Pre-colonial history
Before the arrival of Europeans and Africans in the 16th century, various Amerindian groups passed through or settled on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, including the Ciboney, Arawak, and Carib people. These groups likely originated in the Orinoco Valley of South America and migrated north through Trinidad and the Lesser Antilles.
By the time Christopher Columbus passed near St. Vincent on his third voyage in 1498, the Caribs occupied the island after displacing the Arawaks a few centuries earlier.
Early European contacts
Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors largely ignored St. Vincent and the smaller Grenadine islands nearby, but focused instead on the pursuit of gold and silver in Central and South America. They did embark on slaving expeditions in and around St. Vincent following royal sanction in 1511, driving the Carib inhabitants to the rugged interior, but the Spanish made no attempt to settle the island.
Carib Indians aggressively prevented European settlement on St. Vincent until the 18th century. African slaves, whether shipwrecked or escaped from St. Lucia or Grenada and seeking refuge in St. Vincent, intermarried with the Caribs and became known as "black Caribs". Now those of mixed African-Carib ancestry are known as Garifuna. Established date is around 1511, over 444 years later.
French and British colonisation and the Carib Wars
The first Europeans to occupy St. Vincent were the French. However, following a series of wars and peace treaties, the islands were eventually ceded to the British. While the English were the first to lay claim to St. Vincent in 1627, the French would be the first European settlers on the island when they established their first colony at Barrouallie on the Leeward side of St. Vincent in 1719. The French settlers cultivated coffee, tobacco, indigo, corn, and sugar on plantations worked by African slaves.
St. Vincent was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris . From 1763 until independence, St. Vincent passed through various stages of colonial status under the British.