The Documented History Of Trinidad

We thought it would be more fitting to publish every December 30th article on December 31st, to ring in the New Year. Today’s article will discuss the long & complicated overall history & marine history of the island of Trinidad. Trinidad has an incredibly long history which was widely was widely dictated by the Spanish & the British. Trinidad is an island with 14 municipalities that sits 8.06 Nautical/Marine miles (9.275282 regular miles or 14.927119435 kilometers) off the coast of Venezuela. In this article we will discuss the discovery & documented history of Trinidad, Trinidad’s Aboriginals, the disaster history, a segment on Trinidad's economy, & marine history. Trinidad is a beautiful & tropical but its past is often hidden behind its paradise facade. It’s been from hand to hand with each country changing the direction & agenda of the island. With that being said, lets delve into this blissful island of the tropics. The Discovery & Documented History Before & After Colonization Of The Island Of Trinidad Before Colonization Human settlement has been in Trinidad for at least 7,000 years at the time of publishing. The earliest human settlers are currently being termed by “Archaic” or “Ortoiroid”. There have been a total of 29 Archaic sites that have bern uncovered in both south Trinidad & Tobago. These sites include the 7,000-year-old Banwari Trace site which at the time of publishing is the oldest documented human settlement in the eastern Caribbean. The Banwari trace was believed to have been as far back as 5,000 B.C. These civilizations were believed to have settled from South American areas in the year 4,000 B.C. Archaic peoples dominated the area until approximately 200 B.C. In approximately the year 250 B.C the first ceramic-using peoples in the Caribbean known as the Saladoid peoples, entered Trinidad as well as Tobago. They were believed to have use Trinidad as a sort of way station in order to move to other islands. At the time of publishing there are 37 uncovered Saladoid sites that have been discovered in Trinidad as well as Tobago. After 250 B.C another group known as the Barrancoid people settled in the south of Trinidad. They migrated up the Orinoco river making settlements along the rivers bank. The oldest Barrancoid settlement appears to have been built at Erin, Palo Seco Which is along the southern coast. After the collapse of the of the Barrancoid civilizations along the coast, a new group known as the Arauquinoid promptly took their place along the Orinoco river & up the coast. Some of the artifacts of the Arauquinoid’s have been found in & along the Orinoco river. However the Cultural artefacts were partially adopted in Trinidad, Tobago, & Northwestern Venezuela. As a result this culture is modernly called Guayabitoid in these areas of adaptation. In approximately the year 1300 A.D a new group of peoples appear to have settled in Trinidad & Tobago & introduced new cultural artefacts & attributes. However much of that was replaced or overtaken by the Guayabitoid culture. This new culture is termed as the Mayoid cultural tradition, this represents the native tribes which were present at that time in Trinidad and Tobago at the time of European arrival. They has distinct pottery & ceramic styles which somehow survived until the mid 1800’s. However after that time period they were largely assimilated into mainstream Trinidadian Society. These included the Suppoya & The Yao peoples. Unfortunately most if not all of these cultures were completely wiped out by the Spanish encomienda system. Under this system which was a form of Spanish slavery & was a definite rub off of the Spanish Inquisition, Spanish encomederos forced the Amerindians to work for them in exchange for Spanish "protection" and conversion to Christianity. After Spanish Colonization Trinidad was discovered by europeans in 1498 by a certain Christopher Columbus. It was discovered while he was on his third voyage. He landed what is now known as Point Galera before proceeding into the Gulf Of Paria. There were 6 ships in this voyage making the discovery of the island easier. However it was not officially colonized until 1592. Before that point it wasn’t used for much by the Europeans. The Spanish did try to build settlements in the 1530’s, 1560’s, & 1570’s. However they were driven off by the Caribs & Arawaks. In 1532 Antonio Sedeño tried to establish a new settlement in Trinidad but failed & was thrown off the island in the Battle Of Cumucurapo. He then withdrew to Margarita island. However he returned in 1533 & built a settlement in Cumucurapo (Which is modernly called Port Of Spain). However after failure to attract more settlers, visitors, & fisheries he was forced to withdraw in 1534. In 1553 a certain Juan Sedeño was authorized to settle Trinidad, however for some reason no contracts for this were never fulfilled. In 1569 Juan Troche Ponce de León built the when translated, “Town of the Circumcision”. This “Town of the Circumcision” was most likely around modern day Laventille which is in north western Port of Spain. However