Virgin Islands History

In 1607, three ships sent by King James the first sailed into Chesapeake bay, Virginia carrying each over 100 people. They then sailed up the James river and settled on a piece of land today called James island. This piece of land was home to over 15,000 Powhatan natives. They gentleman who provided the voyage came here to become rich and make money by collecting animal pelts, wood, and iron. The cause of numerous colonist fatalities in early Jamestown was in direct correlation to their relations with the natives, the horrendous lack of essential supplies impeding their survival, and atrocious ailments leading to inevitable disease.

The "discovery" or infiltration of the island of Borinquen (or Puerto Rico as it was later renamed) in 1493 by Spain resulted in the decimation of the native Taino population. With the loss of an immediate source of cheap labor to work the fields for their sugar cane industry, they introduced African culture into the region by importing slaves to replace the Taino field workers. In addition to the introduction of African culture into Puerto Rico voluntary immigration brought

The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing

Virginia has a long and rich history in the United States. Throughout history there have been many different events that have taken place in Virginia which helped play a vital role in the making of our great country. Virginia’s mark on America can be seen with the first established colonies in North America by Great Britain. Let’s began in May of 1607, British Empire established the first permanent colony of North America in Virginia this settlement was name Jamestown. The name Jamestown derives from King James I of England who claimed the territory in North America between the 34th and 35th degree parallel starting from the mouth of the Charles River in currently South Carolina north to Halifax, Nova Scotia. This territory was split into

During the 1800s, Virginia had been composed by a few grandees and many lower classes villagers, such as farmers, white servants and black slaves. Most of fertile land was dominated by the grandees and the poor farmers had to settle in barren and dangerous land where it is closer to Indian’s territory. Due to the poor environment, their productions did not reach the quality to deal with the heavy taxation. In addition, they had to live with the fear to be attacked by Indians all the time. Nathaniel Bacon rose up as the leader of lower class villagers to demand improving of their environment. According to Foner, he demanded “removal of all Indians from the colony, a reduction of taxes, and an end to rule by ‘grandees’” (48) as primary complains

I had always been fascinated by the story of the early days of our country and had always been interested in learning on how it all started. James Horn the author if A kingdom strange: The brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Provides well written information on what actually happen to the lost colonist of Roanoke Island and provides sufficient information to the audience get a clear picture of how the story began and who were the first colonist in search of success in the New world sponsored by Sir. Walter Ralegh.

Christopher Columbus discovered this European island, as he landed in Puerto Rico in 1493. This island was then claimed by the Spanish. The island was under a constant ‘fight’ for permanent possession, as Europeans fought for control by the French, English, and Danish. During the 19th century, the Spanish tried to gain full control of this island. In 1811 the governor of Puerto Rico, Don Salvador Melendez sent military commander Juan Ressello to try and gain control of this island. In 1898, after the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico and many offshore islands were given to the United States. The United States used this island for military training, just like the island of Culebra. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States started to reevaluate their controls of military bases on islands. The people of Vieques started to become worried about their own lives, as the Navy would be shooting guns in their island’s home. Vieques did not make this list, so the United States Navy returned the power back to Puerto Rico.

When Columbus returned in November 1493 he was surprised to learn that the settlement he had left behind had been destroyed. Some of the 39 men had clashed with the Taino Indians, and were killed. Other crewmembers had become sick, unable to cope with the harsh environment of the Caribbean. As time progressed, small settlements were founded across the island, and the heart of the Spanish conquest in the New World, Hispaniola, began to develop accordingly. In April 1493 a settlement on the northern coast called La Isabela was founded in what is now the province of Puerto Plata, and in 1494 Concepcion de la Vega was founded.

When Columbus first arrived he found the island populated by thousands of Taino Indians who made the mistake of showing Columbus gold nuggets in the river. This was all Spain needed to finance its crown. Differences between the Spaniards and the Taints began around two years later when Diego Salcedo was killed by the Indians. The Taino Indians revolt against the Spaniards was met with no success and many left the island or fled into the mountains where they began new lives.

The embargo that changed it all. Long before the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba, the island realized that it really did need to count on its many tourists visit as a big process in developing their economic and social development but it wasn’t until the Cuban revolution in 1959, that really opened up the island into seeing that they need the tourism to grow in the future. The U.S. trade embargo was to stop any trading exports to go to Cuba, it was originally started by president Dwight D. Eisenhower’s State Department in October 19, 1960, where they wanted to stop all of U.S. exports to Cuba except for medicine and some food but then, in February 7, 1962 President John F. Kennedy made the embargo even worse by stop all trading with U.S. imports

The U.S. imposed an Embargo against Cuba on Oct. 19, 1960. Has the time come to the United States to lift the five-decade embargo? The Embargo was a part of America’s Cold War strategy against the Soviet Union, imposed on the belief that Cuba was a threat to the U.S. since the Soviet Union was a danger to the National Security because of its alliance with the Soviet Union. Although Cuba would like the U.S to terminate the embargo against their country, the U.S. wants Cuba to make their situation a better living environment and to promote human rights for its citizens before any sanctions are removed.

However that did not stop Columbus from continuing to discover. Shortly after, 1493, Columbus returned to the Hispaniola along with 17 ships and 1200 colonists. Three years later, 1496, he returned to Spain to report his new discoveries and respond to the charges brought upon him by the colonists. Two years later in 1498 Columbus returned on a third voyage in which he explored the area off the north coast of South America. He discovered the island of Trinidad and the mouth of the Orinoco River. When he went to Hispaniola he found the colony in chaos, the colonists’ revolt against him. Due to that king Ferdinand appointed a new governor for the colony, Francisco de Bobadilla. Bobadilla arrested Columbus and sent him in chains back to Spain.

Cuba and the Affects of the Embargo The island nation of Cuba, located just ninety miles off the coast of Florida, is home to 11 million people and has one of the few remaining communist regimes in the world. Cuba’s leader, Fidel Castro, came to power in 1959 and immediately instituted a communist program of sweeping economic and social changes. Castro allied his government with the Soviet Union and seized and nationalized billions of dollars of American property. U.S. relations with Cuba have been strained ever since. A trade embargo against Cuba that was imposed in 1960 is still in place today. Despite severe economic suffering and increasing isolation from the world community, Castro remains committed to communism. (Close Up

During this research on Cuba, a study was conducted to determine changed views of the Caribbean island. The embargo placed on Cuba by the United States has implemented a certain view and depicted the opinions of Americans. While many countries can visit Cuba, the ban of Americas traveling to Cuba has isolated the reality of the countries situation. A group of eight was ordained to compare certain aspects of Cuba before and after their trip to Cuba. They focused on the levels of safety, feelings toward the embargo, and their expectation. After they were interviewed, the first drastic change was on the dangerous travel situations American Tourism placed on Cuba. Those in this research found Cuba to be one of the safest places they have visited.

Having set sail in early August of 1492, it took Columbus and his crew around two months until they would “discover” land around early October. It is in the early instances of contact that Columbus shows signs of superiority through language. When he encounters an island, one of the first actions Columbus takes is to claim and name the island. From his journal entry on October 15th, Columbus and his crew encounter a piece of and Columbus writes, “From this island I sighted another larger one to the