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A little a dis, a little a dat
I am sure that everyone in the audience has heard about Jamaica. My question is what do you know about Jamaica?
I don't mean to put you on the spot, but if what you know about Jamaica goes something like "rum, beaches, waterfalls, tropical climate and jerk food", then chances are that's all you'll expect from a vacation. I'm just saying there's a whole lot more to Jamrock than that. Informing you about Jamaican history, early settlers, culture and migration might attract your appetite for more than just the beaches.
History
Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean behind Cuba and Hispaniola. It is also the largest English speaking island in the Caribbean. Jamaicans speak English and speak it eloquently, but with their own musical lilt. Jamaica is 51 miles wide and 146 miles long. She was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1494. She was a slave colony until 1833 when slavery was abolished. Some of its history is told by the food Jamaicans eat. The cassava the Arawaks grew is used today as "bammie, with fried fish. The Maroons, who were always on the run from being enslaved, devised a way of spicing and slow cooking pork that they called "jerking". (Information and Background on Jamaica, October 1, 2011)
Early Settlers
The island was first inhabited by a group of peaceful settlers called the Arawaks Indians who had lived there as early as 600 A.D. When the first tourist (Christopher Columbus) arrived in 1494, he described the island as “the fairest land my eyes have ever seen,” (Discover Jamaica.) Like the majority of visitors today he could not stay away and on his fourth voyage he captured the island for Spain. In 1655 The British attacked and captured the island from the Spaniards, ...
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...” Personally, I am one of those immigrants. My family moved here in the early seventies. Why? Jamaicans are ambitious and predominantly migrate for economic reasons. Jamaicans also went overseas in search of opportunities. Jamaican perceptions of the US are, it is a land of opportunity. Jamaicans has been migrating to the United States as early as the 1800s. Before long, Jamaicans
In conclusion
So, when you visit Jamaica enjoys her beauty, sample her history, experience her culture, and learn her people. Jamaican People are an example to the world ... they show how people of different cultures, skin colors, religious backgrounds, and ethnic origins can come together and live together as one people ... in friendship, in harmony, happy and smiling, and with a laid-back attitude of "No Problem Mon - Soon Come" ... whatever fate brings our way. (Jamaica-no-Problem.com)
addition, after WWI, there were many waves of Jamaican peoples that would come to America.
The Caribbean is comprised of a group of island. Jamaica is one of the greatest Antilles. It has a tropical climate. Each country has its own culture, Jamaicans is not an exemption, and they have an assorted and distinctive one. “Their culture is a complex mixture of African, Arabic, European, East Indian, and Chinese roots combining together to create a rich, dynamic heritage” (Gall, 2009).
Reggae music is a very powerful way of communicating a message to its listener’s. Reggae has evolved over time from many different types of music and lots of different forms from ska to reggae. The history of reggae starts over 400 years ago in the days of slavery. Under the severe oppression of slavery the African people tried to hold on the pieces of their culture that they could. Music and dance were among the most important cultural traditions retained by the African people. These African rhythms gave way to mento, which gave rise to Rastafarian chants, which in turn gave way to ska and then rocksteady. (Potash, 29) When reggae music is thought of, Jamaica is instantly the word that comes to most peoples mind. Reggae music is also associated closely with the smoking of ganja. Generally people are uneducated about Rastafarianism, and don’t know that smoking marijuana is a sacrament of their religion. Just like Christians eat bread and drink wine at mass, for the Rastafarians ganja is a way to get closer to Jah or their God. The Rastafarian's God was proclaimed Haile Selassie the King of Ethiopia. The man who predicted this was Marcus Garvey a native Jamaican was an advocate of black unity and pride. Garvey was the one who told the African people that their savior would be the next king crowned in Africa. The Jamaican people revered Garvey and believed in what he preached, and when Haile Selassie was crowned the king of Ethiopia the Rastafarian people rejoiced with their new God, Haile Selassie. The Rastafarian’s loved Selassie, even though Selassie didn’t ask or want to be their God. Selassie made a visit to Jamaica in April of 1966, and when he first landed the thousands of Ras...
Jamaica’s history is full of social unrest. The island was originally inhabited by the Arawaks. The Arawaks were a peaceful, pleasant race. In his History of the British West Indies, Sir Alan Burns says, "all accounts credit them with being generous-minded, affectionate and good-humoured" (37). Once Jamaica was "discovered" by Spain in 1494, however, the Arawaks, who had inhabited the island for centuries, quickly died off due to the harsh treatment of the Spaniards. Spain never really developed the land, however, and thus when British forces invaded in 1655, Spain chose not to focus much energy on defending the island.
