to the outbreak of a second Maroon War in 1795. The revolt started in the parish of Trelawny in Montego Bay, where two pig thieves were flogged. The incident offended the pride of the Maroons who called for revenge. Alarmed, the magistrates asked for troops to reinforce the local militia, aggravating the unrest.
The new governor of Jamaica, the Count of Balcarres, a veteran of the American War of Independence, was a proponent of the hard way. He enforced martial law, took charge of the troops and established his headquarters in Montego Bay. Trelawny Town, a Maroon enclave, was destroyed, but the English troops were ambushed and decimated. The Maroon revolt spread throughout the country. For five months, the insurgents were hunted down without respite. To this end, a hundred dogs were imported from Cuba to flush out the rebels in their lairs in the impenetrable Cockpit Country.
A second surrender of the Maroon insurgents followed. Some 600 of them were deported to Nova Scotia, then to Sierra Leone. The British troops occupy the village of Trelawny and the Maroon threat is definitively eradicated. But liberal ideas were advancing unstoppably and the abolitionist leader William Wilberforce, a member of the House of Commons, campaigned relentlessly for abolition. Unlike the French abolition, the English abolition of slavery would be progressive

From March^1, 1808, no more slaves were brought to the island. William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Zachary Macaulay, James Stephen, Granville Sharp, and the Saints, members of the Clapham sect, exerted an important influence on the decisions of the British Parliament in favor of the abolition of the slave trade and of slavery

Competition from sugar from Mauritius, and later from European beet sugar, is felt very strongly. Many plantations were abandoned. Planters replaced blacks with indentured laborers. Between 1834 and 1865, more than 25,000 men landed in Jamaica, half of them from Africa. The first to arrive were Europeans. From 1834 to 1838, thousands of Scots, Irish, Germans and British, then Chinese between 1852 and 1870 and Indians between 1880 and 1917. Despite this new workforce, the sugar industry did not recover

In 1831, a new revolt broke out in Trelawny parish, when Pastor Samuel Sharpe led a passive march of slaves who refused to return to work after Christmas. The rebellion ended on January 5, 1832, after plantations were burned and planters were murdered. In the end, a thousand blacks died, 312 were executed, and 14 whites were killed. In May 1832, Sam Sharpe was hanged in the central square of Montego Bay which now bears his name. He was declared a national hero in 1975.

In 1834, children under the age of 6 were declared free. Former slaves were subject to an apprenticeship system that lasted four years for domestic servants and six years for agricultural workers. The apprentice had to work without pay for 40 hours a week for his former master, which was, in fact, an extension of slavery. It was not until 1838 that the emancipation of the 319,351 Jamaican slaves was finally officially proclaimed. While the planters were compensated with nearly 20 million pounds sterling, the slaves received no compensation.

In order to maintain labor on the plantations, settler assemblies established regulations that limited the establishment of former slaves as independent farmers. However, many former slaves preferred independence to the disguised slavery of plantation work. They developed a survival economy based on growing food on tiny plots of land. This peasantry is still today one of the keystones of Jamaican society.

Under the terms of the Negro Education Grant of 1835, the British government provided an annual budget of 30,000 pounds for the education of ex-slaves in the former Caribbean colonies for five years, a ridiculous budget compared to the 20 million pounds in compensation received by the planters. Nevertheless, the foundations of the educational system were laid. Missionaries worked hand in hand with the government, and two-thirds of the budget was used to build schools and pay teachers' salaries

The period following emancipation saw the appearance of the first free villages. These new communities of former slaves were taken in hand by nonconformist missionaries - the Baptists were particularly active - who feared that the breakup of the plantations would scatter their followers. Churchmen bought large tracts of land and divided them among the families, creating the first free village structures. The church and the school became dominant institutions, where the pastors were the guarantors of values and culture. Resources were scarce, coming from the meager wages earned during slavery and from humanitarian donations from England. Sligoville, founded by Reverend James Phillippo, a Baptist minister from Spanish Town, was the first of these free villages. On July 10, 1835, he purchased 10 hectares of land near the summer residence of the island's governor, Lord Sligo. The building that housed the church and the school was completed in July 1838. Between March 12 and August 1, 1838, 21 former slaves, including three women, purchased 0.2 ha lots at a price of 1.16 pounds per lot. The first, William Atkinson, registered his property on March 12, 1838 in the Spanish Town Registry.

