The history of antigua and Barbuda can be separated into three distinct eras. In the first, the islands were inhabited by three successive Amerindian societies. The islands were neglected by the first wave of European colonisation, but were settled by England in 1632. Under British control, the islands witnessed an influx of both Britons and African Slaves.
Pre-Columbian Settlements
Antigua was first settled by pre-agricultural Amerindians known as "Archaic People", (although they are commonly, but erroneously known in Antigua as Siboney, a preceramic Cuban people). The earliest settlements on the island date to 2900 BC. They were succeeded by ceramic-using agriculturalist Saladoid people who migrated up the island chain from Venezuela. They were later replaced by Arawakan speakers around 1200 AD, and around 1500 by Island Caribs
The Arawaks were the first well-documented group of Antiguans. They paddled to the island by canoe (piragua) from Venezuela, ejected by the Caribs—another people indigenous to the area. Arawaks introduced agriculture to Antigua and Barbuda, raising, among other crops, the famous Antiguan "Black" pineapple. They also cultivated various other foods including:
- corn
- sweet potatoes (White with firmer flesh than the bright orange "sweet potato" used in the United States.)
- chiles
- guava
- tobacco
- cotton
Some of the vegetables listed, such as corn and sweet potatoes, still play an important role in Antiguan cuisine.
For example, a popular Antiguan dish, Ducuna (DOO-koo-NAH) is a sweet, steamed dumpling made from grated sweet potatoes, flour and spices. In addition, one of the Antiguan staple foods, fungee (FOON-ji), is a cooked paste made of cornmeal and water.
The bulk of the Arawaks left Antigua about 1100 A.D. Those who remained were subsequently raided by the Caribs. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Carib's superior weapons and seafaring prowess allowed them to defeat most Arawak nations in the West Indies—enslaving some, and cannibalizing others.
The Catholic Encyclopedia does make it clear that the European invaders had some difficulty identifying and differentiating between the various native peoples they encountered. As a result, the number and types of ethnic/tribal/national groups in existence at the time may be much more varied and numerous than the two mentioned in this Article.
According to A Brief History of the Caribbean (Jan Rogozinski, Penguin Putnam, Inc September 2000 ), European and African diseases, malnutrition and slavery eventually destroyed the vast majority of the Caribbean's native population. No researcher has conclusively proven any of these causes as the real reason for the destruction of West Indian natives. In fact, some historians believe that the psychological stress of slavery may also have played a part in the massive number of native deaths while in servitude. Others believe that the reportedly abundant, but starchy, low-protein diet may have contributed to severe malnutrition of the "Indians" who were used to a diet fortified with protein from sea-life.
The Indigenous West Indians made excellent sea vessels that they used to sail the Atlantic and Caribbean. As a result, Caribs and Arawaks populated much of South American and the Caribbean Islands. Relatives of the Antiguan Arawaks and Caribs still live in various countries in South America, notably Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. The smaller remaining native populations in the West Indies maintain a pride in their heritage.
European Colonization
Christopher Columbus landed on the islands in 1493, naming the larger one Santa Maria de la Antigua. However, early attempts by Europeans to settle the islands failed due to the Caribs' excellent defenses.England succeeded in colonising the islands in 1632, with Thomas Warner as the first governor. Settlers raised tobacco, indigo, ginger, and sugarcane as cash crops. Sir Christopher Codrington established the first large sugar estate in Antigua in 1674, and leased Barbuda to raise provisions for his plantations. Barbuda's only town is named after him. In the fifty years after Codrington established his initial plantation, the sugar industry became so profitable that many farmers replaced other crops with sugar, making it the economic backbone of the islands. Codrington and others brought slaves from Africa's west coast to work the plantations under brutal conditions.
By 1736, so many slaves had been brought in from Africa that their conditions were crowded and open to unrest. A slave called "Prince Klaas" (whose real name was Count), out of extreme oppression, killing, rape and force conversion to Christianity by the European war mongers, planned an uprising in which the African origin peoples would be freed, but the plot was discovered and put down by killing of thousands of African people who were brought from their African homeland to Antigua as forced slavery.
During the 18th century, Antigua was used as the headquarters of the British Royal Navy Caribbean fleet. English Dockyard, as it came to be called, a sheltered and well-protected deepwater port, was the main base and facilities there were greatly expanded during the later 18th century. Admiral Lord Horation Nelson commanded the British fleet for much of this time, and made himself unpopular with local merchants by enforcing the Navigation Act, a British ruling that only British-registered ships could trade with British colonies. As the United States were no longer British colonies, the act posed a problem for merchants, who depended on trade with the fledgling country.
Barbuda
The Ciboney were the first to inhabit the island of Barbuda in 2400 BC, but Arawak and Carib Indians populated the island when Christopeher Columbus landed on his second voyage in 1493. Early settlements by the Spanish and French were succeeded by the English, who formed a colony in 1666.
