Independence of Jamaica Independence of Jamaica The Colony of Jamaica gained independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962. In Jamaica, this date is celebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday. The Caribbean island now known as Jamaica was first settled by the Arawak and Taíno peoples, who originated in neighboring South America. Genoan explorer Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica in 1494 during his second voyage to the New World, and claimed it for Crown of Castile. At this time, over two hundred villages existed in Jamaica, largely located on the south coast and ruled by "caciques," or "chiefs of villages". The Spanish
Independence Day (Hawaii) Independence Day (Hawaii) Hawaiian Independence Day () was a former national holiday celebrated on November 28 during the Kingdom of Hawaii, which commemorated the signing of Anglo-Franco Proclamation, the official diplomatic recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the kingdom by Great Britain and France. It is still celebrated today by proponents of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. In 1839, Captain Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace of the French frigate "Artémise" landed in Honolulu in what became known as the Laplace Affair and forced the Hawaiian government under King Kamehameha III to acknowledge the rights of Catholics in his realm with the