History of Grenada - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Early history

About 2 million years ago Grenada

Grenada

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...

was formed as an underwater volcano.
Before the arrival of Europeans, Grenada

Grenada

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...

, was inhabited by Carib Indians who had driven the more peaceful Arawaks from the island. Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

sighted Grenada in 1498 during his third voyage to the new world. He named the island "Concepcion." The origin of the name "Grenada" is obscure, but it is likely that Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

sailors renamed the island for the city of Granada

Granada

Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

. By the beginning of the 18th century, the name "Grenada", or "la Grenade" in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, was in common use. Partly because of the Caribs, Grenada remained uncolonized for more than one hundred years after its discovery.

English Attempted Settlement

In April 1609 the first attempt at settlement by Europeans was made by an English expedition of 204 adventurers led by Messrs Godfrey, Hall, Lull, and Robinson, who arrived in the ships Diana, the Penelope, and the Endeavour. The settlement was attacked and destroyed by the indigenous islanders and many 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

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

, led by Jacques Dyel du Parquet who had been the Governor of Martinique on behalf of the Compagnie des Iles de l'Amerique

Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique

The Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique, French for Company of the American Islands, was a French chartered company that in 1635 took over the administration of the French portion Saint-Christophe island from Compagnie de Saint-Christophe which was the only French settlement in the Caribbean at that...

(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 returned to Martinique

Martinique

leaving his cousin Jean Le Comte as Governor of Grenada. Conflict broke out between the French and the indigenous islanders in November 1649 and fighting lasted for five years until 1654, when the last opposition to the French on Grenada was crushed - although the island continued for some time after to suffer raids by war canoe parties from St. Vincent

Saint Vincent (island)

Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains...

, who had aided the local Grenadan islanders in their struggle and continued to oppose the French.

French Administration

On 27th Sep 1650 du Parquet bought Grenada

Grenada

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...

, Martinique

Martinique

, and St. Lucia from the Compagnie des Iles de l'Amerique

Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique

(Company of the Isles of America), as it was dissolved, for the equivalent of £1160. In 1657 du Parquet sold Grenada to the Comte de Cerrillac for the equivalent of £1890. In 1664 King Louis XIV bought out the independent island owners and established the French West India Company

French West India Company

In the history of French trade, the French West India Company was a chartered company established in 1664. Their charter gave them the property and seignory of Canada, Acadia, the Antilles, Cayenne, and the terra firma of South America, from the Amazon to the Orinoco...

. In 1674 the French West India Company was dissolved and Grenada became a French Colony rather than a piece of private property in the hands of Companies of Frenchmen.

In 1675 Grenada was captured by Dutch Privateers, but luckily for the French, a French man-of-war arrived unexpectedly, and the island was recaptured.

The French Colony

In 1700 Grenada had a population of 257 whites, 53 coloureds, and 525 slaves. There were 3 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 know 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

Yeoman

Yeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work"...

farmer class. In 1738 the first hospital was constructed

The British Colony

Grenada was captured by the British during the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

on 4 March 1762 by Commodore Swanton without a shot being fired. Grenada was formally ceded to the Britain

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

by the Treaty of Paris

Treaty of Paris (1763)

The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...

on 10 February 1763. In 1766 the island was rocked by a severe earthquake. In 1767 a slave uprising had to be 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 Grenada during the American War of Independence, after Comte d'Estaing won the bloody land and naval Battle of Grenada

Battle of Grenada

The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779 during the American War of Independence in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.-Origins:...

from 2–6 July 1779. However the island was restored to Britain with the Treaty of Versailles 4 years later on 3 September 1783. In 1784 the first newspaper the Grenada Chronicle was published.

Fedons Rebellion

Julien Fedon a mixed race owner of the Belvedere estate in the St John

Saint John Parish, Grenada

-External links:***...

’s launched a rebellion against British rule on the night of 2nd March 1795, with coordinated attacks on the towns of Grenville

Grenville, Grenada

Grenville is the second largest city in Grenada, after St. George's, and it is the capital of the largest parish, Saint Andrew Parish. Grenville is located on Grenville Bay, about halfway up the east coast of the Caribbean island of Grenada and is heavily involved in the agriculture export industry...

