St. Lucia was first settled by the Arawak people in 200 AD, who named the island “Louanalao,” meaning “Island of the Iguanas.” In 800 AD, the Carib people arrived, and their culture was assimilated into the Louanalao culture.
The first European colonizers arrived in Saint Lucia in the 1600s. Hoping to boost European trade, the French, Dutch, and British all attempted to claim the island, but were fiercely fought off by the Caribs. In the mid-seventeenth century, the French established the first permanent European settlement on the island, and made a treaty with the Caribs. For the next century, the status of St. Lucia was contested, with both the French and the British frequently making new claims to the island. During this period, the colonizers killed much of the Carib population, and replaced them with enslaved Africans, who were forced to work on sugar plantations.
In 1794, the French freed all enslaved people on the island, and the British invaded in response, in order to defend the interests of wealthy plantation owners. They regained control of the island in 1803, restoring slavery. St. Lucia was declared an official colony of the British empire in 1814, only abolishing slavery in 1834. Over the course of the twentieth century, the island became increasingly self-governing. The first representative governing body was founded in 1924, universal adult suffrage was established in 1951, and, in 1979, St. Lucia finally announced full independence, more than a decade after Derek Walcott published his first internationally recognized book of poetry.
