[ West Indies Archive ] - Aruba

Aruba's first inhabitants are thought to have been Caquetios Amerinds from the Arawak tribe, who migrated there from Venezuele to escape attacks by the Caribs. Fragments of the earliest known Indian settlements date back to 1000 AD. Sea currents made canoe travel to other Caribbean islands difficult, thus Caquetio culture remained closer to that of mainland South America.

During the beginning of the Ceramic period (1000-1515 AD), five large Indian villages were founded on the best agricultural soil, producing corn and yucca. Indians buried their dead ceremoniously in different ways, indicating a hierarchical socio-political system. They made coarse pottery as well as finer well-crafted pieces.

When explorer Alonso de Ojeda discovered Aruba in 1499 and claimed it for the Spanish throne, he named it la isla de los gigantes (Spanish: the island of giants), the tall Indians descended from Aruba’s very first settlers. After a decade, Aruba’s moniker was changed to isla inutíl, a useless island, as no gold or treasures were found.In 1513, the entire Indian population was enslaved and taken to work on the Spanish estates in Hispaniola, now the Dominican Republic and Haiti. At the beginning of the Indian Historic Period in 1515, some Indians returned while others arrived from the mainland and lived in small villages in the northern part of the island.With the return of the Spanish, the Indians were recruited as laborers for cattle and horse breeding. From the 17th century on, the majority of Indians migrated from the South American mainland. Indian preachers were Aruba’s Catholic spiritual leaders well into the 18th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, Indians made up about one-third of the island’s 1700 inhabitants, but in 1862, historians believe that Aruba’s last Indian died.

Europeans first learned of Aruba when Amerigo Vespucci and Alonso de Ojeda happened upon it in August 1499. Vespucci, in one of his four letters to Lorenzo di Pierfranceso dè Medici , described his voyage to the islands along the coast of Venezuela. He wrote about an island where most trees are of brazil wood and, from this island, he went to one ten leagues away, where they had houses built as in Venice. In another letter he described a small island inhabited by very large people, which the expedition thought was not inhabited.

Aruba was colonized by Spain for over a century. The Cacique or Indian Chief in Aruba, Simas, welcomed the first priests in Aruba and received from them a wooden cross as a gift. In 1508, Alonso de Ojeda was appointed as Spain's first Governor of Aruba, as part of "Nueva Andalucía."

Another governor appointed by Spain was Juan Martinez de Ampíes. A "cédula real" decreed in November 1525 gave Ampíes, factor of Española, the right to repopulate the depopulated islands of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire.

In 1528, Ampíes was replaced by a representative of the House of Welser. Aruba has been under Dutch administration since 1636, initially under Peter Stuyvesant  . Stuyvesant was on a special mission in Aruba in November and December 1642. Under the Dutch W.I.C. administration, as "New Netherland and Curaçao" from 1648 to 1664 and the Dutch government regulations of 1629, also applied in Aruba. The Dutch administration appointed an Irishman as "Commandeur" in Aruba in 1667

Adventure guide to Aruba

The early Spanish Main

[ West Indies Archive ] - Antigua and Barbuda

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)

Documents
People's Heritage
Antigua and the Antiguans ( Book )

[ West Indies Archive ] - Anguilla

Anguilla was first settled in pre-history by Amerindian tribes who migrated from South America. The date of European discovery is uncertain: some sources claim that Christopher Columbus sighted the island in 1493, while others state that the island was first discovered by the French in 1564 or 1565. The name Anguilla derives from the word for "eel" in any of various Romance languages|probably chosen because of the island's eel-like shape.

Anguilla was first colonised by English settlers from Saint Kitts, beginning in 1650. The island was administered by Great Britain until the early 19th century, when – against the wishes of the inhabitants – it was incorporated into a single British dependency along with Saint Kitts and Nevis. 

Pre-colonial history

The earliest inhabitants of Anguilla were Amerindian tribes from South America, commonly (if imprecisely) referred to as Arawaks, who travelled to the island on rafts and in dugout canoes, settling in fishing, hunting and farming groups. The Amerindian name for the island was "Malliouhana". The earliest Amerindian artefacts found on Anguilla have been dated to around 1300 BC, and remains of settlements dating from 600 AD. have been uncovered. Religious artefacts and remnants of ceremonies found at locations such as Big Springs, Anguilla|Big Springs and Fountain Cavern suggest that the pre-European inhabitants were extremely religious in nature. The Arawaks are popularly said to have been later displaced by fiercer Caribs tribes, but this version of events is disputed by some 

Colonial period

The European discovery and naming of Anguilla is often credited to French explorer Pierre Laudonnaire who visited the island in 1565, though according to some it had been sighted and named by Christopher Columbus in 1493.

