Cayman Islands History
Over the last five hundred years the Cayman Islands have had a rich and diverse history. They grew from being very isolated islands inhabited mostly by crocodiles and turtles to being one of the worlds premier tourist and financial centers. Being so small and isolated has given the Caymanians a strong sense of history and culture that is distinct, even from their Caribbean neighbors. They enjoyed a relative sense of insulation from many of the problems that plagued the rest of the region.
The Caymans were “discovered” by the west by Christopher Columbus on his fourth and final voyage to the new world. His two ships, the Capitana and the Santiago sighted two small islands on May 10, 1503. These islands he called “Las Tortugas” because of their abundance of sea turtles, these islands eventually became Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Columbus’ ships were off course when they sighted the islands and did not set foot on the islands. Columbus was an unintentional witness to the yearly gathering of sea turtles to mate and lay eggs. They were so abundant that their shells were mistaken for large rocks on the beaches. The turtles yearly migration was a large influence on the islands early history.
Due to the lack of farm able land the Caymans were overlooked by the Spanish and became populated much later than many of the other Caribbean islands. Grand Cayman was not populated until the 1730's and Cayman Brac was not permanently settled until 1833. The first settlements were seasonal turtling outposts. The islands were a popular stop for passing pirates because of a few natural fresh water wells and the abundance of turtles and other animals that could be used for provisions.
The low-lying Caymans have always been a challenge to ships navigating the region. All three islands have reefs surrounding the majority of their coasts, and the islands themselves being so low; they are very difficult for approaching ships to see, especially at night. The islands are also located on several popular shipping routes used from colonial times to today. Ships leaving Central America passed the Caymans on their way to the Gulf of Mexico and the strait of Florida, allowing the Gulf Stream to carry them out to the Atlantic. Large numbers of ships and dangerous reef lined islands is a recipe for shipwrecks and the Caymans have seen more than their fair share.
The second question frequently asked regarding Schliemann’s legacy examines his motives and skill as an excavator: was Heinrich Schliemann a good archaeologist? This question has two sides. First, did Schliemann use the best techniques and technology available to him at time of his first excavation? Second, did he have the same values that other archaeologists have?
Milanich, Jerald T. and Susan Milbrath., ed. First Encounters: Spanish Exploration in the Caribbean and the United States1492-1570. Gainesville: U of Florida P, 1989.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus was a self-made man who worked his way up to being the Captain of a merchant vessel. He gained the support of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, for an expedition to the Indies. With the support of the Spanish monarchy, he set off to find a new and faster trade route to the Indies. Upon the arrival of his first voyage, Columbus wrote a letter to Luis de Santangel, a “royal official and an early supporter of his venture,” in February 1493 (35). The epistle, letter, entitled “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage” was copied and then distributed in Spain before being translated and spread throughout Europe. The Letter is held in such regard with the people as it is considered the first printed description of the new world. Through his description of the nature of the islands, Columbus decided the future fate of the islands. His description of the vast beauty of the nature around him, declares both the economic and nationalistic motivations for colonizing the new world.
“Mask of Agamemnon” and shaft graves are other important discoveries for Heinrich Schliemann. After leaving Turkey, Schliemann started digging in M...
Published in 1493, Luis Santangel received the embellished journal of Christopher Columbus as validation for the much-promised riches in the Indies. Centered around an era of power and conquest, Columbus tapered his writings and findings to pacify his Royal sponsors for the voyage. Santangel was also one such wealthy sponsor. Although the tone of the letter was vastly hyperbolic, Christopher Columbus still managed to document the labeling of the numerous islands and its topography. Yet even the size and measurement is a bit exaggerated as well referring to one island being twice as large as that of Great Britain and Scotland. Columbus did his best to acknowledge various “thousands upon thousands” in this letter with that of spiceries and gold mines with mountains in a “thousand shapes...full of trees of a thousand kinds” as well as deeming the exotic islands incomparable to any other islands that “there could be no believing without seeing” firsthand. Colu...
What was Puerto Rico like under Spanish rule, and how important is that rule to the formation of the Puerto Rican people today? To answer these questions, we must take a look at the history of the Spanish and their colonization of the island of Puerto Rico.
"We could describe (Heinrich) Schliemann's excavations on the hill of Hissarlik and consider their results without speaking of Troy or even alluding to it," Georges Perrot wrote in 1891 in his Journal des Savants. "Even then, they would have added a whole new chapter to the history of civilization, the history of art" (qtd. in Duchêne 87). Heinrich Schliemann's life is the stuff fairy tales are made of. A poor, uneducated, and motherless boy rises through his hard work and parsimonious lifestyle to the heights of wealth (Burg 1,2). He travels the world and learns its languages ("Heinrich Schliemann"), takes a beautiful Greek bride, and together they unearth the treasures of Troy and the citadel of Agamemnon, thereby fulfilling the dream he has chased since childhood (Calder 18,19; Burg 8). Indeed, by presenting his life in romantic autobiographies as a series of adventures, starring Heinrich Schliemann as the epic hero (Duchêne 14), he ensured his status as a lasting folk hero and perennial bestseller (Calder 19).
