Its Geography, Climate and History

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* The Caribbean consists of the

Caribbean Sea, its islands and the

surrounding coasts.

The region is comprised of over 7,000

islands, islets, reefs and cays.

The Caribbean includes 25 countries

and dependent territories.

The Caribbean is usually regarded as

a sub-region of North America but is

also closely associated with South

America.

The Caribbean is sometimes referred

to as the “West Indies”.

**The islands of the

Caribbean can be separated as follows:

*Greater Antilles: The 4 largest islands in the Caribbean: Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico

*Lesser Antilles: The smaller group of islands from Virgin Islands down to Trinidad to Tobago

*The Bahamas are a chain of about 700 islands

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The geography in the Caribbean varies.

There are islands with relatively flat

terrain of non-volcanic origins such as the

Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Barbados and

Antigua.

Many are formed by coral reefs or tops of

underwater mountains.

Then there are others that possess rugged,

mountainous terrain such as Cuba, St.

Lucia, Grenada, Hispaniola, Jamaica and

Puerto Rico.

Many are formed by volcanoes or colliding

tectonic plates

**For the most part, the

Caribbean Islands have a

tropical climate.

*There is a little variation in

the higher elevation of the

mountains of Cuba and

Hispaniola

*The average

temperature is in the

upper 80’s during the

summer and the lower

70’s in the winter.

**The Caribbean also experiences a

wet season, typically from June-

November.

*This is also the time where

hurricanes pose a major threat,

usually June - November.

*Hurricanes are storms w/heavy

rains & fierce winds (< 75 miles

per hour)

*6 to 12 move through the region

annually

*Can have deadly consequences

*Hurricane Mitch (1998) killed at least

10,000, was the most deadly tropical

storm of the 20th century

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Prior to European arrival, the Caribbean was estimated to have a population around 750,000 Native Americans.

The first contact with the Europeans occurred on October 12, 1492 when Christopher Columbus landed on the island of San Salvador (in modern day Bahamas.)

**Christopher Columbus nicknamed the islands he discovered

the “West Indies”, for he had truly thought he had landed in

the Pacific islands near India.

*The Caribbean gets its name from the native people who

lived in the islands known as the Carib.

Which one is

the

Caribbean?

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SPAIN

FRANCE

BRITAIN

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Following contact with the

Europeans, the native population

declined mostly due to disease and

genocide.

Although many of the natives died,

the population steadily rose in the

Caribbean from 1500-1800 due to

the arrival of Europeans and the

importing of slaves.

In fact, 50% of ALL slaves taken

from Africa ended up in the

Caribbean Islands, around 6 million

individuals.

**The reason for importing so many African slaves to the Caribbean

was that the Europeans needed labor to work the sugarcane

plantations.

*Sugarcane became the worlds leading crop in the 1700’s. Growing

and harvesting cane is very labor intensive. At first they tried using

the natives, but after they died, large amounts of Africans were

brought in to do the work.

*The Caribbean essentially became Europe’s sugarcane factory.

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**During the sixteenth and

seventeenth centuries, the Spanish were mining staggering amounts of gold and silver bullion.

*The huge Spanish shipments of this treasure from the New World back to Europe attracted many pirates.

*Despite this, practical plunder for a pirate was:* Food and water supplies

* Cloth for sails and markets

* Spare parts and pieces for the ship (masts, ropes, lumber, etc.)

* Slaves (to be sold or used)

**Captain Morgan (yes, that Captain Morgan!)

* Real name was Henry Morgan

* Led many attacks on Spanish ships and colonies.

*He most famously led a large navy to attack and

destroyed Panama City.

* The British even appointed him governor of

Jamaica!

*Blackbeard

*One of the most famous pirates ever.

* Real name was Edward Teach.

*Was very tall and had a thick, black, plaited

beard. He would also place lit wicks in his hair or

in his hat so that smoke would to give him a more

menacing appearance.

*Had one of the largest pirate ships, the 300 ton

Queen Anne’s Revenge. It had 44 guns!

*His fleet had many ships and over 300 pirates.

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*Pirate flags are perhaps some of the most

infamous symbols of pirates.

*Everyone is familiar with the typical, black

Jolly Roger flag.

*However, pirates had many different flags

with different meanings.

*Many times pirates would fly either a black

or red flag.

* Black flags were the most common. Black flags

were good because that meant the pirates likely

would not kill you, instead they would likely let

you go or provide you quarter.

* You really didn’t want to run into pirates flying a

red flag. Red stands for bloodshed and these

pirates would often kill you or subject you to cruel

torture.

**Did pirates really make people walk

the plank?

*No, there’s only one recorded instance

of this and historians are even

skeptical about that.

*What about buried treasure?

* Absolutely not! It doesn’t make

sense! Why would bury your

treasure? Most pirates used their

earnings on women or in taverns.

* There are only a few instances of

pirates ever burying their treasure

and it was brief for safekeeping, or

it was done to hide the evidence of

their crime.

**In the 1800’s many island nations would

revolt and win their independence

from European countries.

*The first movement for independence

was the French colony of St. Domingue

(Haiti), on the island of Hispaniola.

*Almost all of the people who lived in the

colony were slaves and easily

outnumbered their European masters.

*They rose up in revolt and the former colony

declared its independence under the new name of

Haiti meaning “mountainous land” in local

languages.

*Many countries still remain under control of a

parent country.