Jamaica is a small island but it is very beautiful. Jamaica is located approximately 480 miles south of Florida Coast, the caribbean island. Jamaica is slightly smaller
The country of Jamaica is a West Indian island located near the center of the Caribbean Sea. It is among the group of islands that comprises the Greater Antilles and is the largest of the English-speaking islands in the region. Jamaica has an area of 4,411 square miles and is 146 miles long. It is divided into
The Westerner referring most commonly to those that are of European descent see the island of Jamaica, to be exotic, a place of wonder and discovery, which is why they decided to settle in hopes of exploring this unknown territory to find adventure just as Edward Said described in Latent and Manifest Orientalism. To this day modern westerners, tourists, have the same mentality that Said described when they travel to Jamaica, they see it as a place to of adventure, a vacation from the boredom and stress that they have experienced back home. What tourists do not realize is that they are able to experience this adventure at the expense of other people’s hard work and labor, which is the Natives daily life. These people may bask all day in what the tourist thinks they enjoy the...
The Jamaican natives and imported African slaves endured Spanish rule for 150 years until the invasion of the British in 1655. The fleet of Admiral Penn and the ground troops of General Venables were able to conquer the island fairly quickly; although there was several failed attempts by the Spanish to regain the land. A civil government was established in English Jamaica in 1663 which attracted settlers to the island (Bennett 84).
Every year thousands of tourists visit the islands of Antigua, they come from all over the world to drain their sorrows of reality by ridding their pockets of the cash they strive to work so hard for. Although Antigua seems to be filled with relaxation, sunshine and rainbows, and devoid of anything that could ruin somebody’s week, unfortunately, Antigua is quite the opposite of that of what we imagine. Author Jamaica Kincaid argues this false reality tourists imagine about the island, by addressing many issues she witnessed while growing up in Antigua.
“For the island colony was divided into three main groups in a political and social way. The descendants of the slaves were three-fourths of the population and classified as black or dark brown. The descendants of Europeans and slaves were about one-fifth of the population and classified as coloured or light brown. The rest were a few thousand East Indians and Chinese and perhaps the same number of pure European decent.” (Pg. 4) Claude Mckay blatantly describes the historical reality here in his novel, Banana Bottom. The reality that McKay is describing in Jamaica, directly relates to the history of the Caribbean and Jamaica specifically in the 19th Century.
Jamaica is a small island in the Caribbean, however it is the largest English-speaking country in the Caribbean. Jamaica has many traditions and lifestyles, but two of them are music industry and sport. In the music industry, you will find many music legends, and one of them is Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley). Marley is a Jamaican born musician, known for his reggae. He was born in 1945 and died at the age of 36, in 1981. Bob Marley & The Wailers’ most famous song is “Sun is shining” and it is a reggae soundtrack. I find the music industry very interesting because it has soundtracks to various movements in Jamaica, such as Rastafari. Rastafari is an Afro-Caribbean political and spiritual movement, that found place in the 1930s in Jamaica.
Jamaica, meaning “Land of Wood and Water” is the third largest island with 10,991 square kilometers located in the Caribbean south of Cuba and west of Haiti. It has many rivers and beaches. Mountains are also a major portion of Jamaica’s landscape. The Population of Jamaica is 2.7 million in 2010 (PAHO, 2012). Jamaica’s climate is tropical with temperatures of 72 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit (CON, 2013). Tainos, also referred to as Arawaks are the first people known to settle in Jamaica. Ethnicity of Jamaica is very diverse. Beliefs and customs in Jamaica are also very diverse with the majority of the population coming from many different countries bringing beliefs, and customs with them. The main Language is English. Government in Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy and is considered an upper middle-income country with a population of 2,769 (WHO, 2014). The health system in Jamaica is overseen by the Ministry of Health, a branch of the Jamaican government. Jamaica has made major strides in improving their economic and health in a relatively short period of time since only becoming an independent country in the year 1962.
With an increase in legal immigration, there is a possibility that the country’s culture and identity will disappear slowly as more immigrants enter the country. In The Bahamas, many of the immigrants bring along their own culture and language, especially those whose first language is not English. This culture inclusion will eventually lead to the original Bahamian culture disappearing as more and more cultures are included into the Bahamian culture. In the year 2015, The Bahamas introduced a new event called Junkanoo Carnival. Carnival is an event that is often found in Caribbean countries like Trinidad and Tobago or Barbados but not The Bahamas. This is because those countries Carnival are The Bahamas’ Junkanoo. However, The Bahamas continued on with the event ‘Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival’ which is mostly the culture of other Caribbean
“Out of many, one people.” This Jamaican motto is commonly used to portray that even though the people of the country are of many different races, backgrounds and cultures they are all share one common ground. Though a small country, Jamaican culture has many factors have globally impacted others such as Germany, China, and Africa. The people of Jamaica also pride themselves on how diverse their country is from the culturally mixed population to the melting pot of many foods to the wide variety of music. The music of Jamaica is one of the main factors that makes Jamaica unique. The music of Jamaica includes many popular genres such as calypso, ska, dancehall; the more modern form of reggae and the most popular reggae.