The Dutch claimed to have built a fort on the island in 1631, but no remains have been found and the location of the site is unknown. The first English colonists arrived from Saint Kitts in 1650, and began growing both tobacco and maize|corn crops. The early colonisation was precarious: in 1656 Carib Indians invaded and destroyed the settlements, and in 1666 the island was captured by French forces. However, the British regained control of the island from the French in 1667 under the Treaty of Breda (1650), and despite hardships caused by poor crop yields, drought and famine, the settlers hung on.

In 1744 Anguillans invaded the French half of the neighbouring island of Saint Martin, holding it until the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748). During continuing struggles between the British and the French for control in the Caribbean, the French made further attempts to invade Anguilla in 1745 and 1796 but these failed. 


Brief History



Nov 1493                 Discovered by Columbus named Isla de Anguila.
c.1631                    Dutch fort erected, later destroyed by the Spanish.
1650                       English colony, ruled from St. Christopher.
1696 - 1816             Part of Leeward Islands colony (see Antigua).
1666 - 1667            French occupation.
21 May 1745           French invasion attempt



Deputy Governors

1667 - c.1685/9                    Abraham Howell
c.1689                                George Leonard
1691 - 1698?                       Bartholomew Sharp
1691? - 1741?                     John Richardson                    (b. 1679 - d. 1742)
30 Jun 1741 - 28 Jan 1748  (Arthur) John Hodge                (d. 1748)
21 May 1745                      De La Touche (French commander)
1748 - 1750                        ....
1750 - 1768                        Benjamin Gumbs

Selected Readings from Anguilla Historical Archives
Notes on the geology and Botany of Anguilla
The Amerindians
The Carib raid
The First Generation
The Second Generation
War and Settlers
The Leeward Islands
Buccaneers
Lure of Crab
Crab Island revisited
Cotton and Salt
The French Wars
Resettlement Plans
The Third Generation
Settling st.Croix
Government arrives
The Council
Sugar Arrives

William Dampier, Nuovo Viaggio Intorno al Mondo 1697 ( Mursia )

Un'Opera Monumentale, senza dubbio. L'unica pecca, se cosi puo' essere definita, si trova in copertina; Gli editori infatti propongono un titolo quantomeno bizzarro; " Memorie di un Bucaniere ". Voglio sperare che gli editori Mursia, storica casa editrice specializzata in racconti marinareschi, conoscano la basilare differenza  che intercorre tra Pirata, Bucaniere e Corsaro.In questo caso, a mio avviso, la parola  piu' azzeccata sarebbe stata "Pirata", o al massimo " Corsaro", e non mi sarei mai aspettato che qualcuno potesse definire Dampier un Bucaniere. Nell'Immaginario collettivo i tre termini spesso vengono confusi, sovrapposti, ed utilizzati per indicare la stessa figura d'uomo che, per quasi due secoli, ha terrorizzato le coste dell'America Centrale. La parola " Corsaro" deriva dalla Lettera, o patente, di Corsa, rilasciata dai governatori Coloniali ai Capitani,   i quali, muniti del documento, si abbandonavano a scorrerie o saccheggi "giustificati" dall'interesse Nazionale.Il termine "Pirata" e' estremamente ambiguo, e puo' riferisi tanto all'uno quanto all'altro dei due termini sopracitati. Veniva utilizzato per indicare, spesso con connotazione dispregiativa, tutti coloro che prendevano il Mare con l'intento di arricchirsi, o quantomeno di compiere gesta efferate, catturando vascelli o assaltando insediamenti costieri. Il Bucaniere, invece, fondamentalmente, e' un Cacciatore. Avevano fama d'essere tiratori infallibili, e dovevano la loro abilita' alla costante pratica esercitata nelle foreste di Cuba o della Giamaica, in cui cacciavano Vacche, tori ed altre creature dello stesso genere. Ora, Dampier menziona spesso nella sua Opera - almeno in cinque occasioni - " Tori e Vacche", avendoli personalmente incontrati durante le sue esplorazioni, nelle Indie Occidentali , prima, e in quelle Orientali, successivamente. L'averli incontrati, tuttavia, non fa di lui un Bucaniere, e , benche' l'autore dell'Opera abbia preso parte piu' di una volta alle battute di caccia , non si e' mai fatto cenno di una particolare sua abilita'  in questa disciplina, ne' s'e' parlato di un equipaggiamento tale da rendere necessario l'utilizzo di quel termine. Mentre scrivo, tuttavia, mi rendo conto che probabilmente la scelta di Mursia e' dovuta ad una mera questione Fonetica, se cosi posso definirla. " Memorie di un Bucaniere", suona decisamente meglio di " Memorie di un Corsaro", o " di un Pirata ". Si, ne sono convinto, il motivo e' senz'altro questo. Una casa editrice che vanta un'esperienza decennale in questo campo non potrebbe certo permettersi un errore del genere, e mi rendo conto d'aver peccato di Diffidenza nell'aver posto questo dubbio in Essere. Chiunque avesse qualcosa da dire, critica o commento che sia, non esiti a postarlo nello spazio sottostante. Urrah!