Dominica was the last of the Caribbean islands to be colonized by Europeans due chiefly to the fierce resistance of the native Caribs. France ceded possession to Great Britain in 1763, which colonized the island in 1805. Slavery ended in 1833 and in 1835 the first three men of African descent were elected to the legislative assembly of Dominica. In 1871, Dominica became part first of the British Leeward Islands and then the British Windward Islands until 1958. In 1967, Dominica became an associated state of the UK, and formally took responsibility for its internal affairs. In 1980, two years after independence, Dominica’s fortunes improved when a corrupt and tyrannical administration was replaced by that of Mary Eugenia Charles, the first female prime minister in the Caribbean, who remained in office for 15 years. On 18 September 2017, Hurricane Maria passed over the island, causing extensive damage to structures, roads, communications, and the power supply, and largely destroying critical agricultural areas.

Economy

Highly agrarian OECS island economy; ECCU-member state; large banana exporter; improved oversight of its citizenship-by-investment program; emerging ecotourism, information and communications, and education industries.

Population

The population is 74,656 (2023 est.) which consists of African descent 84.5%, mixed 9%, Indigenous 3.8%, other 2.1%, unspecified 0.6% (2011 est.)

The island was settled by the Arawak arriving from South America in the fifth century. The Kalinago displaced the Arawak by the 15th century. Christopher Columbus is said to have passed the island on Sunday, 3 November 1493. It was later colonized by Europeans, predominantly by the French from the 1690s to 1763. The French imported enslaved people from West Africa to Dominica to work on coffee plantations. Great Britain took possession in 1763 after the Seven Years’ War, and it gradually established English as its official language. The island gained independence as a republic in 1978.

During British rule of Dominica, at least 100,000 slaves were brought to the island, 40,000 of whom arrived between 1763 and 1778. As of the 1760s, 10,551 slaves were imported. Many of the slaves brought to Dominica were traded with growers on Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Lucia. With the French reoccupation of the island between 1778 and mid-May 1783, only one slave ship in late 1781 arrived in Dominica. After the British reoccupation between May 1783 and late 1789, the slave trade resumed and 38,328 new slaves were brought to Dominica. In the 1790s, 11,776 more slaves arrived. The large number of slaves in Dominica in 1795 prompted a slave rebellion, influenced by the Haitian Revolution, called Colihault Uprising. The revolt was not successful and in the first eight years of the 19th century, 7,734 more African slaves arrived in Dominica.

Slaves, freed slaves, and African property owners were forbidden to participate in political and economic discussions or decision-making.

Because of their large quantity and poor treatment, the number of Maroons and runaway slaves increased through time. These ex-slaves were armed and led a rebellion against the British in 1785 and 1786. The rebellion was not successful and the leaders were imprisoned or executed. The conflicts between the Maroons and the British reoccurred several times, persisting until 1815.

In 1831, though slavery continued, the Brown´s Act conferred political and social rights to free Afro-Dominicans. In 1832, three coloured men were elected to the House Dominican legislative Assembly. On August 1, 1834, the Abolition of Slavery, passed by the British Parliament a year earlier, was put into effect in Dominica. In 1838 there was a coloured majority in the chamber. Dominica became the first British colony in the Caribbean with a legislature controlled by coloured people. Moreover, most coloured legislators were small land holders or merchants whose economic and social views were opposed to the interests of wealthy English landowners. The English landowners lobbied for more direct British control, while the coloured lawmakers advocated for laws to promote the welfare of the former slaves. The differing interests caused an increase in internal political instability resulting in clashes between ex-slaves and settlers. In 1844, freed slaves, joining with the Kalinago people, rebelled against their former owners.

In 1865, the British colonial authority replaced the elected assembly, composed of half elected and half appointed members. In 1871, Dominica became part of the Leeward Islands and the power of the African population declined. In 1896, the colonial government was restored and restricted the political rights of the African population. Development aid, offered as compensation for disenfranchisement, proved to have negligible effects.