mily:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">On 21st February, 1795, an army
of St. Lucian freedom fighters led by Victor Hugues, a 'molatto', defeated a
battalion of British troops. For the next four months, a united front of
recently freed slaves and freedom fighters known as the Brigands (also
ex-slaves, who instigated revolt across the region) forced out not only the
British army, but every white slave-owner from the island. Just under a year
later, the British Army returned, with many more troops than the freedom
fighters could manage, and eventually re-imposed slavery until 1807. However by
the time the British regained control of the island, many of those freed had
escaped into the thick rain forests.
Saint Lucia continued to be
contested by France and Great
Britain until the British secured
it in 1814, following its war with the United States. Saint Lucia was
considered part of the British Windward Islands colony.
In the mid-twentieth century, it
joined the West Indies Federation (1958–1962) when the colony was
dissolved. In 1967, Saint Lucia became one of the six members of the West
Indies Associated States, with internal self-government. In
