History of the Cayman Islands

When I traveled to the Cayman Islands, I knew nothing about the history of the island. So, it pushed me to discover more about the island not only for my sake, but I want to inform you also. This way you can understand the island and the meaning behind it. Let's have a little history lesson today! :)

The Cayman Islands are a British Overseas territory. On May 10, 1503, Christopher Columbus found Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. There is no evidence of Columbus finding the islands according to officials, so it is believed that the first people to actually land on the islands were sailors from Sir Frances Drake in 1586. It was around 300 years ago that people began to settle on the islands. Over the next several hundred years, it was a popular stop for sailors. a variety of people settled on the islands, such as pirates, refugees, sailors, and slaves. The majority of Caymanians are of African and English decent, and they still are today.

In 1655, the English captured Jamaica and claimed the Cayman Islands. In 1670, the Cayman Islands were recognized as a British territory. The British neglected the islands so the Caymanians had to govern the island under their own rules. In 1831, the first elected legislation was finally set up in later years the UK claimed the Cayman Islands as a dependency of Jamaica, which caused the islands to have a control government. Things were getting back on track until a horrible hurricane of 1932, killing many. From that point on, the islands started to grow front the losses and started booming. In 1950, the first hotel was built bringing in tourists. In 1962, Jamaica chose independence and the Cayman Islands chose to keep its relationship with Britain. Today, the Cayman Islands are still growing a great future!