Editing History of Jamaica (section)

====English conquest====
{{Main|Invasion of Jamaica}}
[[File:Old Port Royal - Project Gutenberg eText 19396.png|thumb|right|An illustration of pre-1692 Port Royal]]

In late 1654, English leader [[Oliver Cromwell]] launched the ''Western Design'' armada against [[Spanish West Indies|Spain's colonies in the Caribbean]]. In April 1655, [[Robert Venables|General Robert Venables]] led the armada in an attack on Spain's fort at [[Santo Domingo]], [[Hispaniola]]. After the Spanish repelled this poorly executed attack, the English force then sailed for Jamaica, the only Spanish West Indies island that did not have new defensive works. In May 1655, around 7,000 English soldiers landed near Jamaica's capital, named [[Spanish Town]] and soon overwhelmed the small number of Spanish troops (at the time, Jamaica's entire population only numbered around 2,500).<ref>{{cite book |last=Parker |first=Matthew |date=2011 |title=The Sugar Barons}}{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}}</ref>

Spain never recaptured Jamaica, losing the [[Battle of Ocho Rios (1657)|Battle of Ocho Rios]] in 1657 and the [[Battle of Rio Nuevo (1658)|Battle of Rio Nuevo]] in 1658. In 1660, a group of maroons, under the leadership of [[Juan de Bolas]], broke their alliance with the Spanish and allied themselves with the English, which served as a turning point in the English domination of the island.<ref>C.V. Black, ''History of Jamaica'' (London: Collins, 1975), p. 54.</ref> For England, Jamaica was to be the "dagger pointed at the heart of the Spanish Empire," but in fact, it was a possession of little economic value then.{{sfn|Coward|2002|p=134}} England gained formal possession of Jamaica from [[Spanish Empire|Spain]] in 1670 through the [[Treaty of Madrid (1670)|Treaty of Madrid]]. Removing the pressing need for constant defence against a Spanish attack, this change served as an incentive to [[Plantation economy|planting]].