Solomon Islands
HISTORY
Although little prehistory of the Solomon Islands is known, material
excavated on Santa Ana, Guadalcanal, and Gawa indicates that a hunter-gatherer people lived
on the larger islands as early as 1000 B.C. Some Solomon Islanders are descendants of Neolithic, Austronesian-speaking peoples
who migrated somewhat later to the Pacific Islands from Southeast Asia.
The European discoverer of the Solomons was the Spanish explorer
Alvaro de Mendana Y Neyra, who set out from Peru in 1567 to seek the legendary
Isles of Solomon. British mariner Philip Carteret, entered Solomon waters in 1767. In the years that followed, visits by explorers
were more frequent.
Missionaries began visiting the Solomons in the mid-1800s.
They made little progress at first, however, because "blackbirding"--the often brutal recruitment of laborers for the sugar
plantations in Queensland and Fiji--led to a series of reprisals and
massacres. The evils of the labor trade prompted the United Kingdom to declare a protectorate over the
southern Solomons in 1893. In 1898 and 1899, more outlying islands were added to the protectorate; in 1900 the remainder of
the archipelago, an area previously under German jurisdiction, was transferred to British administration. Under the protectorate,
missionaries settled in the Solomons, converting most of the population to Christianity.
In the early 20th century, several British and Australian firms
began large-scale coconut planting. Economic growth was slow, however, and the islanders benefited little. With the outbreak
of WWII, most planters and traders were evacuated to Australia and most cultivation
ceased.
From May 1942, when the Battle of the Coral Sea was fought, until December 1943, the Solomons were almost constantly
a scene of combat. Although U.S. forces landed on Guadalcanal virtually unopposed in August 1942, they were soon engaged in a bloody
fight for control of the islands' airstrip, which the U.S. forces named Henderson Field. One
of the most furious sea battles ever fought took place off Savo
Island, near Guadalcanal, also in August 1942. Before the Japanese completely withdrew from Guadalcanal in February 1943, over 7,000 Americans and 21,000 Japanese died. By December
1943, the Allies were in command of the entire Solomon chain.
Postwar Developments
Following the end of WWII, the British colonial government
returned. The capital was moved from Tulagi to Honiara to take advantage of the infrastructure
left behind by the U.S. military. A native movement known
as the Marching Rule defied government authority. There was much disorder until some of the leaders were jailed in late 1948.
Throughout the 1950s, other indigenous dissident groups appeared and disappeared without gaining strength.
In 1960, an advisory council of Solomon Islanders was superseded
by a legislative council, and an executive council was created as the protectorate's policymaking body. The council was given
progressively more authority.
In 1974, a new constitution was adopted establishing a parliamentary
democracy and ministerial system of government. In mid-1975, the name Solomon Islands officially replaced
that of British Solomon Islands Protectorate. On January 2, 1976, the Solomons became self-governing, and independence followed on July 7, 1978.
source:
U.S.
State Department Background Notes 1999