, La Baye

La Baye

La Baye was a small trading post which was established on the Baie des Puants in 1634 by Jean Nicolet. Nicolas Perrot, who was sent by Father Claude-Jean Allouez, continued the work that Nicolet had started. In 1671, the Jesuits constructed a mission. Fort La Baye was thus constructed in 1717. ...

and Gouyave

Gouyave

Gouyave is the third-largest fishing town in Grenada Gouyave is the third-largest fishing town in Grenada Gouyave is the third-largest fishing town in Grenada (behind the capital, St. George's, with a population of 4,378. It is located on the west coast of the Grenada and is the capital of the...

. Fedon was clearly influenced by the ideas emerging from the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

especially the Convention

National Convention

During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...

`s abolition of slavery in 1794 - he stated that he intended to make Grenada a “Black Republic just like Haiti

Haitian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution was a period of conflict in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, which culminated in the elimination of slavery there and the founding of the Haitian republic...

”. Fedon and his troops controlled all of Grenada except the parish of St George’s, the seat of government, between March 1795 and June 1796. During those insurgent months 14,000 of Grenada's 28,000 slaves joined the revolutionary forces in order to write their own emancipation and transform themselves into “citizens”; some 7,000 of these self-liberated slaves would perish in the name of freedom. Fedon`s forces were defeated by the British in late 1796, but Fedon himself was never caught and his fate is unknown.

Early Nineteenth Century

In 1833, Grenada became part of the British Windward Islands Administration and remained so until 1958. Slavery was abolished in 1834. Nutmeg

Nutmeg

The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...

was introduced in 1843, when a merchant ship called in on its way to England from the East Indies.

Late Nineteenth 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 Grenada`s old representative system of government was replaced by the pure Crown Colony model. On the 3rd of December 1882, the largest wooden Jetty ever built in Grenada was opened in Gouyave. In 1885, after Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

left the British Windward Islands, the capital of the colonial confederation was moved from Bridgetown

Bridgetown

The city of Bridgetown , metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael...

to St.George on Grenada. From 1889-1894 the 340 foot Sendall Tunnel was built for horse carriages.

Early 20th Century

Theophilus A. Marryshow founded the Representative Government Association (RGA) in 1917 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 of the 15 members of the Legislative Council, on a restricted property franchise enabling the wealthiest 4% of adult Gerenadians to vote. In 1928 electricity was installed in St. George`s. In 1943 Pearls Airport

Pearls Airport

Pearls Airport was Grenada's first airport. It is currently under the management of the Grenada Airports Authority. The airport is not in daily operation. In 1984 it was replaced as Grenada's main airport by the Point Salines International Airport. It is now a construction site and go-kart track...

was opened. On 5 August 1944 the Island Queen schooner disappeared with the loss of all 56 passengers and 11 crew.

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

Eric Gairy

Sir Eric Matthew Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from Grenada`s independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979...

founded the Grenada United Labour Party

Grenada United Labour Party

-History:The party was founded by Eric Gairy in 1950. It was the only party to contest the first elections held under universal suffrage in 1951, and won six of the eight seats. The 1954 elections saw the same outcome...

, initially as a trades union, which led the 1951 general strike

General strike

A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...

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 call in military reinforcements to help regain control of the situation. On 10 October 1951 Grenada held its first general elections on the basis of universal adult suffrage - Eric Gairy

Eric Gairy

Sir Eric Matthew Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from Grenada`s independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979...

's Grenada United Labour Party

Grenada United Labour Party

won 6 of the 8 elected seats on the Legislative Council in both the 1951 and 1954 elections. However the Legislative Council had few powers at this time, with government remaining fully in the hands of the colonial authorities.

