Why do they speak English in Jamaica?

Hi, fellow adventurers! So today I started wondering about why Jamaicans speak English when they`re not even close to Britain. I left my travel companions in an ice cream shop. I decided to do some research on my own and started asking the locals. The search was hard, but after an hour, I found a lovely old man named Joel. He seemed kind and willing to answer. So I asked him: “Why do your people speak English?” Joel grinned as he told me, the unknowing tourist, about the country`s past. “So a long time ago, in 1654 to be exact, Jamaica became a British colony. We stayed that way until the year of 1962. So Jamaica has spoken English ever since it was a colony:” 

My curiosity had yet to be satisfied so I asked him about how Jamaica became a colony in the first place. “I guess the Brits wanted our country because of the huge amounts of sugar available in the country.” Joel sighed, and  I could see how the old man was getting tired, but I figured I had time for one more question. “But Joel, what about your dialect? It`s a bit different.” Joel grinned and said “Well it`s an English dialect, a mix between American and British English. Not to brag, but I also speak Jamaican Patois.” 

I was quite impressed. He turned silent for a while, then he smeared on his thickest Jamaican accent and said mockingly “yes mon”. I then decided to end the interview and spare Joel from my questions. So after another incredibly warm day in the lovely country of Jamaica, I had made a new friend in the old, Jamaican man named Joel. 

Me and my new Jamaican friend, Joel😛