Located just south of Cuba in the Caribbean Sea, Jamaica is well known as a popular tourist destination and the birthplace of reggae music. Initially populated by Arawak Indians, who gave its name to the island, “land of wood and water (Jamaica)”. However, the almost untouched beauty of this beautiful country was shattered by the outbreaks of violence surrounding the political elections of 1980. These fights were triggered by the population's distrust of the socialist party in power at the time. The reasons for this fighting and distrust are not simple, they are intrinsically linked to the history of the island nation since the beginning of its colonial period five hundred years ago. The island was first discovered by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1494 and became a Spanish colony in 1509. They founded the city now known as Spanish Town and it was the capital of the island until the 1800s. Under the Spanish, the Arawak Indians disappeared due to slavery and disease, and Africans were brought in to work in their place. The Spanish ruled the country until 1655, when Sir William Penn of the British captured the colony by force. It was later legally amended under the Treaty of Madrid in 1670 (Jamaica). Once the British took control of the island, development was rapid. Industries in sugarcane and other agricultural resources expanded, creating a greater demand for African slaves. Due to this explosion of growth in the late 17th century, Jamaica became one of the largest slave trading centers in the world. The slave trade operated from the town of Port Royal, made famous as the hideout of the pirate Blackbeard, until the town was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692. The destruction of Port Royal led to the middle. of paper......arty). The Jamaican nation has a rich cultural and political history. From the island's days as a colony until today, it has proven that its people are resilient, passionate and possess an extremely high level of national pride. The violence that marred the 1980 election was shown not to be due to the government's brief flirtation with communism, but to more underlying problems. The island's history has been shown to have been marked by several instances of similar outbreaks of violence resulting from public frustration with the leaders of the time. From Bustamante's time through the 1980s and 1990s, the balance of power shifted due to deep public discontent with the ruling party. It is unclear whether this cycle will continue or not, but at present the threat of violence in Jamaica is very serious..