<P> During the first voyage of the explorer Christopher Columbus contact was made with the Lucayans in the Bahamas and the Taíno in Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola, and a few of the native people were taken back to Spain . Small amounts of gold were found in their personal ornaments and other objects such as masks and belts . The Spanish, who came seeking wealth, enslaved the native population and rapidly drove them to near - extinction . To supplement the Amerindian labor, the Spanish imported African slaves . (See also Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies .) Although Spain claimed the entire Caribbean, they settled only the larger islands of Hispaniola (1493), Puerto Rico (1508), Jamaica (1509), Cuba (1511), and Trinidad (1530). The Spanish made an exception in the case of the small' pearl islands' of Cubagua and Margarita off the Venezuelan coast because of their valuable pearl beds, which were worked extensively between 1508 and 1530 . </P> <P> The other European powers established a presence in the Caribbean after the Spanish Empire declined, partly due to the reduced native population of the area from European diseases . The Dutch, the French, and the British followed one another to the region and established a long - term presence . They brought with them millions of slaves imported from Africa to support the tropical plantation system that spread through the Caribbean islands . </P> <Ul> <Li> Francis Drake was an English privateer who attacked many Spanish settlements . His most celebrated Caribbean exploit was the capture of the Spanish Silver Train at Nombre de Dios in March, 1573 . </Li> <Li> British colonization of Bermuda began in 1612 . British West Indian colonisation began with St. Kitts in 1623 and Barbados in 1627 . The former was used as a base for British colonisation of neighbouring Nevis (1628), Antigua (1632), Montserrat (1632), Anguilla (1650) and Tortola (1672). </Li> <Li> French colonization too began on St. Kitts, the British and the French splitting the island amongst themselves in 1625 . It was used as a base to colonise the much larger Guadeloupe (1635) and Martinique (1635), St. Martin (1648), St Barts (1648), and St Croix (1650), but was lost completely to Britain in 1713 . From Martinique the French colonised St. Lucia (1643), Grenada (1649), Dominica (1715), and St. Vincent (1719). </Li> <Li> The English admiral William Penn seized Jamaica in 1655 and it remained under British rule for over 300 years . </Li> <Li> Piracy in the Caribbean was widespread during the early colonial era, especially between 1640 and 1680 . The term "buccaneer" is often used to describe a pirate operating in this region . </Li> <Li> In 1625 French buccaneers established a settlement on Tortuga, just to the north of Hispaniola, that the Spanish were never able to permanently destroy despite several attempts . The settlement on Tortuga was officially established in 1659 under the commission of King Louis XIV . In 1670 Cap François (later Cap Français, now Cap - Haïtien) was established on the mainland of Hispaniola . Under the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, Spain officially ceded the western third of Hispaniola to France . </Li> <Li> The Dutch took over Saba, Saint Martin, Sint Eustatius, Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba, Tobago, St. Croix, Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Anguilla and a short time Puerto Rico, together called the Dutch West Indies, in the 17th century . </Li> <Li> Denmark - Norway first ruled part, then all of the present U.S. Virgin Islands since 1672, Denmark sold sovereignty over the Danish West Indies in 1917 to the United States, which still administers them . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Francis Drake was an English privateer who attacked many Spanish settlements . His most celebrated Caribbean exploit was the capture of the Spanish Silver Train at Nombre de Dios in March, 1573 . </Li>

When did the english come to the caribbean
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