On 22 September 1955 Hurricane Janet

Hurricane Janet

Hurricane Janet was the most powerful hurricane of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. It made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, causing catastrophic damage and at least 687 deaths in the Lesser...

hit Grenada killing 500 people and destroying 75% of the nutmeg trees. A new political party the Grenada National Party

Grenada National Party

-History:The party was founded in 1955 and took its support from the urban middle class and landowners. It first contested national elections in 1957 when it won two of the eight seats, tied with the Grenada United Labour Party and the People's Democratic Movement. Its leader Herbert Blaize became...

led by Herbert Blaize

Herbert Blaize

Herbert Augustus Blaize was a Grenadian politician and leader of the Grenada National Party. When Grenada was still a British Crown Colony he served as the first Chief Minister from 1960-61, and again, from 1962-67. He became the first Premier of the autonomous Associated State of Grenada briefly...

contested the 1957 general election and with the cooperation of elected independent members took control of the Legislative Council from the Grenada United Labour Party

Grenada United Labour Party

. In 1958, the Windward Islands Administration was dissolved, and Grenada joined the Federation of the West Indies.

In 1960 another constitutional evolution established the post of Chief Minister, making the leader of the majority party in the Legislative Council, which at that time was Herbert Blaize

Herbert Blaize

, effective head of government. In March 1961 the Grenada United Labour Party

Grenada United Labour Party

won the general election and George E.D. Clyne became chief minister until Eric Gairy

Eric Gairy

Sir Eric Matthew Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from Grenada`s independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979...

was elected in a by-election and took the role in August 1961. Also in 1961 the cruise liner sank off Point Salines, although thankfully there was only a single fatality. In April 1962 Grenada`s Administrator, the Queens representative on the island, James Lloyd

James Lloyd

James Lloyd may refer to:*James Lloyd , U.S. Senator*James Lloyd , U.S. Senator*James Lloyd , convict transported to Western Australia...

suspended the constitution, dissolved the Legislative Council, and removed Eric Gairy

Eric Gairy

Sir Eric Matthew Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from Grenada`s independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979...

as Chief Minister, following allegations concerning the Gairy`s financial impropriety. At the 1962 general election the Grenada National Party

Grenada National Party

won a majority and Herbert Blaize

Herbert Blaize

became Chief Minister for the second time.

After the Federation of the West Indies collapsed in 1962, the British Government tried to form a small federation out of its remaining dependencies in the Eastern Caribbean.Following the failure of this second effort, the British and the islanders developed the concept of "associated state

Associated state

An associated state is the minor partner in a formal, free relationship between a political territory with a degree of statehood and a nation, for which no other specific term, such as protectorate, is adopted...

hood". Under the Associated Statehood Act on 3 March 1967 Grenada was granted full autonomy over its internal affairs. Herbert Blaize

Herbert Blaize

was the first Premier of the Associated State of Grenada fom March to August 1967. Eric Gairy

Eric Gairy

Sir Eric Matthew Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from Grenada`s independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979...

served as Premier from August 1967 until February 1974, as the Grenada United Labour Party

Grenada United Labour Party

party won majorities in both the 1967 and 1972 general elections.

Independence

On 7 February 1974 Grenada beame 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

Eric Gairy

Sir Eric Matthew Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from Grenada`s independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979...

was independent Grenada's first prime minister serving from 1974 until his overthrow in 1979. Eric Gairy

Eric Gairy

Sir Eric Matthew Gairy was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from Grenada`s independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979...

won re-election in Grenada`s first General Election as an independent state in 1976, however the opposition New Jewel Movement

New Jewel Movement

The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement, was a Marxist-Leninist vanguard party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada...

refused to recognize the result, claiming the poll was fraudulent, and so began working towards the overthrow of the Gairy regime by revolutionary means.

The 1979 Coup and Revolutionary Government

On March 13, 1979, the New Jewel Movement

New Jewel Movement

The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement, was a Marxist-Leninist vanguard party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada...

launched an armed revolution which removed Gairy, suspended the constitution, and established a People's Revolutionary Government

People's Revolutionary Government

The People's Revolutionary Government was proclaimed on 13 March 1979 after the New Jewel Movement overthrew the government of Grenada in a revolution...