in 1570 this settlement was abandoned. Finally, in 1592 Antonio de Berrio established the first lasting settlement of San José de Oruña. He established this settlement to look for El Dorado. This settlement became the capital of Trinidad until the year 1784. Sir Walter Raleigh was searching for El Dorado arrived in Trinidad on March 22nd 1595, he then attacked San José de Oruña & captured as well as interrogated de Barrío. El Dorado is known as the mythical land of gold. He got obtained lots of information from De Barrío as well as the Cacique topiawari. Due to Lack of Spanish ships arriving on a regular basis forced the settlers to trade with the English, French and Dutch, in violation of the Spanish Exclusive. The Spanish rightfully & always agreed believed that Trinidad was not populated enough so in an effort to attract more settlers, they gave 36 arces of land to every Roman Catholic & half a much for every slave that Roman Catholic brought with them. They also gave every freed person of colour 16 acres of land & half as much for every slave that freed person of colour brought with them. They also offered a few tax incentives to bring in more settlers in order to stabilize the economy. The Spanish lacked the military & fiscal means to defend the colony, which consisted of only 24 Spanish settlers in 1625. Thus the Dutch attacked San José de Oruña (Later called Saint Joseph) with impunity in 1637. By 1671, the island included 80 settlers and 80 Amerindians. By 1772, the Spanish capital of Saint Joseph had a population of 326 Spaniards and 417 Amerindians. Yet the houses consisted of mud huts or cottages with thatch roofs. In general, lacking gold, the island was poor and undeveloped, inducing many to leave. The Captaincy General of Venezuela was created on the 8th September 1777, through the Royal Decree of Graces of Charles III of Bourbon, to provide more autonomy for the provinces of Venezuela (including Trinidad), previously under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of new Granada and the Audiencia of Santo Domingo The crown established a unified government in political, military, fiscal, & judicial affairs. Its creation was part of the Bourbon Reforms and laid the groundwork for the future nation of Venezuela, in particular by orienting the province of Maracaibo towards the province of Caracas. In 1784 José María Chacón founded the city that is now known as San Fernando on Trinidad. After British Colonization In 1797 a British militant operation led by General Sir Ralph Abercromby launched the invasion of Trinidad. His squadron of sailers sailed a marine path through the Boca’s & then an de choring off the coast of Chaguaramas. He surrounded the island with a total of 18 warships ready to attack & destroy the island. The king of Spain at the time decided to assemble a Council Of War in order to look in to surrender options. The Spanish governor of Trinidad José María Chacón decided to capitulate to the British Army without a struggle or a fight. Trinidad was then turned into a Crown Colony of the British Empire. This was formalized in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. The new British rule made Trinidad more appealing to British settlers which sparked an influx of British settlers on the island. English, Scots, Irish, German and Italian families arrived. These new settlers also increased Trinidads sugar exports. This proved to be incredibly profitable which increased the population exponentially. Under British rule, new estates were created & the import of slaves did increase. African slaves were brought to the island to work on sugar plantations, this slave labor constituted approximately 95% of the sugar industries labor at the time. However this era of slavery was under attack via abolitionists of British. Thanks to Slavery was abolished in all (besides India) British colonies in 1838, however the announcement was made in 1833. This announcement came from Whitehall in England that slaves would be completely freed by 1840. In 1834 Trinidad successfully demonstrated use of non violent peaceful protesting in which on August 1st 1834 an unarmed group of elderly former slaves being addressed by the Governor at Government House about the new laws, began chanting: "Pas de six ans. Point de six ans". This drowned out the voice of the governor. After which former slaves served an apprenticeship period which ended on 1 August 1838 with full emancipation. An overview of the populations statistics in 1838, however, clearly reveals the contrast between Trinidad and its neighbouring islands: upon emancipation of the slaves in 1838, Trinidad had only 17,439 slaves, with 80% of slave owners having fewer than 10 slaves each. In contrast, at twice the size of Trinidad, Jamaica had roughly 360,000 slaves. The abolishment of slavery caused Trinidads Economy to go on the verge of collapse. Newly freed peoples of colour refused to work in fields & on plantations which drastically decreased the agricultural exports. In an effort to prevent complete liquidation of the chocolate & sugar industries, the British began experimenting with new labor sources. Most namely the Portuguese, Chinese, African-British, & the Indians. People of these races were shipped out to Trinidad as indentured servants in order to revive & prevent the unstable economy from complete collapse. This plan did work out properly, however this did cause much racial tension in the country then & modernly. These new populations of peoples became permanently altered to the cultural standards of Trinidad then. The Chinese also became a large staple of Trinidadian society modernly. The Indians proved to be resilient & hard workers, as a few early reports described it as Indians being “Valuable & steady labourers.”