Includes bibliographical references and index.

Original peoples -- The coming of Columbus -- The Northern European challenge to Spain -- The Africans : long night of enslavement -- The enslaved and the manumitted : Human strivings in savage surroundings -- The big fight back : Resistance, marronage, proto-states -- The big fight back : Suriname and Jamaica -- The big fight back : from rebellion to Haitian revolution -- Emancipation : help from Europe, final push from the enslaved -- After emancipation : obstacles and progress -- Immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries -- The Caribbean and Africa through the early 20th century -- The United States and the Caribbean to World War II -- Twentieth century to World War II : turbulent times -- World War II to century's end -- Prognosis.