Back احتلال جامايكا (1655) Arabic Invasión de Jamaica Spanish Jamaikako inbasioa Basque Invasion de la Jamaïque French Invasi Jamaika ID Invasione della Giamaica Italian Inviejan a Jumieka JAM Invasão da Jamaica Portuguese Вторжение на Ямайку Russian
| Invasion of Jamaica | |||||||||
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| Part of the Anglo-Spanish War of 1654–1660 | |||||||||
 17th century map of Jamaica | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 England |
 Spain | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Juan Ramírez de Arellano | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 1,500 settlers [1] | ||||||||
The Invasion of Jamaica took place in May 1655, during the 1654 to 1660 Anglo-Spanish War, when an English expeditionary force captured Spanish Jamaica. It was part of an ambitious plan by Oliver Cromwell to acquire new colonies in the Americas, known as the Western Design.
Although major settlements like Santiago de la Vega, now Spanish Town, were poorly defended and quickly occupied, resistance by escaped slaves, or Jamaican Maroons, continued in the interior. The Western Design was largely a failure, but Jamaica remained in English hands, and was formally ceded by Spain in the 1670 Treaty of Madrid. The Colony of Jamaica remained a British possession until independence in 1962.
- ^ a b Marly 1998, p. 149.