Schliemann wrote extensively about his excavation, both with books and articles that he sent to major news publications such as The Times and The Daily Telegraph. In these writings he detailed his findings and created a new level of fascination and excitement in the city of Troy and the Trojan War. Whilst what he wrote at times was somewhat embellished as was his style the interest he generated helped make the story of the Trojan War and the city of Troy become a more well known story and location. This interest he helped generate around the site along with the findings of his assistant Wilhelm Dörpfeld helped increase public interest at the time in Ancient Greek Mythology. It is by creating this interest in the story of the Trojan War and the city of Troy that Schliemann helped secure an interest in the site well into the future. Whilst this isn’t a direct contribution to the historical investigation of the Trojan War it did open a new interest in Archaeology in the general
Initially it was Spanish territory, but the French and English also assumed control of the island at various points in history. Pirates and privateers used the island as a safe refuge to restock their supply of fresh water and supplies(Hartog, 55).
The most prevalent example of characters that are foils is the pair of Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. These two men are extraordinarily similar, and yet they are also polar opposites. When Darnay and Carton are both introduced for the first time in the courthouse scene in Book the Second, Dickens immediately ensures that the reader is aware of the comparison. Darnay is acquitted of treason simply because the witnesses are unsure of their testimony after seeing Carton’s near-identical features. In addition to virtually sharing a countenance, the two also tend to dress alike throughout the novel. However, these similarities are merely the backdrop by which to accentuate the key differences between the characters. These are also recognized early on, even by the dim-witted Jerry Cruncher: “so alike each other in feature, so unlike each other in manner” (80). Carton is a relatively poor Englishman, while Darnay is a privileged French aristocrat. Although they have similar capabilities, Darnay uses his situation in life to his advantage, and Carton develops a disrespectful attitude and alcoholism. When the characters themselv...
His archaeological excavation work not only helped with the authentication of the accuracy of the Bible, but it served as a guide for the scientific work performed on excavation sites. Despite his achievements, there are scholars who are suspicious with the Bible being used in archaeological studies and in more recent years h...
Many students who feel the pressure to succeed at the high school level have an unhealthy amount of stress. Students who feel this have been cheating, pulling all nighters, becoming depressed, and seeking relief in drug use, and self mutilation. On average in a recent study at Illinois high school students spend 3.07 hours of homework each night on just homework not including extra curricular activities(Jerushapope,2). Also in this high school students reported getting 6.8 hours of sleep each night, but 34.6% reported getting 6 or fewer hours of sleep(Jerushapope,2). Most high school students spend 2 hours of extra curricular activity each night thats not including homework so after those activities you have to come home and do homework and then you will not have a lot of time to sleep. Also most kids do not get a lot of time to spend with their parents during the weeknights. Some kids cannot even make it to the dinner table because they have so much homework and that is not healthy for the parents and their childs relationship. In ...
Polar bears are naturally not diverse creatures. There isn’t a lot of genetic variation in them to help their population be able to produce future generations that could survive in these new environmental conditions. This occurrence happens in areas that are located in the more southern parts of the artic regions. Predicted changes in the distribution and duration of sea ice in Hudson Bay suggest that gene flow among these clusters may be reduced in the future (Crompton 1). However, other researchers studied this concept and found that other populations around the artic regions show the opposite. Although polar bears’ abundance, distribution, and population structure will certainly be negatively affected by ongoing —and increasingly rapid—loss of Arctic sea ice, these genetic data provide no evidence of strong directional gene flow in response to recent climate change (Malenfant 1).
Love is a theme used very often throughout the book A Tale of Two cities. Love can be very influential to a person. Jarvis Lorry, Alexander Manette, Sydney Carton, and Lucie Manette are all greatly affected by love in this book. Love most of the time ends in happiness, but in some cases it does not end very
The Graeco-Roman mentality of history having a cyclic nature as opposed to a linear progression can be utilised to form the basis of Pompeii’s significance to archaeology (Breisach, 2008 p. 46-7). Initiated by archaeologists such as Giuseppe Fiorelli, detailed site classification has aided archaeologists in the processing and analysis of evidence (Renfrew and Bahn, 2006 p. 24). Pompeii is one of the earliest examples of this. The size of the site has presented unique challenges to archaeologists throughout history, particularly in regard to the preservation of artefacts. Poor preservation and restoration techniques have created challenges for archaeologists in recent times, but have increased our knowledge of reliable methods (Wallace, 2012