Above image is from the map in Richard Ligon’s 1657 work, The True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados.
Early English settlement
The first English ship arrived in Barbados on the 14th of May 1625 and was captained by John Powell. The first settlement began some time later on the 17th of February 1627, near what is now Holetown (formerly Jamestown). The group was led by John Powell's younger brother, Henry, who arrived with 80 settlers and 10 slaves. These slaves were kidnapped or runaway English or Irish youths. The settlement was established as a proprietary colony and was funded by Sir William Courten, a City of London merchant who owned the title to Barbados and several other islands. Thus, the first colonists were actually tenants and much of the profits of their labour returned to Courten and his company. (He later lost his title to James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, in what was called the "Great Barbados Robbery." Carlisle then chose as governor Henry Hawley.)
People with good financial backgrounds and social connections with England were allocated land. Within a few years much of the land had been deforested to make way for tobacco and cotton plantations.
During the next two decades since the settlement, the population grew dramatically for two reasons. Political unrest in England due to the struggle between Oliver Cromwell and Charles I caused the arrival of many English subjects. During the 1630s, sugar cane was introduced to the agriculture. The production of sugar, tobacco and cotton brought slaves from Africa.
"Bussa's Rebellion"
The British abolished the slave trade in 1807, but not the institution itself. In 1816, slaves rose up in the largest major slave rebellion in the island's history. Twenty thousand slaves from over seventy plantations rebelled. They drove whites off the plantations, but there were no widespread killings. This was later called "Bussa's Rebellion" after the slave ranger, Bussa, who hated slavery and found the treatment of slaves on Barbados to be "intolerable", and believed it was time to peacefully negotiate with planters for freedom. Bussa's Rebellion failed. One hundred and twenty slaves died in combat or were immediately executed; another 144 were brought to trial and executed; remaining rebels were shipped off the island. (
People with good financial backgrounds and social connections with England were allocated land. Within a few years much of the land had been deforested to make way for tobacco and cotton plantations.
During the next two decades since the settlement, the population grew dramatically for two reasons. Political unrest in England due to the struggle between Oliver Cromwell and Charles I caused the arrival of many English subjects. During the 1630s, sugar cane was introduced to the agriculture. The production of sugar, tobacco and cotton brought slaves from Africa.
"Bussa's Rebellion"
The British abolished the slave trade in 1807, but not the institution itself. In 1816, slaves rose up in the largest major slave rebellion in the island's history. Twenty thousand slaves from over seventy plantations rebelled. They drove whites off the plantations, but there were no widespread killings. This was later called "Bussa's Rebellion" after the slave ranger, Bussa, who hated slavery and found the treatment of slaves on Barbados to be "intolerable", and believed it was time to peacefully negotiate with planters for freedom. Bussa's Rebellion failed. One hundred and twenty slaves died in combat or were immediately executed; another 144 were brought to trial and executed; remaining rebels were shipped off the island. (
- Davis, David Brion. Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-19-514073-7
- Northrup, David, ed. The Atlantic Slave Trade, Second Edition. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. ISBN 0-618-11624-9
Modern State
Barbados was first occupied by the British in 1627 and remained a British colony until internal autonomy was granted in 1961. The Island gained full independence in 1966, and maintains ties to the Great Britain through the Governor General. Barbados is a member of the Commonwealth. The first leader of Barbados as a free nation was the Right Honourable Errol Walton Barrow, of the Democratic Labour Party. The other major political party is the Barbados Labour Party, led by the current Prime Minister - The Right Honourable Owen Arthur. In 1989, the National Democratic Party was formed. Its leader was Dr.Richie Haynes.