First settled by Amerindians, then intermittently invaded by the Spanish, Dutch, English and Courlanders. Tobago was taken by Dutch colonizers in 1630s, who were in-turn defeated by Spanish colonizers from Trinidad. The, Latvian, Courlanders' first attempt to take Tobago in 1642 ended in a defeat at the hands of the Amerindians. When 80 families of Courlander settlers arrived in 1654, there were no Amerindians left on Tobago; it has been suggested that various groups of European colonizers may be responsible for their eradication, but there does not appear to be a definitive answer as to how this occurred. Dutch settlers landed later in 1654 and shared the island with the Courlanders until the Swedes overran New Courland. The English and French in-turn each overran Tobago. After the French abandoned Tobago, the Dutch re-gained it and were the dominant force until 1677, the French had re-captured it and were the dominant force by 1762; the British then took ownership of Tobago by treaty in 1763. The Anglo-French treaty didn?t hold and Tobago would continue to be fought over until it was returned to the British in 1814. The slaves on Tobago were legally freed in 1834, before being emancipated from their apprenticeships in 1838.