Other ministers of God followed the example and on February 19, 1839, the village of Victoria was born in the parish of Saint Thomas. In Saint Ann, five free villages were born in the Dry Mountains: Buxton, Clarkson Ville, Stepney, Sturge Town and Wilberforce

In 1842, 150 lots of land were sold but could not satisfy the growing demand. Small farms and their vegetable gardens sprang up in a village whose geometrically laid-out streets bore the names of prominent abolitionist leaders. In 1842, most of the men of Sligoville worked on coffee farms and sugar cane plantations while the women did domestic work

In 1850, there were 111 houses and 541 inhabitants in Sturge Town. This rural community made its living by growing fruits and vegetables for sale at local markets. In the parish of Trelawny, William Knibb created the villages of Alps, Granville, Hoby Town, Refuge. All over the island, pastors from different congregations were active in the creation and development of these rural communities. Spontaneously and independently of the religious, former slaves gathered to found their own village. Between 1838 and 1844, some 100,000 people, a good third of the emancipated slaves, lived in these communities

In 1861, there were 50,000 small landowners who owned about 1 ha each. The names of the properties, At Last, Fathers Gift, Happy Freedom, Happy Valley, Never Expect... testify to the flourishing of these new owners. Despite the obstacles (heavy taxation, non-existent communication routes, government disinterest and natural disasters), the Jamaican peasant class took root in the first decades after emancipation

Between 1834 and 1864, the number of schools increased from 7 to 490. In 1861, 33,561 children were enrolled in school, representing one-third of the population between the ages of 5 and 15.
In reality, the "plantocracy" slowed the progress of education, fearing that children would be drawn away from farm work. The missionaries' initiatives and support for the ex-slaves earned them great recognition, and the rural churches flourished. But as the agent was lacking, schisms were created and independent congregations were born. Other religious forms rooted in African cultures resurfaced. Revivalist cults with explosive manifestations (trances and possessions) such as pocomania and zion, still alive today in rural areas, were born at this time.

Blacks and Jews, until then excluded from civil and political life, were granted equal civil rights in 1831. But eligibility for the Jamaican Assembly excluded former slaves from public life, and they saw their rights violated: only 2 percent of men were allowed to vote. And in any case, the majority of the island's black population is living a new slavery, that of misery. Wages are ridiculous, living conditions are precarious, and the lack of participation in political life gives little hope of improving the situation. Social tension, already high, is worsening. The Morant Bay revolt was the culmination of the general discontent that was rising and of the social and political protest of a people who could not express themselves in the face of the planters who remained all-powerful.

In 1865, Paul Bogle, a prosperous small farmer and Baptist minister in 1864, and William Gordon, the son of a Scottish planter and a black slave, both members of the Jamaican Assembly, organized secret groups throughout the country called the Prayers Meetings. Their goal was to get blacks included in political decisions. It was one of these groups in the parish of St. Thomas, led by Bogle and Gordon, that instigated the last rebellion of black Jamaicans. On October 11, 1865, a march was organized towards the courthouse in Morant Bay. The demonstration quickly turned into a riot. The courthouse, a symbol of oppression and injustice, was set on fire by the rebels, as well as a large part of the city.
The response of the local authorities was bloody: martial law was declared. In addition to the two leaders hanged on October 23 without trial, several hundred blacks are executed and many villages in the region ransacked. Old England was moved by the severity of the reprisals: the governor of the time, Edward John Eyre, was removed from office. As for the two leaders, they were proclaimed national heroes in 1969

From 1866, the political status of Jamaica changed. Like its neighbors, it became a Crown colony. From then on, the colonists no longer had economic and political prerogatives, which they gave up to England. In exchange, England took over the island's debt.

Jamaica is going through a period of important reforms that propel the island into modernity. The capital was transferred from Spanish Town to Kingston. Bananas took over from sugar, ensuring the revival of an economy that had run out of steam, and their export was in full swing in the 1920s, bringing about the modernization of the country. The local government was reorganized and the judicial and police systems were modernized. An island banking system was created. Major works were undertaken on the island: construction of roads, bridges and railroad lines; a cabled communication system with Europe brought the country closer to the metropolis.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a movement of return to Africa began in Jamaica. Sierra Leone and Liberia were created, respectively in 1787 and 1822, to welcome former slaves, Maroons or captives of the illegal trade. But it was in 1914 that Marcus Mosiah Garvey founded the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvment Association) in the United States, whose objective was to consolidate the unity of the black race and to defend its rights. His shipping company, the Black Star Line, was intended to enable Blacks who so wished to return to Africa.

