The History of Jamaica

This is a map of the Caribbean region, colonized in the 17th and 18th centuries by British, Spanish and French imperial interests. Among the colonies depicted, we see Jamaica with different port cities listed: Port Morant, Turtle Bay, Kingston. It is important to note that some names are French, others Spanish and others English.

On this map, the majority of the places listed are port cities or towns necessary for maritime trade. On the Central American portion, most of the names listed are on the eastern seaboard due to its accessibility to European imperial interests.

This map was drawn by T. Kitchin Hydrog for “his Majesty,” King George III, in 1774. The map takes on a European perspective that accentuates port and trade cities useful to maritime exchange, and excludes religious, cultural or political sites important to indigenous people inhabiting the area.

The underrepresentation of non-European sites and names underscores the purpose (and failures) of the colonization process. Local indigenous knowledge and perspectives were often ignored, deemed external to the imperial process.