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English attempted settlement

In June 1609, the first attempt at settlement by Europeans was made by an English expedition of 24 colonizers led by Mossis Goldfry, Hall, Lull, and Robincon, who arrived in the ships Diana, the Penelope, and the Endeavour. The settlement was attacked and destroyed by the indigenous islanders and many tortured and killed. The few survivors were evacuated when the ships returned on 15 December 1609.

French settlement and conquest

On 17 March 1649, a French expedition of 203 men from Martinique, led by Jacques Dyel du Parquet who had been the Governor of Martinique on behalf of the Compagnie des Iles de l'Amerique (Company of the Isles of America) since 1637, landed at St. Georges Harbour and constructed a fortified settlement, which they named Fort Annunciation. A treaty was swiftly agreed between du Parquet and the indigenous Chief Kairouane to peacefully partition the island between the two communities. Du Parquet r...

French administration

On 27 September 1650, du Parquet bought Grenada, Martinique, and St. Lucia from the Compagnie des Iles de l'Amerique, which was dissolved, for the equivalent of £1160. In 1657, du Parquet sold Grenada to Jean de Faudoas, Comte de Sérillac for the equivalent of £1890. In 1664, King Louis XIV bought out the independent island owners and established the French West India Company. In 1674 the French West India Company was dissolved. Proprietary rule ended in Grenada, which became a French colony...

French colony

In 1700, Grenada had a population of 257 whites, 53 coloureds, and 525 slaves. There were three sugar estates, 52 indigo plantations, 64 horses, and 569 head of cattle. Between 1705 and 1710 the French built Fort Royal at St. George's which is now known as Fort George. The collapse of the sugar estates and the introduction of cocoa and coffee in 1714 encouraged the development of smaller land holdings, and the island developed a land-owning yeoman farmer class.In 1738, the first hospital was...

British colony

Grenada was captured by the British during the Seven Years' War on 4 March 1762 by Commodore Swanton without a shot being fired. Grenada was formally ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris on 10 February 1763. In 1766, the island was rocked by a severe earthquake. In 1767, a slave uprising was put down. In 1771 and again in 1775, the town of St. George, which was constructed solely of wood, was burnt to the ground – after which it was sensibly rebuilt using stone and brick. France recaptured...

Fédon's Rebellion

Julien Fédon, a mixed-race owner of the Belvedere estate in the St. John Parish, launched a rebellion against British rule on the night of 2 March 1795, with coordinated attacks on the towns of La Baye and Gouyave. Fédon was clearly influenced by the ideas emerging from the French Revolution and was initially supported by French Revolutionary advisors. Between March 1795 and June 1796, Fédon and his troops controlled all of Grenada except the parish of St George, the seat of government. Durin...

Early 19th century

In 1833, Grenada became part of the British Windward Islands Administration and remained so until 1958. British operated slavery was abolished in 1834, but the last enslaved African descendants were eventually freed in 1838. Nutmegwas introduced in 1843, when a merchant ship called in on its way to England from the East Indies.

Late 19th century

In 1857, the first East Indian immigrants arrived. In 1871 Grenada was connected to the telegraph. In 1872 the first secondary school was built. On 3 December 1877 the pure Crown colony model replaced Grenada's old representative system of government. On 3 December 1882, the largest wooden jetty ever built in Grenada was opened in Gouyave. In 1885, after Barbados left the British Windward Islands, the capital of the colonial confederation was moved from Bridgetown to St. George on Grenada. Fr...

Early 20th century

The 1901 census showed that the population of the colony was 63,438. In 1917, T.A. Marryshow founded the Representative Government Association (RGA) to agitate for a new and participative constitutional dispensation for the Grenadian people. Partly as a result of Marryshow's lobbying the Wood Commission of 1921–1922 concluded that Grenada was ready for constitutional reform in the form of a 'modified' Crown Colony government. This modification granted Grenadians from 1925 the right to elect 5...

Towards independence: 1950–1974

In 1950, Grenada had its constitution amended to increase the number of elected seats on the Legislative Council from 5 to 8, to be elected by full adult franchise at the 1951 election. In 1950 Eric Gairy founded the Grenada United Labour Party, initially as a trade union, which led the 1951 general strike for better working conditions. This sparked great unrest – so many buildings were set ablaze that the disturbances became known as the "red sky" days – and the British authorities had to ca...

Independence

On 7 February 1974, Grenada became a fully independent state. Grenada continued to practise a modified Westminster parliamentary system based on the British model with a governor general appointed by and representing the British monarch (head of state) and a prime minister who is both leader of the majority party and the head of government. Eric Gairy was independent Grenada's first prime minister serving from 1974 until his overthrow in 1979. Gairy won re-election in Grenada's first general...

The 1979 coup and revolutionary government

On March 13, 1979, the New Jewel Movement launched an armed revolution that removed Gairy, suspended the constitution, and established a People's Revolutionary Government (PRG), headed by Maurice Bishop who declared himself prime minister. His Marxist-Leninist government established close ties with Cuba, Nicaragua, and other communist bloccountries. All political parties except for the New Jewel Movement were banned and no elections were held during the four years of PRG rule.

The 1983 coups

On 14 October 1983, a power struggle within Bishop's ruling party ended with his house arrest. His erstwhile friend and rival, Deputy Prime Minister, Bernard Coard, briefly became Head of Government. This coup precipitated demonstrations in various parts of the island which eventually led to Bishop being freed from arrest by an impassioned crowd of his loyal supporters on 19 October 1983. Bishop was soon recaptured by Grenadian soldiers loyal to the Coard faction and executed along with seven...

Post invasion politics

When US troops withdrew from Grenada in December 1983, Nicholas Braithwaite was appointed Prime Minister of an interim administration by the Governor General Sir Paul Scoonuntil elections could be organized. On 28 October 1984, the new Point Salines International Airportwas opened, which enabled Grenada to receive large commercial jets for the first time. The first democratic elections since 1976 were held in December 1984 and were won by the Grenada National Party under Herbert Blaize who wo...

Truth and reconciliation commission

In 2000–02, much of the controversy of the late 1970s and early 1980s was once again brought into the public consciousness with the opening of the truth and reconciliation commission. The commission was chaired by a Catholic priest, Father Mark Haynes, and was tasked with uncovering injustices arising from the PRA, Bishop's regime, and before. It held a number of hearings around the country. The commission was formed because of a school project. Brother Robert Fanovich, head of Presentation B...

Hurricane Ivan

On 7 September 2004, Grenada was hit directly by category four Hurricane Ivan. The hurricane destroyed about 85 per cent of the structures on the island, including the prison and the prime minister's residence, killed thirty-nine people, and destroyed most of the nutmeg crop, Grenada's economic mainstay. Grenada's economy was set back several years by Hurricane Ivan's impact. Hurricane Emilyravaged the island's north end in June 2005.