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History of Tobago
The history of Tobago covers a period from the earliest human settlements on the island of Tobago in the Archaic period, through its current status as a part of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Originally settled by indigenous people, the island was subject to Spanish slave raids in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century and colonisation attempts by the Dutch, British, French, and Courlanders beginning in 1628, though most colonies failed due to indigenous resistance. After 1763 Tobago was converted to a plantation economy by British settlers and enslaved Africans.
Tobago came under French control in 1781 during the Anglo-French War, returned to British control in 1793 during the War of the First Coalition, but was returned to France in 1802. The island was recaptured by the British in 1803, and remained under their control until independence in 1962.
The economy in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was entirely dependent on slavery, and most aspects of the lives of enslaved Tobagonians was governed by the Slave Act. The end of slavery came in 1838; coupled with a lack of money to pay labourers, Tobago planters resorted to metayage, a form of sharecropping, which remained the dominant mode of production until the end of the nineteenth century.
Declining sugar prices led to Tobago's consolidation with other British colonies in the Caribbean and the end of internal self-government. In 1889 Tobago was combined with Trinidad to form the colony of Trinidad and Tobago, which gained independence in 1962. Internal self-government was re-established in 1980 with the creation of the Tobago House of Assembly.
Tobago was first settled in the Archaic period by people who probably originated in Trinidad. The oldest settlements are in the southwest of the island near the Bon Accord Lagoon, and belong to a culture known as the Milford complex, which was named for the shell midden near Milford, Tobago. These first Tobagonians were hunters and gatherers (possibly "incipient horticulturalists") who relied on, and probably managed, a range of edible roots, palm starch, and seeds. They fished and hunted sea turtles, shell fish, crabs and land mammals (primarily collared peccaries and agoutis). Culturally, they have been associated with the Ortoiroid people. No pottery remains have been found at Ortoiroid sites.
The age of archaeological sites associated with the Milford complex have not has not been established with much precision. Artefacts found at the Milford site and other stone artefacts found elsewhere in southwestern Tobago have been dated to between 3500 and 1000 BCE. The similarities between these artefacts and ones from more completely studied sites at St. John and Banwari Trace in Trinidad led Dutch archaeologist Arie Boomert to conclude that the actual age of the Milford complex sites in Tobago is likely to be on the older end of the date range.
In the first century of the Common Era, Saladoid people settled in Tobago. Like the Ortoiroid people who preceded them, these Saladoid people are believed to have come from Trinidad. They brought with them pottery-making and agricultural traditions, and are likely to have introduced crops which included cassava, sweet potatoes, Indian yam, tannia and corn. Saladoid cultural traditions were later modified by the introduction of the Barrancoid culture. People of the Barrancoid culture settled in the Orinoco Delta by about 350 CE and settled in south Trinidad starting around 500 CE, resulting in a cultural exchange that modified the pottery styles in Trinidad. Elements of this culture made it to Tobago, either by trade or a combination of trade and settlement.
After 650 CE, the Saladoid culture was replaced by the Troumassoid tradition in Tobago. While Tobago and Trinidad were culturally connected during the Saladoid period, there was now a cultural split as the Arauquinoid tradition became established in Trinidad, while Tobago became culturally aligned with the Windward Islands and Barbados. Diets remained similar to the Saladoid times, but the remains of collared peccaries are rarer, which archaeologists have interpreted as evidence of over-hunting of the relatively large mammals. Troumassoid traditions were once thought to represent the settlement of the Island Caribs in the Lesser Antilles and Tobago, but this is now associated with the Cayo ceramic tradition. No archaeological sites exclusively associated with the Cayo tradition are known from Tobago.
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History of Tobago
The history of Tobago covers a period from the earliest human settlements on the island of Tobago in the Archaic period, through its current status as a part of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Originally settled by indigenous people, the island was subject to Spanish slave raids in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century and colonisation attempts by the Dutch, British, French, and Courlanders beginning in 1628, though most colonies failed due to indigenous resistance. After 1763 Tobago was converted to a plantation economy by British settlers and enslaved Africans.
Tobago came under French control in 1781 during the Anglo-French War, returned to British control in 1793 during the War of the First Coalition, but was returned to France in 1802. The island was recaptured by the British in 1803, and remained under their control until independence in 1962.
The economy in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was entirely dependent on slavery, and most aspects of the lives of enslaved Tobagonians was governed by the Slave Act. The end of slavery came in 1838; coupled with a lack of money to pay labourers, Tobago planters resorted to metayage, a form of sharecropping, which remained the dominant mode of production until the end of the nineteenth century.
Declining sugar prices led to Tobago's consolidation with other British colonies in the Caribbean and the end of internal self-government. In 1889 Tobago was combined with Trinidad to form the colony of Trinidad and Tobago, which gained independence in 1962. Internal self-government was re-established in 1980 with the creation of the Tobago House of Assembly.
Tobago was first settled in the Archaic period by people who probably originated in Trinidad. The oldest settlements are in the southwest of the island near the Bon Accord Lagoon, and belong to a culture known as the Milford complex, which was named for the shell midden near Milford, Tobago. These first Tobagonians were hunters and gatherers (possibly "incipient horticulturalists") who relied on, and probably managed, a range of edible roots, palm starch, and seeds. They fished and hunted sea turtles, shell fish, crabs and land mammals (primarily collared peccaries and agoutis). Culturally, they have been associated with the Ortoiroid people. No pottery remains have been found at Ortoiroid sites.
The age of archaeological sites associated with the Milford complex have not has not been established with much precision. Artefacts found at the Milford site and other stone artefacts found elsewhere in southwestern Tobago have been dated to between 3500 and 1000 BCE. The similarities between these artefacts and ones from more completely studied sites at St. John and Banwari Trace in Trinidad led Dutch archaeologist Arie Boomert to conclude that the actual age of the Milford complex sites in Tobago is likely to be on the older end of the date range.
In the first century of the Common Era, Saladoid people settled in Tobago. Like the Ortoiroid people who preceded them, these Saladoid people are believed to have come from Trinidad. They brought with them pottery-making and agricultural traditions, and are likely to have introduced crops which included cassava, sweet potatoes, Indian yam, tannia and corn. Saladoid cultural traditions were later modified by the introduction of the Barrancoid culture. People of the Barrancoid culture settled in the Orinoco Delta by about 350 CE and settled in south Trinidad starting around 500 CE, resulting in a cultural exchange that modified the pottery styles in Trinidad. Elements of this culture made it to Tobago, either by trade or a combination of trade and settlement.
After 650 CE, the Saladoid culture was replaced by the Troumassoid tradition in Tobago. While Tobago and Trinidad were culturally connected during the Saladoid period, there was now a cultural split as the Arauquinoid tradition became established in Trinidad, while Tobago became culturally aligned with the Windward Islands and Barbados. Diets remained similar to the Saladoid times, but the remains of collared peccaries are rarer, which archaeologists have interpreted as evidence of over-hunting of the relatively large mammals. Troumassoid traditions were once thought to represent the settlement of the Island Caribs in the Lesser Antilles and Tobago, but this is now associated with the Cayo ceramic tradition. No archaeological sites exclusively associated with the Cayo tradition are known from Tobago.