The Great War led to a resumption of sugar production, but this new momentum was quickly broken by stiff European competition. The country moved towards a gradual diversification of crops, without much success. But the multinational United Fruit Company took control of production to the detriment of small planters. Financial logic obliges, the shipping companies that load bananas for the USA want to make their boats profitable. They then imagined transporting the first tourists in search of tropical landscapes to the small banana-producing island. But on the island, the living conditions of the farm workers did not improve and social discontent grew. Repeated natural disasters, earthquakes and cyclones, put the plantations at risk.

In a snowball effect, during the economic crisis in the United States, the Jamaican economy collapsed due to the fall in world prices of the country's two mainstays, sugar and bananas, which had already been penalized by Panamá disease, a fungus that affects banana trees. Unemployment increased, aggravated by the restriction of emigration. Social unrest heralded the formation of unions and the first political parties. Strikes, demonstrations and hunger marches broke out regularly between 1935 and 1938. The drop in industrial production led to a drop in wages and the misery of the people increased

The PNP, with its socialist tendencies, forged links with the first trade unions, the TUC (Trade Union Congress) and the National Workers' Union, militating for a self-governed Jamaica. For his part, Alexander Bustamante created the JLP (Jamaican Labour Party) in 1943. His position in relation to England was more moderate, and he believed that the island should retain its links with a paternalistic state that helped it economically. A new constitution based on universal suffrage was adopted in 1944 after six long years of negotiations. The vote became accessible to more than 60% of the population and Alexander Bustamante won the first Jamaican elections.
In 1945, the election of a Labour government in Great Britain, followed by India's independence in 1947, pushed Jamaica towards independence. Norman Manley and the PNP won the elections in 1955; and a Council of Ministers, presided over by a Prime Minister, was created in 1957, reducing the powers of the British governor. By 1959, the country was self-governing, but defence and international relations remained under British control. Independence was de facto achieved

In May 1960, Prime Minister Norman Manley declared that his party was opposed to the Federation of the West Indies, which was born from the union of the Caribbean islands still under British rule. A referendum of the population "against" sounded the death knell of the precarious Federation, dissolved in 1962. The Jamaican government actively prepares its independence.
In February, an agreement with Great Britain is finally found, August 6, 1962 is chosen as the day of independence. The general elections that year gave victory to the Jamaica Labour Party of Bustamante. The development of new economic resources, such as bauxite and tourism, and the creation of the first industries, accelerated the rise of Jamaican nationalism. Its leader was Alexander Bustamante, and Norman Manley became the leader of the opposition.
At midnight on 5 August, Jamaica became an independent nation, a member of the Commonwealth. At midnight, the Union Jack was lowered and the Jamaican flag was raised in an official ceremony at the National Stadium in Kingston. Some 35,000 people attended the event, including Princess Margaret, representing her sister, the Queen of England, Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante and opposition leader Norman Manley.
Jamaica became the 109th nation to be admitted to the United Nations. Political parties will now shape social life, replacing the plantocracy. The central bank was created, military service was introduced and the judiciary was set up. But the newly acquired independence did not solve the fundamental economic, social and political problems.
Pan-Africanism, initiated by the theories and initiatives of Marcus Garvey and Black Power, supported in the United States by militant personalities such as Malcolm X, had many followers throughout the Caribbean and in Jamaica. These movements encouraged blacks to break with the imperialism of racist whites, to assume power in the islands where they were in the majority, to make their culture triumph and build a new society. The Rastafarian movement took root in the Jamaican population

