In 1951 universal adult sufferage was introduced in St. Vincent and the
Grenadines and in 1979, it became
an independent state within the British Commonwealth with a democratic government based on
the British system. History marks more than 200 years before year zero; a
cultivated tribe called the Arawaks arrived on dug-out canoes to the
island. These new residents brought fire-burners, plants and animals, basic
farming and fishing skills with them. They lived in peace for 1,500 years until
a tribe of fierce fighters called the Caribs,
invaded and killed the Arawak men and took off with their women.
More than 200 years after Columbus laid eyes on St. Vincent, the
Europeans established a kind of permanent settlement. Its mountainous and
heavily forested geography allowed the Caribs to defend against European settlement here longer than on
almost any other island in the Caribbean.
After the Caribs were defeated on other
islands they joined