(PRG), headed by Maurice Bishop

Maurice Bishop

Maurice Rupert Bishop was a Grenadian politician and revolutionary who seized power in a coup in 1979 from Eric Gairy and served as Prime Minister of the People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada until 1983, when he was overthrown in another coup by Bernard Coard, a member of his own...

who declared himself prime minister. His Marxist-Leninist

Marxism-Leninism

Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...

government established close ties with Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, Nicaragua, and other communist bloc countries. 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 the government resulted in the house arrest of Bishop at the order of his Deputy Prime Minister, Bernard Coard

Bernard Coard

Winston Bernard Coard was Grenadian Deputy Prime Minister in the People's Revolutionary Government of the New Jewel Movement, who placed Maurice Bishop under house arrest and took control of the government on 14 October 1983....

who became Head of Government. This coup resulted in demonstrations in various parts of the island which eventually led to Bishop being freed from arrest briefly, before being recaptured by the army and executed along with seven others, including members of the cabinet on 19 October 1983.

On 19 October 1983 the military under Hudson Austin

Hudson Austin

Hudson Austin is a former general in thePeople's Revolutionary Army of Grenada. After the killing of Maurice Bishop, he formed a military government with himself as chairman to rule Grenada.-History:...

took power in a second coup and formed a military government to run the country. A four-day total curfew was declared under which any civilian outside their home was subject to summary execution.

Invasion

A U.S.-Caribbean force landed on Grenada on October 25, 1983 in an action called Operation Urgent Fury. This action was taken in response to an appeal obtained from the governor general and to a request for assistance from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, without consulting the island's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

, Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

institutions or other usual diplomatic channels (as had been done in Anguilla

Anguilla

Anguilla is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin...

). Furthermore, United States government military strategists feared that Soviet use of the island would enable the Soviet Union to project tactical power over the entire Caribbean region. U.S. citizens were evacuated, and constitutional government was resumed.

Seventeen members of the PRG and the PRA (army) were convicted by a court. Fourteen were sentenced to death for actions related to the overthrow of the Bishop government and the murder of several persons including Bishop. The sentences were eventually commuted to life imprisonment after an international campaign. Another three were sentenced to forty five years in prison. These seventeen have become known as the Grenada 17

Grenada 17

The Grenada 17 are seventeen political, military and civilian figures who were convicted of various crimes associated with the overthrow of the Maurice Bishop government of Grenada in 1983 and the subsequent murder of Bishop.-History:...

, and are the subject of an ongoing international campaign for their release. In October 2003 Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

issued a report which stated that their trial had been a miscarriage of justice. The seventeen have protested their sentences consistently since 1983. After the invasion, United States gave $48.4 million in economic assistance to Grenada in 1984.

Post Liberation Politics

When US troops withdew from Grenada in December 1983 Nicholas Braithwaite

Nicholas Braithwaite

Nicholas Paul Dallon Braithwaite is an English conductor. He is the son of the conductor Warwick Braithwaite.Braithwaite studied at the Royal Academy of Music, at the Festival masterclasses in Bayreuth, and with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna. In the 1960s, Braithwaite was associate conductor of the...

of the National Democratic Congress

National Democratic Congress (Grenada)

The National Democratic Congress is a liberal centre-left political party in Grenada. Tillman Thomas is the party's leader, Nazim Burke is its deputy leader, and Peter David is its General Secretary...

was appointed Prime Minister of an interim adminsitration by the Governor General Sir Paul Scoon

Paul Scoon

Sir Paul Scoon, GCMG, GCVO, OBE was Governor General of Grenada for 14 years, from 1978 to 1992.-Biography:Sir Paul was born on 4 July 1935 in Gouyave, a town on the west coast of Grenada. He attended St. John's Anglican School and then the Grenada Boys' Secondary School...

until elections could be organised.

The first democratic elections since 1976 were held in December 1984 and were won by the Grenada National Party

Grenada National Party

under Herbert Blaize

Herbert Blaize

who won 14 out of 15 seats in elections and served as Prime Minister until his death in December 1989. The NNP continued in power until 1989 but with a reduced majority. Five NNP parliamentary members, including two cabinet ministers, left the party in 1986-87 and formed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which became the official opposition. In August 1989, Prime Minister Blaize broke with the GNP to form another new party, The National Party

The National Party

The National Party was a political party in Grenada. It was established in 1989 by Herbert Blaize, shortly before his death, as a breakaway from the New National Party. It won two seats in the 1990 elections and was part of Nicholas Brathwaite's coalition government. However, its share of the vote...

