ABSTRACT
Christopher Columbus discovered St. Kitts on his second voyage in 1493. St. Kitts became the shortened version of the original name Saint Christopher. Both British and French occupied the island at the same time but St. Kitts was eventually turned into a British possession until it became independent in 1983. e British and French settlers unleashed violence on the native Indians that resulted in their total annihilation, particularly at a place called Bloody Point. e settlers established and expanded sugar and tobacco plantations by importing
Africans to work as slaves. Although the slaves were emancipated in 1834, many of them remained on the plantations because of the lack of employment opportunities elsewhere on the small island. For a small island, St. Kitts has a unique history in the Caribbean. It was perhaps named aer Christopher Columbus himself when he rst sailed past the island but did not land. It was also the rst colony in the Caribbean that was settled by the British when Thomas Warner arrived with 14 other settlers in 1624. By 1776, St. Kitts became the richest British colony per capita in the Caribbean for sugar production. St. Kitts also had the distinction of having one of the oldest Masonic temples in the Caribbean (St. Kitts Tourism Authority). St. Kitts is among the most fertile islands in the region because of the rich soil around the dormant volcano, Mount Liamuiga. e Columbian Caribs called St. Kitts ‘Liamuiga’, or ‘fertile land.’ e peak of the volcano is the highest point in St. Kitts (3,792 or 1,156 m), as well as in the British Leeward Islands, and the eastern Caribbean archipelago. Geographically, the island is strategically located near maritime transport lanes that are of major importance to the United States. In 2005, St. Kitts and Nevis was reported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Index Report as the second best place to live in the Caribbean (Newsday, 2005: 1). St. Kitts has Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is the largest fortress ever built in the Eastern Caribbean. St. Kitts became the smallest nation in the world to host the Cricket World Cup matches in the Warner Park Cricket Stadium in 2007. The island is also home to several international universities, including Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Windsor University School of Medicine, and the University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