Alexander Bustamante retired from politics and was succeeded as Prime Minister by Donald Sangster in 1967, when the JLP won the elections. On the death of Norman Manley, the PNP moved squarely towards socialism under the leadership of his son, Michael Manley, elected in 1972. Time for a change is a slogan that promises social and economic reforms. He established close ties with his socialist neighbour Cuba, and later with Angola and China. An official visit to Ethiopia enabled him to rally the Rastafarians to his cause.
From 1973 onwards, education became free and the economy was increasingly controlled by the state, particularly the bauxite industry, an important source of income for the country. In 1974, with "democratic socialism", a local minimum wage and social security coverage were introduced, as well as legislation to protect workers. An agrarian reform allowed small farmers to obtain land, and the construction of social housing mobilized the large cities.
Despite these popular but economically unconstructive measures, social unrest was reborn. Violent and deadly armed clashes between gangs armed by both parties in the poor districts of the capital. Against the backdrop of the Cold War, Cuba was accused of arming PNP supporters and the CIA of arming JLP supporters. In 1976, on the eve of new elections, the socialist government of Michael Manley declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew. The vote of the ballot box kept him largely at the head of the country.

Michael Manley maintains friendly relations with Cuba and Angola. In 1977, Fidel Castro was welcomed like a hero in the island during an official visit. Cuban instructors, doctors and technicians arrived in Jamaica, strengthening the ties of cooperation between the two islands. The United States became downright hostile to the Manley government. The US State Department then cut off its aid to the country. The spectre of communism also worried investors who began to withdraw from the island. The IMF suspended its loans to the government and refused to finance new social measures, imposing an austerity programme on the government. The international oil crisis worsened the situation. The wealthier social classes began to emigrate, draining the country of its vital forces, both in terms of professional specialties and financial power. Social unrest and violence resumed, and military and police pressure increased. Inflation reached record levels and unemployment increased

The aftermath of this crisis was not long in coming. The country experienced a clear conservative upsurge. The economic and political crisis led to a landslide victory for the JLP in the 1980 elections, after a series of terrible clashes between supporters of the two political parties that left some 800 people dead. Its new leader was Edward Seaga, officially supported by the United States, whose mobilizing theme was "deliverance. His first official visit was to Ronald Reagan, himself elected a few days after Seaga's victory. The American head of state paid him a visit in April 1982, the first visit by an American president to the island. The Cuban embassy was closed and its representatives were asked to leave the island.
The American support and the links developed with the Reagan administration were to bear fruit and an economic upturn was to emerge, albeit at the cost of severe restrictions on social spending on health and education. Inflation fell from 29% in 1980 to 6% at the end of 1981, and the economy grew by 2%. But the fall in bauxite and aluminum prices led to a fall in the Jamaican dollar, and the national currency was devalued by 40 per cent at the end of 1981. The Seaga administration became a monopoly: in addition to his position as Prime Minister, Seaga held all strategic ministerial responsibilities (defence, culture, information, finance and planning). His popularity collapsed during the 1983 elections, in which Michael Manley refused to take part, contesting the organization of the elections

The island was on the verge of bankruptcy when Hurricane Gilbert hit it hard in 1988. 25% of the population was left homeless and the damage exceeded $300 million

The 1989 elections saw the return of the PNP (People National Party), which had in the meantime partly abandoned its socialist ideas and turned to economic liberalism. The PNP remained in power until 2007, promoting free enterprise and agriculture and giving new impetus to tourism, which had cooled somewhat. Despite this, the economic situation is struggling to recover

The December 1997 and 2003 elections largely returned black Prime Minister Percival James Patterson, who had succeeded Michael Manley, the party's historic leader, in 1992 with 80 per cent of the seats. His resignation before the end of his fourth term in office propelled Portia Simpson Miller to the forefront of the political scene. In 2006, she became the first female prime minister in Jamaica's history. However, she was defeated in the 2007 elections by the leader of the JLP, Bruce Golding, who brought the Labour Party to power for the first time in 20 years.
A real alternation was born in the country at that time. Since then, every election has been balanced in terms of the scores of the two main parties, while no outsider party has really managed to break through

In January 2012, Portia Simpson Miller was again elected Prime Minister. She received U.S. President Barack Obama in April 2015 on an official visit to the island, the second by a U.S. President since Ronald Reagan in 1982.

In 2016, the JLP won the early parliamentary elections on February 25 and Andrew Holness, leader of the Labour Party, was sworn in as Prime Minister on March 3, 2016

Andrew Holness was re-elected by a large majority in 2020, gaining a large number of votes and seats, due to a good economic record despite the health crisis