(TNP), from the ranks of the NNP. This split in the NNP resulted in the formation of a minority government until constitutionally scheduled elections in March 1990. Prime Minister Blaize died in December 1989 and was succeeded as prime minister by Ben Jones until after the 1990 elections.

The National Democratic Congress

National Democratic Congress (Grenada)

emerged from the 1990 elections as the strongest party, winning 7 of the fifteen available seats. Nicholas Brathwaite

Nicholas Brathwaite

Sir Nicholas Alexander Brathwaite was the prime minister of Grenada from 1983 to 1984 and from 1990 to 1995.Brathwaite was born in Carriacou, Grenada. Following the 1983 invasion of Grenada, Brathwaite, a member of the National Democratic Congress, was appointed by Governor-General Sir Paul Scoon...

added 2 TNP members and 1 member of the Grenada United Labor Party (GULP) to create a 10-seat majority coalition. The governor general appointed him to be prime minister for a second time. Braithwaite resigned in Feb 1995 and was succeeded as Prime Minister by George Brizan

George Brizan

George Ignatius Brizan, CMG, CBE is a Grenadian political figure who served as the Caribbean island nation's Prime Minister for four months in 1995...

who served until the Jun 1995 election.

In parliamentary elections on 20 June 1995 the NNP won 8 of the 15 seats and formed a government headed by Keith Mitchell

Keith Mitchell

Keith Claudius Mitchell is a Grenadian politician who served as Prime Minister of Grenada from 1995 to 2008. He was the longest serving Prime Minister Grenada has ever had, serving just over 13 years as Prime Minister...

. The NNP maintained and affirmed its hold on power when it took all 15 parliamentary seats in the January 1999 elections. Mitchell went on to win the 2003 elections with a reduced majority of 8 of the 15 seats and served as Prime Minister for a record 13 years until his defeat in 2008.

The 2008 election was won by the National Democratic Congress

National Democratic Congress (Grenada)

under Tillman Thomas

Tillman Thomas

Tillman Joseph Thomas is a Grenadian politician, currently serving as Prime Minister of Grenada. He is also the leader of the National Democratic Congress .-Biography:...

with 11 of the 15 seats.

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

Mark Haynes

Mark Haynes is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League who played in three Pro Bowls as a member of the New York Giants, and in three Super Bowls for the Denver Broncos....

, 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, bizarrely, because of a school project. Brother Robert Fanovich, head of Presentation Brothers' College (PBC) in St. George's tasked some of his senior students with conducting a research project into the era and specifically into the fact that Maurice Bishop's body was never discovered. Their project attracted a great deal of attention, including from the Miami Herald and the final report was published in a book written by the boys called Big Sky, Little Bullet. It also uncovered that there was still a lot of resentment in Grenadian society resulting from the era, and a feeling that there were many injustices still unaddressed. The commission began shortly after the boys concluded their project.

Hurricane Ivan

On September 7, 2004, Grenada was hit directly by category four Hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...

. The hurricane destroyed about 85% 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 main economic mainstay. Grenada's economy was set back several years by Hurricane Ivan's impact. Hurricane Emily

Hurricane Emily (2005)

Hurricane Emily was a powerful, early season tropical cyclone that caused significant damage across the Caribbean Sea to Mexico. A Cape Verde-type hurricane, the storm formed on July 10, 2005, in the central Atlantic Ocean before passing through the Windward Islands on July 14...

ravaged the island's north end in June 2005.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Early history

English Attempted Settlement

French Settlement and Conquest

French Administration

The French Colony

The British Colony

Fedons Rebellion

Early Nineteenth Century

Late Nineteenth Century

Early 20th Century

Towards Independence:1950-1974

Independence

The 1979 Coup and Revolutionary Government

The 1983 Coups

Invasion

Post Liberation Politics

Truth and reconciliation commission

Hurricane Ivan

See also

Further reading

External links