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Brought to you from the forthcoming book by renowned historian
Dr. Lennox Honychurch.
United States of America (E)
Dominica has had a long association with the United States from even before the inception of that North American republic. The British colonization of Dominica in the 1760s - 1770s was fuelled with trade goods such as horses, flour, corn, salt fish, pitch pine and other wood products shipped down from the thirteen American colonies. When the War of Independence broke out and France joined on the side of the US in 1778, Dominica was one of the first colonies to be captured as part of the French offensive against Britain. The war affected Dominica very badly as food and material supplies from the US were cut off. American colonists who were loyal to the British were forced to leave the new nation after independence was recognized in 1783. Many of these "Loyalists" turned up in Dominica, expecting relief and land from the British Crown. Some grants were made and they introduced the growing of rice to Dominica. However the deteriorating state of the economy caused these settlers to move on elsewhere.
During the US Civil War (1861 -1865), Southern Confederate ships broke the Northern Yankee blockade of Southern ports by trading at Portsmouth in Dominica, while the British in Roseau, (who tended to support the Confederacy because of their important cotton trade), turned a blind eye to what was going on. At that time also, Portsmouth became a depot for American whaling vessels killing and processing whales in the South Atlantic and this continued up to the 1920s. Many Portsmouth men were taken on to sail with the whaling ships. In the 20th century the relationship was strengthened as Dominicans began to migrate to the US on Canadian and US ships that called at New York and Boston and made scheduled visits to Dominica. In 1941 secret aerial photos were taken of Portsmouth to assess the possibility of establishing a small US naval base there, but this was abandoned. After World War II, US cultural influence increased rapidly as American Christian sects, music, film, radio and much later, television, had an impact on society. American tourists, first in private yachts and later in cruise ships contributed to the fledgling tourism industry. During the Cold War (1945 -1989), and particularly after the Cuban Revolution (1959), Dominica and the other British islands were under close scrutiny by Washington. Since the 1960s the US Peace Corps has been active here.
In the 1970s particularly, the tensions of "communism vs. capitalism" were evident in local political posturing and jargon. In the 1980s the Grenada Revolution added increased tension to the local situation and this climaxed with Dominica's prominent support of the US invasion of Grenada in 1983. This heralded the period of PM Eugenia Charles' close relationship with the Reagan Administration and increased USAID programmes and military training and equipment for the local police force. In contrast to this the US attitude to international banana trading had a fatal impact on the local industry. As the 21st century progresses US cultural, social and political influence on Dominica seems set to intensify.
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