colony · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Colony of Saint Vincent

1763 CE – 1979 CE · capital Kingstown

British colony on Saint Vincent, taken from its Garifuna inhabitants by war and deportation, known for arrowroot, breadfruit and La Soufrière volcano.

Origins

Saint Vincent was largely held by the Garifuna and Kalinago until the Treaty of Paris of 1763 granted it to Britain. Surveyors began dividing land for plantations, provoking the First Carib War of 1772 to 1773. France occupied the island from 1779 to 1783, and in 1795 to 1796 the Garifuna rose again before their deportation in 1797.

Rule and society

A governor, council and assembly ruled from Kingstown, while sugar, cotton and later arrowroot were grown on estates worked by enslaved Africans. The botanic garden founded in 1765 is among the oldest in the Americas and received William Bligh's breadfruit in 1793. After emancipation, indentured workers came from Madeira and India. The assembly gave way to crown colony rule in 1877, and La Soufrière's eruption in 1902 killed about 1,600 people.

Decline and legacy

Saint Vincent belonged to the British Windward Islands, then joined the West Indies Federation. It became an Associated State in 1969 and gained independence, with the northern Grenadines, as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on 27 October 1979.

Lineage

Colony of Saint VincentSaint Vincent and the Grenadines 1979 CE – present

Connections (3)

Colony of Saint Vincent was a colony of British Empire1763 CE – 1979 CE
Colony of Saint Vincent was part of British Windward Islands1833 CE – 1960 CE
Colony of Saint Vincent was part of West Indies Federation1958 CE – 1962 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Colony of Saint Vincent. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-saint-vincent
MLA: “Colony of Saint Vincent.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-saint-vincent. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Colony of Saint Vincent.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-saint-vincent.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Colony of Saint Vincent’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-saint-vincent (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