This thesis has explored the problems incurred by Oliver Cromwell in colonizing Jamaica during his rule as Lord Protector of England. It has also revealed that the Lord Protector's motives were influenced by friends and family members who had been involved in colonial endeavors twenty years prior to the Protectorate, 1653-1658.Additionally, the study has examined England's colonial and foreign policies from approximately 1620 to 1658. This examination has shown that Cromwell's foreign policy was connected to his colonial policy and was based on political, religious and commercial objectives. Cromwell's sense of empire motivated him to use the full force of his military government to gain control of the West Indies. Jamaica became the center of England's West Indian empire and England eventually replaced Spain as the dominant European nation in the Caribbean.