Trinidad and Tobago History

...adventures of a people, stories of a nation

For the potential visitors here's a collection of entertaining moments in Trinidad and Tobago history. Tales of hope, passion and prejudice, tales that lift you up and whisk you back in time. Tales about heroes and villains, about people in epic struggles, doing their passionate best to make life better for those they love. Tales about ambition and even greed, these are the adventures of a diverse people on their journey to nationhood.

 The First Trinidadians 

Our tale is colored with enough propaganda to make even the most jaded politician blush, and spicy enough to ignite prime-time television for years.

The Caribbean may appear peaceful and picturesque now, but it is a region whose introduction to the international community was bathed in the blood of innocent victims.

In their lust for gold, Spanish Conquistadors butchered a people to near extinction. This is a case, not of savage cannibals as history once taught, but of brutal savagery by so called civilized people. Reinterpret Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago history with us, and in so doing learn about the first Trinidadians. Caribs, Arawaks, who were they and where did the go?

 Adventurers in Tourism 

Sir Walter Raleigh was an adventurer, sometimes pirate, and often favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, who on his first visit, a misguided expedition to El Dorado - the legendary city of gold, sailed into Port-of-Spain harbor with cannons blazing.

Tourism in Trinidad was never the same after Sir Walter's visit, even though his written account of one native tribe physically put Trinidad on the map. Shortly after a second visit, due to his thirst for fame and fortune, Sir Walter literally lost his head.

 Future Trinidad and Tobago History Tales 

• Discovery by Misadventure - The Columbus Saga
• The French Invasion - No longer a backwater
• The British Invasion - By popular demand
• 50 Years of Slavery - 50 Years of struggle
• Indian Arrival - From humble beginnings
• Enter the Shop Keepers - New waves of immigration
• Cipriani, Butler and Williams - Founding fathers get it right

While the heroes and villains in our stories are not international superstars, we know these exceptional people, who made their mark on a nation, will intrigue you.

Discover Trinidad and Tobago history. Visit the places where Trinidad legends lived and loved, where national heroes sacrificed to make Trinidad and Tobago what it is today: a truly democratic society, struggling with the bigger issues of nationhood; a major Caribbean business center, blessed with natural resources; and a proud nation, confident in its cultural identity.