. They produced sugarcane, chocolate, cacao, & rum. However some were apprentices for blacksmiths & tanners as well as other positions as well. The Indians were consequently recruited in greater numbers than the peoples from any other ethnicities or countries, and by 1891, the island’s Indian population went above 45,800. From approximately 1845 to 1917 there was continuous Indian migration to Trinidad until the Indian Legislative Assembly abolished the system of indentureship. After that the island managed quite normally & was declared independent on August 31st 1917. Trinidad’s Aboriginals The Caribs of Trinidad Before Colonization The Caribs of Trinidad were an indigenous Amerindian of the Caribbean lesser Antilles. They are also known as the Kalingo or Kalina. They spoke a language that is modernly known as Island Carib which is classified as a highly endangered language. They were one of the non peaceful tribes of the Caribbean. They had many warlike tactics & were believed to have mandatory combat training. They were taller, bulkier, & stronger then the Arawaks due to the emphasis of being a warrior & being able to defend their home. They utilized their marine resources often & had a strong fishing industry. Fish was one of the most common foods, they also were believed to have bred some fish. They had large boats which were most similar to a modern day Canoe, these boats could hold up to 12 persons. They used these to raid the Arawaks as well as to fish. They also utilized the ocean in other ways often. They fought with the other tribes of Trinidad such as the Arawaks who were relatively peaceful. They hunted mammals as well. They revered the bones of their elders or family members & they burnt off fat from their enemies or prisoners of war during battle rituals. They were labelled as cannibals & savages by the Spanish on their conquest, this was in an effort to justify conquering their lands & enslaving them. They may have practiced cannibalism to a certain extent. They were on average approximately 5 feet 5 inches. They had a brown hue to their skin similar to that of a Mexican person. They did not appear to wear clothing of any kind. The women would paint their skin with a red dye known as Roucou which is made from the extract of the seeds of the Achiote tree. The women also circled their eyes with black pigment. The male’s would also painted their bodies and on occasion wore feathered headdresses, jewelry & piercings of all kinds through their lips, and large hoop jewelry through their noses. Nose piercings were fairly common among both genders. The male’s also wore the Caracoli which was a necklace of small bones along with the teeth of defeated enemies from which a crescent-shaped bone carved ornament was suspended. The Caracoli necklace was worn to represent the courage of the wearer, it was typically worn by men & there isn’t much evidence that it was worn by women. It is also important to note that most men spoke Island Carib languages, however women spoke mostly Arawakan languages. They often used bow & arrows when hunting or fighting. This weaponry unfortunately was not useful in the Spanish invasion. The Arawaks of Trinidad Before Colonization Note: This is only entails history of the Arawaks in Trinidad, not the Arawaks that lived in South America. The Arawaks were a peaceful tribe that presided prominently in South American & the great Antilles & the northern lesser Antilles. However they were quite commonly found on the island of Trinidad. They spoke languages from the family of Arawakan languages. It is important to note that the Arawaks were not just 1 tribe. They were called Arawaks because they were relatively peaceful & friendly tribes. They made elaborate & complex pottery techniques. They figured out how to raise fields in order to improve certain crops growth & health. They were advanced agriculturally & had vast fields for their crops. There is also evidence that suggests that they had a regional export system & practices for exportation. They had advanced boats used for maritime related areas. They also had various practices to mix coal with dirt in order to make black earth, black earth is a sustainable fertilizer that is largely found in the Caribbean. According to Micheal Heckenberger an anthropologist, pottery and other cultural traits show these people belonged to the Arawakan language family, a group that included the Tainos languages / creoles, the first