Spring Break Research Paper

Part I - The Question

When I was 18, my family took a trip to Cancun for Spring Break. I absolutely loved the beaches and palm trees, the white sand, hot sun and blue waves. Ever since then I have had a real passion for tropical islands. My favorite and perhaps the most beautiful Islands I've researched are the Cayman Islands. I've only seen pictures and heard stories but I've already decided that's where I am getting married. I still however, don't know anything about the islands. My love for these islands and my thirst for knowledge on the topic has driven me to do more research and find out the history behind the Cayman Islands. I want to know everything about them, so far the only thing I know is that there are three islands, Grand
Immediately I found about a hundred web sites worth printing. After scrolling through page after page, site after site I realized I had barely scratched the surface, so I decided to pick the ones with the most promising titles and print them all. Then I began the tedious task of sifting through all those papers until I found the best ones. I think I ended up with about six different sites, all on different things about the islands. One of the best ones was about the history of the Cayman Islands, I found this to be the most factual. Another good one mostly was about the Geography and Geology of the islands. The rest of them were mainly about visiting the islands, the discovery of the islands, touring the islands and comparing and contrasting the three
"The name Caymans meaning Cayman Islands is recorded since ca.1503. In the 16th and early 17th century the islands were used as stop-overs for merchant sailors and pirates providing fresh turtle meat" (World, 1). Columbus discovered Little Cayman and Cayman Brac and his fourth and last voyage to the New World on May 10, 1503. While sailing from Panama to Hispaniola, severe winds pushed his ships off course (Travel, 1). Since 1661 the Caymans were settled from Jamaica and the first settlements were razed by the Spanish. In 1670, England took over The Caymans from Spain, and the islands came under the administration of the Governor of Jamaica. While remaining a dependency of Jamaica, the Cayman Islands were given an assembly in 1832, seated in the capital Georgetown. Of the 18 members, 10 were elected, the other 8 were appointed by the governor of Jamaica (2). "These islands remained a dependency of Jamaica until 1959. When Jamaica became independent from British colonial rule in 1962, the Cayman Islands opted to become a direct dependency of the United Kingdom." In 1972 a new constitution was adopted. In 1950 the islands populated about 6,000 people. In 1960, it grew to 8,000 and by 1970 the population grew to about 11,000