History

Recent History

In recent years Dominica's politics have been turbulent and fractious, with former PM Edison James facing charges of corruption and embezzlement. Roosevelt Douglas, leader of the Labour Party of Dominica (LDP), became the new prime minister in January 2000, but his sudden death on October 1, 2000, after only eight months in office, came as a shock to the many Dominicans who cherished him for his years of fighting for autonomy and working-class issues.

His successor, a radical named Pierre Charles, died in office in 2004. He was followed by 31-year-old Roosevelt Skerrit, who hails from a Rastafarian farming family on the north end of the island and is the world's youngest head of state. Popular with the younger demographic, Skerrit was educated at the University of Mississippi in the US. He has forged close ties with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, making Dominica close economic bedfellows with Cuba and Venezuela.

Modern Day History

In 1967, Dominica gained control over its internal affairs as a West Indies Associated State; in 1978, on the 485th anniversary of Columbus' 'discovery', Dominica became an independent republic within the Commonwealth.

The initial year of independence was a turbulent one. The island's first prime minister, Patrick John, was forced to resign in June 1979 after a series of corrupt schemes came to light, including an attempt to transfer 15% of the island to US developers. Hurricane David, packing winds of 241kph (150 mph), devastated the island in August 1979, denuding vast tracts of forest, destroying banana crops and wreaking havoc on much of Roseau. 42 people were killed and 75% of the islanders' homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

In 1980, Mary Eugenia Charles was elected Prime Minister, becoming the first female elected head of state in the Caribbean. Within a year of her inauguration she survived two unsuccessful coups, including a bizarre attempt orchestrated by Patrick John involving mercenaries recruited from the Ku Klux Klan.

As chairperson of the Organization of East Caribbean States, Prime Minister Charles endorsed the 1983 US invasion of Grenada and sent a symbolic force of Dominican troops to participate. An appreciative USA responded with increased aid to Dominica, one consequence of which is the island's fine paved roads. After 15 years in office, Charles resigned in 1995 and was replaced by Edison James of the United Workers' Party (DUWP).

Pre 20th Century History

The Caribs, who settled here in the 14th century, called the island Waitikubuli, which means 'tall is her body'. With less poetic flair, Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week he spotted it - Sunday, 3 November 1493.

In 1607, Captain John Smith and his followers stopped at the Dominican coastal settlement of Portsmouth for a couple of days before heading north to establish Jamestown, North America's first permanent English settlement. The harbour became so important to the British that they intended to make Portsmouth the island's capital until outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever thwarted the plan.

France laid claim to the island in 1635 and a few years later sent a contingent of missionaries, who were driven off by unwelcoming Caribs. The French and English signed a neutrality treaty in 1660 agreeing to Carib possession of the island. Nevertheless, French settlers from the neighbouring French West Indies began establishing coffee plantations on Dominica toward the end of the century. France then sent a governor in the 1720s and took formal possession of the island.

For the remainder of the 18th century, Dominica was caught up in the French and British skirmishes that marked the era, changing hands between the two powers several times. Under the Treaty of Paris, the French reluctantly ceded the island to the British in 1763. The French tried to recapture Dominica in 1795 and again in 1805, when they managed to burn much of Roseau to the ground.

After 1805 the island remained firmly in the possession of the British, who established sugar plantations on Dominica's more accessible slopes. The British administered the island as part of the Leeward Islands Federation until 1939, when it was transferred to the Windward Islands Federation.