Posted on June 15, 2018
Europe's first exploration of the Caribbean Islands was, of course, carried out by Christopher Columbus. He charted the island he called Martinica (we now call it Martinique) in 1493, on his first voyage. On his fourth voyage, on this date in 1502, he finally landed there.

But a hurricane seemed to be brewing, and Columbus wanted to reach the Spanish colony at Hispaniola before the hurricane hit, so after just three days, he ordered his crew to repack, and they sailed on.
Pretty much the only thing they left behind were some pigs and some goats.
You can see from this map that there are a few largish islands in the Caribbean, and Martinique (part of the Lesser Antilles on the right side of the map, with the label "Martinique (France)" in black at the right-hand edge) is certainly NOT one of the largest islands.
Because of the island's small size, Spaniards weren't all that interested in Martinique. More than a century after Columbus briefly landed on the island, a group of 150 French settlers landed and "claimed" the island for France.

Here's what the Spaniards passed on, the Caribs and Taínos lost, and the French won:
Also on this date:
No comments:
Post a Comment