Amerindians that Christopher Columbus encountered. It was the largest language family to have ever existed in the pre-Columbian Americas. The Arawaks are much less documented then the Caribs as before the Spanish they were through a genocide via the Caribs. Their culture was largely wiped out by the Caribs but took the final hit by the Spanish & their conquest through Trinidad. The mainland Arawaks & the Trinidadian Arawaks were quite different, they had similar cultural aspects however they were not carbon copies. Trinidad’s Natural Disasters Trinidad is in a so called “Hurricane safe-zone” when it comes to hurricane formation. However that does not mean that it doesn’t get the odd hurricane every now & then. When hurricanes do come around to Trinidad they can be particularly catastrophic as well, & with that being said let us delve into the 4 major hurricanes that have affected Trinidad. No. 1 The 1933 Hurricane Of Trinidad The 1933 hurricane of Trinidad was the first extremely active hurricane of the 1933 Atlantic hurricane season. The hurricane was formed eastern adjacent of the lesser Antilles on June 24th 1933. It then began travelling westbound gaining hurricane status along the way, towards the lower lesser Antilles. On June 27th 1933 it struck Trinidad with winds of up to 110 miles per hour. It caused approximately 7.2 million US dollars in damages & 49,445,156 Trinidadian & Tobagonian dollars. Calculating for inflation that would be approximately 156,830,400 million US dollars or 1,077,424,848 Trinidadian & Tobagonian dollars. There were 35 reported fatalities due to the hurricane. No. 2 Hurricane Flora Hurricane flora is among the deadliest & most destructive of all Atlantic hurricanes. It is the 5th deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. It was the 7th tropical storm & the 6th hurricane of the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed in what is known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone on September 26th. It was first located 755 miles southwest of the Cape Verde Isles. It remained weak & rather calm until September 29th when it began rapidly developing & on that day gained tropical Storm status. It dissolved on October 13th 1963. It was a category 4 hurricane with winds that reached up to 150 miles per hour. There were 7,193 total direct fatalities from the hurricane. It caused 773.4 million USD in damages at the time. It is important to note that it did not just affect Trinidad. Calculated for inflation it caused 670,537,8000 Billion USD in damage. No. 3 Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a category 5 hurricane that rocked the Gulf of Mexico & the United States Of America. It went everywhere from Virginia To Trinidad. It caused $26.1 billion in damages. Calculated for inflation in 2022 it would be 39,456,0000 USD. It was from September 2st 2004 to September and 25th 2004. It caused 92 direct fatalities & 32 indirect fatalities. It targeted all of the following islands, provinces, & countries: Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, Barbados, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Grand Cayman, Cuba, Yucatan Peninsula, Florida, & Alabama. No. 4 Hurricane Tomas Hurricane Tomas was the twelfth hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed from a tropical wave east of the Windward islands on October 29th. It was a category 2 hurricane that went through the Caribbean. It lasted from October 29th 2010 to November 11th 2010. It had winds of up to 100 miles per hour. It caused 44 total fatalities on all islands. It’s flooding also heavily intensified a Cholera outbreak in Haiti. That indirectly caused an unnumbered amount of fatalities. The direct damage from the hurricane costed approximately 463.4 million USD in 2010. Calculated for inflation that would be 629,297,200 million USD. Trinidad’s Economy & Stock Market Trinidad has a a relatively strong & reliable economy. They have a large oil industry which gives them a high GDP per capita. Their GDP in 2022 was that of 21.53 Billion USD, & their GDP per capita in 2020 was 15,384.04 USD. They are ranked at the 3rd wealthiest country by GDP in all of the Caribbean. They at the time of publishing are recognized by the World Bank as a high income country. Their main industries & main exports as of 2022 are as follows: petroleum & petrochemicals, oil & natural gas, steel products, beverages, cereal & cereal products, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus fruits, vegetables, & cut flowers. Their GDP by sector in 2017 was agriculture: 0.4%; industry: 48.8%; services: 50.8%. Their median income for 2020 was 21,444 USD or 145,750.15 Trinidadian & Tobagonian dollars. The median household income of 2020 was 88,125 USD or 598,966.24 Trinidadian & Tobagonian dollars. The stock market that Trinidadian & Tobagonian companies use is the Trinidad & Tobago Stock exchange or TTSE. There are a total of 27 listings on that exchange. It is the nation’s centralized trading market for selling shares, buying shares, & other securities. 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