ABSTRACT
The New World-the mainland of America together with the West Indian Islands-was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. However, despite the fact that the area was settled by Europeans and supplied Europe with many of its raw materials, at least three-quarters of the present population of the West Indies are not of European descent. Instead, they are the descendants of black slaves who were forcibly taken from the West Coast of Africa and made to work on the sugar plantations of the Caribbean islands during the centuries of British rule.
