Where Their Native People Living In Jamaica Before The Slave Trade?

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Dr Knight M.D

Yes, infact before the Americas were discoverd, there were Tainos living in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. However, they soon died out due to enslavement by these early European along with diseases and intermittent war with them. When they died out there was no longer a free labour force to cultivate the sugar cane, which was the 'crude oil' of that age. This lead to West African being imported to the Americas.

Doethineb

The island was originally inhabited by the Arawak Indians. Prior to the arrival of Columbus in 1494, Jamaica was inhabited by Arawaks, living in simple communities based on fishing, hunting, and small scale cultivation of cassava. The impact of the contact with the Spanish was traumatic, and these communities disappeared in 70-80 years. Plunder, disruption of economic activities, new diseases, and migration decimated the indigenous population. All that remains to remind us of them are a few artifacts and a few Spanish corruptions of place names (such as Ocho Rios) and, occasionally, Arawak features on a modern Jamaican face. Jamaicans are not escaped slaves. When the slave trade was abolished in the United Kingdom, all slaves in the British Empire were freed. The Jamaicans are largely descended from those freed slaves.

stingjam

1. Yes. There were Arawaks and Tainos living in Jamaica long before Christopher Colombus 'discovered' Jamaica in 1492. Genetically, these were people who were related to mayans and other similar natives of the Americas.

2. Jamaican's are not all descendants of 'escaped slaves'. The 'Maroons' are a specific tribe in Jamaica that was made up of mostly descendants of escaped slaves. They were a relatively small section of the slave population at the time.

It has been said that Jamaicans are more aggressive because Jamaica was one of the first stops for slave ships enroute from Africa to the America's. The more aggressive troublemaker slaves were left/sold here to make the ship's journey easier.

Dee

Ok I am a jamaican and that is not true.Arawalks were the first inhabitants of jamaica.When the spainiards.Christopher columbus to be exact came they treated the araks like crap and beat ane dvrything ad eventually they all died out.Then the british came and they started the whole slavery trade and got ppl from africa that y jamaican's like myself are black.Indians ,Chinese and Asians came to Jamaica also because they were indentured slaves.aLL THESE PPL had sex 2gether and thats jamaican ppl are so mixed .wHAT U R TLKING ABOUT IS MAROONS THEY WERE DESCENDANTS OF RUNAWAY SLAVES THAT DIDNT LIKE SLAVERY .Maroons live in nanny town 2 day and they dont have modern conveniences

Keisha

Arawak Indians- who were the first slaves on the island. They died under the harsh working conditions of slavery and from unfamiliar diseases brought over by the Europeans.
Jamaicans today are descendants of Europeans (mostly English but also some Spanish), Africans, East Indians, Syrians and Chinese.

Tamayka

yes......Tainos(a tribe from the Arawak Indians)

Kaneka Majii

The Arawak Indians Inhabited jamaica, way before.

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