Grenada

Grenada exists because volcanic eruptions created three islands whose soil would prove perfect for commodities that Europeans craved. The Kalinago people called it Camerhogne before Columbus sighted it in 1498. France finally established settlements in 1649 after earlier European attempts failed against indigenous resistance. Britain seized the colony in 1762 and expanded sugar plantations that would scar the island's social fabric for centuries.

Sugar required enslaved labor—by the late eighteenth century, Grenada's population was 86% enslaved Africans. The 1795 Fédon's Rebellion revealed the revolutionary currents flowing through Caribbean colonies: Julien Fédon, a free colored planter inspired by the French Revolution, led an uprising that briefly controlled most of the island before British forces crushed it. Emancipation in 1838 ended legal slavery but not the plantation economy's social hierarchies.

Then came nutmeg. Introduced around 1843, the spice found Grenada's volcanic soil and humid climate ideal. By the mid-twentieth century, Grenada had become the world's second-largest nutmeg producer after Indonesia. The "Spice Isle" identity crystallized—nutmeg appears on the national flag, a symbol of agricultural transformation. Cacao, bananas, cloves, and cinnamon diversified the export basket, but nutmeg remained king.

The 1979 revolution interrupted this agricultural rhythm. Maurice Bishop's New Jewel Movement overthrew the authoritarian Eric Gairy government, establishing a socialist administration that built schools, expanded healthcare, and aligned with Cuba. Internal faction fighting in October 1983 led to Bishop's execution by rivals within his own party. Six days later, American forces invaded alongside troops from six Caribbean nations, ending the revolutionary experiment and restoring electoral democracy in 1984.

Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Emily (2005) devastated the nutmeg industry, destroying 90% of trees. Recovery required decades—nutmeg trees need eight years to mature. This agricultural trauma accelerated an economic pivot already underway: tourism absorbed the labor and investment that spices could no longer sustain.

Today tourism generates approximately 25% of GDP and 80% of foreign exchange earnings. Cruise ships dock at St. George's harbor; yachts anchor in island bays; eco-tourists explore rainforests and waterfalls. The World Bank projects 3.8% GDP growth in 2025, driven by persistent tourism inflows and hurricane reconstruction investments. Hurricane Beryl's July 2024 damage (2.7% of GDP) reminded Grenada of its exposure to intensifying Atlantic storms.

The economy remains vulnerable: dependent on external tourists, exposed to Caribbean hurricane seasons, and caught between nostalgia for spice agriculture and the reality that services now dominate. By 2026, Grenada will likely continue diversifying into renewable energy, education services, and sustainable tourism—hedging against the next hurricane while the nutmeg trees slowly regenerate from past storms.