By Dr Rita Pemberton

Across the 17th-20th centuries, the history of Tobago revolved around contests for control of the island, and of its land resources in particular.

There were several contenders for the Tobago space, each with its own plan, which invariably required total removal of the rivals and vestiges of their presence which could not be integrated into or repurposed for the victors’ plan. There were several heated contests, in which the competition was characterised by short-lived victories.

As a result, the island endured an extended adjustment and readjustment as the new owners, buoyed by the optimism that came with victory, sought full possession.

The first phase of contests occurred between the First Peoples and the Europeans, whose intelligence information was that the island was unoccupied except for a few First People and European whalers. To the European mind, the few Indigenous People could be easily dismissed, so the general belief was that Tobago was unoccupied and available for occupation and settlement. However, the island’s First People, with assistance from their kith and kin from St Vincent, Dominica, Martinique, Grenada and the mainland, put up an unwavering resistance to defend their land from the invading Europeans.

In the face of this fierce resistance, the Europeans devised various strategies to win the favour of the First People and outmanoeuvre their rivals. These included negotiations with the leaders of the First Peoples, trading arrangements and agreements to assist in the contests with their European competitors.

However, as it became clear that the Europeans intended to take possession of their space, First Peoples’ resistance became more determined and they managed to preserve it from permanent European settlement for over a century. In some instance, settlement attempts were foiled from the very start; in others they were short-lived.

Despite their efforts, the First People population was decimated by European guile and superior weapons, which made way for the second phase of contestation, European versus European. The island experienced rotating periods of varying lengths of Dutch, English, French and Courland occupation, including the British occupation in 1763, a French interregnum between 1781 and 1793, and two French assaults at the beginning of the 19th century, until the island became a British possession. This phase was marked by raging battles on land and sea, surprise attacks and destruction of settlements.

The next spate of contests occurred between the imperial government and the colonial assembly put in place to support British imperial policy. Instead, the interests of the two bodies diverged, which resulted in power clashes as the assembly challenged imperial authority and asserted its rights to make decisions despite imperial opposition. The recalcitrant assembly, which maintained it did not answer to the British Parliament, used every opportunity to embarrass its imperial superiors, but ultimately it lost. The assembly was stripped of its pow