Editing Nevis (section)

===1800 to the present day===
{{see also|History of Saint Kitts and Nevis}}
[[File:Nevis School1899.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Nevis School in 1899]]
The population had reached 7,470 by 1842.<ref>{{cite book |title=The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.IV |date=1848 |publisher=Charles Knight |location=London |page=772}}</ref> Nevis was united with Saint Kitts and [[Anguilla]] in 1882, and they became an [[associated state]] with full internal autonomy in 1967, though Anguilla seceded in 1971. Together, Saint Kitts and Nevis became independent on 19 September 1983. On 10 August 1998, a [[Nevis independence referendum, 1998|referendum on Nevis]] to separate from Saint Kitts had 2,427 votes in favour and 1,498 against, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=St. Kitts and Nevis: 1998 Referendum |url=https://pdba.georgetown.edu/Elecdata/Kitts/ref1998.html |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=pdba.georgetown.edu |archive-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240318212058/https://pdba.georgetown.edu/Elecdata/Kitts/ref1998.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=4 October 2022 |title=St Kitts and Nevis profile - Timeline |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-63134338 |url-status=live |access-date=June 4, 2024 |archive-date=13 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213183029/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-63134338 }}</ref>

Before 1967, the local government of Saint Kitts was also the government of Nevis and Anguilla. Nevis had two seats and Anguilla one seat in the government. The economic and infrastructural development of the two smaller islands was not a priority to the colonial federal government.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

When the hospital in Charlestown was destroyed in a hurricane in 1899, planting of trees in the squares of Saint Kitts and refurbishing of government buildings, also in Saint Kitts, took precedence over the rebuilding of the only hospital in Nevis.<ref name="Hubbard" /> After five years without any proper medical facilities, the leaders in Nevis initiated a campaign, threatening to seek independence from Saint Kitts. The British Administrator in Saint Kitts, Charles Cox, was unmoved. He stated that Nevis did not need a hospital since there had been no significant rise in the number of deaths during the time Nevisians had been without a hospital. Therefore, no action was needed on behalf of the government, and besides, Cox continued, the Legislative Council regarded "Nevis and Anguilla as a drag on St. Kitts and would willingly see a separation".<ref>Qtd. in Hubbard, p. 195.</ref>

A letter of complaint to the metropolitan [[British Foreign Office]] gave result and the federal government in Saint Kitts was ordered by their superiors in London to take speedy action. The Legislative Council took another five years to consider their options. The final decision by the federal government was to not rebuild the old hospital after all but to instead convert the old Government House in Nevis into a hospital, named Alexandra Hospital after Queen Alexandra, wife of King [[Edward VII]]. A majority of the funds assigned for the hospital could thus be spent on the construction of a new official residence in Nevis.<ref name="Hubbard" />

After d'Iberville's invasion in 1704, records show Nevis' sugar industry in ruins and a decimated population begging the [[English Parliament]] and relatives for loans and monetary assistance to stave off island-wide starvation.<ref name="Hubbard"/> The sugar industry on the island never fully recovered and during the general depression that followed the loss of the West Indian sugar [[monopoly]], Nevis fell on hard times and the island became one of the poorest in the region. The island remained poorer than Saint Kitts until 1991, when the fiscal performance of Nevis edged ahead of the fiscal performance of Saint Kitts for the first time since the French invasion.<ref name="Hubbard" />

Electricity was introduced in Nevis in 1954 when two generators were shipped in to provide electricity to the area around Charlestown. In this regard, Nevis fared better than Anguilla, where there were no paved roads, no electricity and no telephones until 1967. However, electricity did not become available island-wide on Nevis until 1971.<ref name="Hubbard" />

An ambitious infrastructure development programme was introduced in the early 2000s which included a transformation of the Charlestown port, construction of a new deep-water harbour, resurfacing and widening the Island Main Road, a new airport terminal and control tower, and a major airport expansion, which required the relocation of an entire village in order to make room for the runway extension.

Modernised classrooms and better-equipped schools, as well as improvements in the educational system, have contributed to a leap in academic performance on the island. The pass rate among the Nevisian students sitting for the [[Caribbean Examination Council]] (CXC) exams, the Cambridge General Certificate of Education Examination (GCE) and the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examinations is now consistently among the highest in the English-speaking Caribbean.<ref>Brown, Janet (2000). [http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/bnccde/sk&n/conference/papers/JBrown.html "Early Childhood Investment in St. Kitts and Nevis: A Model for the Caribbean?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060903214855/http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/bnccde/sk%26n/conference/papers/JBrown.html |date=3 September 2006 }}. Caribbean Child Development Centre, School of Continuing Studies, UWI, Mona: "St. Kitts-Nevis has one of the highest levels of CXC passes in the region."</ref><ref>[http://www.queencitynevis.com/NewsArticle.cfm/2277 "Education official calls on students to push beyond their comfort zones"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927173027/http://www.queencitynevis.com/NewsArticle.cfm/2277 |date=27 September 2007 }}. Nevis Government Information Service, 10 January 2007: "In 2002, Nevis captured the award for Most Outstanding School for the year in the Region. [...] In the May/June examinations of 2006, Nevis again recorded its name in the annals of CXC's when it captured two of the eight awards in Business Studies and Technical/vocational Studies. Nevis returned the best performance in Business Studies in the Region in two of the three years that the award had been offered". For results at individual schools, see Caines, Jaedee. [http://www.stkittsnevisobserver.com/oct1305/news13a.htm "Proud Moment For Lyn Jeffers School"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001033024/http://www.stkittsnevisobserver.com/oct1305/news13a.htm |date=1 October 2011 }}. The Observer, 13 October 2005; [http://www.sknvibes.com/News/NewsDetails.cfm?Idz=%24%23!W%3D_%40++%0A "Minister of Education to GSS 2005 graduands: The future of Nevis depends on you"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928122138/http://www.sknvibes.com/News/NewsDetails.cfm?Idz=$%23!W=_@++%0A |date=28 September 2007 }}. ''SKN Vibes'', 24 November 2005; and  [http://www.sknvibes.com/Education/NewsDetails.cfm/1783 Washington Archibald High School obtains highest CXC pass rate among 7 others] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216162821/http://www.sknvibes.com/Education/NewsDetails.cfm/1783 |date=16 February 2007 }}. SKN Vibes, 4 September 2006. Retrieved 7 May 2007.</ref>