In 1685 Barbuda was leased to brothers Christopher and John Codrington, who had founded the town of Codrington. The Codrington family produced food on their land in Barbuda, and also transported slaves as labour for their sugar plantations on Antigua. There was more than one slave rebellion at Codrington during the 1740s, during which slaves rose against managers. All the slaves were freed in 1834.
Barbuda was for a time used by the Codringtons as a "nursery" for slaves.
In 1719, Codrington and the island of Barbuda had its first census (of both people and livestock), conducted by Sir William Codrington (1715–1790).
The first map of Barbuda was made in the second half of the eighteenth century. At that time there were substantial buildings in the Highland area, a castle in Codrington, a fort at River, now known as the Martello Tower, and houses at Palmetto Point , Coco Point, and Castle Hill. The map shows eight catching pens for holding captured runaway slaves, indicating that this was a serious problem. There were several defensive cannon gun battery units around the island perimeter. There was a large plantation in the Meadow and Guava area and another large plantation in the Highlands area.
Brief History
10 Nov 1493 Antigua discovered and claimed by Spain by Columbus
named Isla de Santa Maria de la Antigua.
1632 English colony (Antigua).
1663 English crown colony.
3 Nov 1666 - May 1667 French occupation of Antigua.
1678 Barbuda an English colony.
Jan 1671 - 16 Oct 1816 Part of Leeward Islands colony (Antigua, Barbuda,
Montserrat, Saint Christopher, Nevis, Anguilla,
and [to 1770] Dominica).
Deputy Governors ( Antigua )
1632 - 1635 Sir Thomas Warner (b. 1580 - d. 1649)
1635 - 1639 Edward Warner
Jun 1639 - Dec 1693 Sir Henry Huncks
1639 - 1640 Rowland Thompson
1640 - 1652 Henry Ashton
1652 - 1660 Christopher Keynell
1661 - 1664 John Bunckley
1665 - 3 Nov 1666 Robert Carden (d. 1667)
3 Nov 1666 - 1667 Robert le Frichot des Friches,
sieur de Clodoré -French governor
Nov 1666 - 9 Nov 1666 Quest (acting) (d. 1666)
1666 Daniel Fitche
1667 - 1668 William, Baron of Willoughby (b. 1616 - d. 1673)
1668 - 1670 Henry Willoughby (acting for William)
1671 - 1675 Philip Warner
Lieutenant governors
1668 - 1671 Samuel Winthrop
1675 - 1678 Rowland Williams (1st time)
1678 - 1680 James Vaughan
1680 - 1682 Valentine Russell
1682 - 1683 Paul Lee
1683 - 1688 Edward Powell
1689 - 1692 Rowland Williams (2nd time)
1692 - 1698 Vacant
1698 - 1715 John Yeamans (d. 1743)
1715 - 4 Dec 1741 Edward Byam (b. 1662 - d. 1741)
1742 - 1746 George Lucas (d. 1747)
1746 - 1816 Vacant
Governors
1747 - 1816 the Governors of the Leeward Islands
Deputy Governors ( Barbuda )
Jan 1671 - Dec 1671 Sir Charles Wheeler
1672 - 1685 William Stapleton (d. 1686)
( from 1679, Sir William Stapleton)
1685 - Sep 1689 Sir Nathaniel Johnson
Sep 1689 - 30 Jul 1698 Christopher Codrington (d. 1698)
30 Jul 1698 - May 1699 Edward Fox (acting)
May 1699 - Feb 1704 Christopher Codrington, Jr. (b. 1668 - d. 1710)
Feb 1704 - Jul 1704 John Johnson (1st time) (acting) (b. 16.. - d. 1706)
Jul 1704 - 4 Dec 1704 Sir William Mathews (b. 16.. - d. 1704)
Dec 1704 - Jul 1706 John Johnson (2nd time) (acting) (s.a.)
Jul 1706 - 7 Dec 1710 Daniel Parke (b. 1669 - d. 1710)
7 Dec 1710 - 1711 Walter Hamilton (1st time)(acting)
1711 - 1714 Walter Douglas
1714 - 1715 William Mathew, Jr. (1st time) (b. 16.. - d. 1752)
(acting)
1715 - 1721 Walter Hamilton (2nd time)
1721 - 1728 John Hart (d. 1740)
Aug 1728 - 12 Sep 1729 Thomas Pitt, Earl of Londonderry (b. c.1668 - d. 1729)
1729 William Cosby (acting) (b. 1690 - d. 1736)
1729 - 1752 William Mathew, Jr. (2nd time) (s.a.)
1752 - 1766 George Thomas (b. c.1695 - d. 1774)
1766 - 1768 James Verchild
1768 - 1771 William Woodley (1st time) (b. 1728 - d. 1793)
1771 - 1776 Sir Ralph Payne (1st time) (b. 1738 - d. 1807)
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