History of Barbados
Encyclopedia
Barbados
was inhabited by Arawaks and Caribs at the time of European colonization in the 16th century.
The island was a British colony from 1625 until 1966.
Since 1966, it has been a constitutional monarchy
and parliamentary democracy, modelled on the British Westminster system
, with Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados, as head of state
.
-Barrancoid, who arrived from mainland South America. A second wave of migrants appeared around the year 800 (the Spanish referred to these people as "Arawaks") and a third in the mid-1200s (called "Caribs" by the Spanish). This last group was more politically organised and came to rule over the others. Frequent slave-raiding missions by the Spanish Empire
in the early sixteenth century led to a massive decline in the Amerindian population of Barbados so that by 1541 a Spanish writer could claim they were uninhabited. The Amerindians were either captured for use as slaves by the Spanish or fled to other, more easily defensible mountainous islands nearby.
Although Spanish and Portuguese sailors had visited Barbados, the British were the first Europeans to colonise the islands. They first arrived in 1625 and claimed it in the name of King James I of England
. This first ship, which arrived on 14 May, was captained by John Powell. The first settlement landed some time later on 17 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 first ten slaves were among the sometimes kidnapped and other times runaway English or Irish youth. This settlement was funded by Sir William Courten
, a London merchant who owned the title to Barbados and several other unclaimed islands. Thus, the first colonists were actually tenants and the profits of their labour returned to Courten and his company.
Courten would later lose this title to James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle
in what was called the "Great Barbados Robbery." Carlisle then chose as governor Henry Hawley
. It was he who established the House of Assembly
in 1639, in an effort to appease the planters who might otherwise oppose his controversial appointment.
In the very early years, the majority of the population was white
and male, with African slaves providing little of the workforce. Cultivation of tobacco
, cotton
, ginger
and indigo
was handled primarily by European indentured labour until the start of the sugar cane industry.
was the focus of the industry. As it developed into the main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates which replaced the small holdings of the early British settlers as the wealthy planters pushed out the poorer. Some of the displaced farmers relocated to British colonies in North America, most notably South Carolina
. To work the plantations, tribal peoples of Africa were imported as slaves in such numbers that there were three for every one planter. The slave trade ceased in 1807 and slaves were emancipated in 1834. Persecuted Catholics from Ireland
also worked the plantations. Life expectancy of slaves was short, and replacements were purchased annually.
Sugar cane dominated Barbados' economic growth, and the island's cash crop
was at the top of the sugar industry until 1720.
Increasingly after 1750 the plantations were owned by absentee landlords living in Britain and operated by hired managers.
Roberts (2006) shows that slaves did not spend the majority of time in restricted roles cultivating, harvesting, and processing sugarcane, the island's most important cash crop. Rather, slaves involved in various activities and in multiple roles: raising livestock, fertilizing soil, growing provisional crops, maintaining plantation infrastructure, caregiving, and other tasks. One notable soil management technique was intercropping, planting subsistence crops between the rows of cash crops - which demanded of the slaves skilled and experienced observations of growing conditions for efficient land use.
From 1800 until 1885, Barbados then served as the main seat of Government for the former British
colonies of the Windward Islands
. During the period of around 85 years the resident Governor of Barbados also served as the Colonial head of the Windward Islands
. After the Government of Barbados officially exited from the Windward Island union in 1885, the seat was moved from Bridgetown to St. George's
on the neighbouring island of Grenada
, where it remained until the territory of the Windward Islands was dissolved.
Soon after Barbados' withdrawal from the Windward Islands, Barbados became aware that Tobago
was going to be amalgamated with another territory as part of a single state. In response, Barbados made an official bid to the British Government to have neighbouring Island Tobago joined with Barbados as a political union. The British government however decided that Trinidad would be a better fit and Tobago instead was made a Ward of Trinidad.
African slaves worked on plantations owned by merchants of British descent
. It was these merchants who continued to dominate politically even after emancipation, due to a high income restriction on voting. Only an exclusive 30%, therefore, had any voice in the democratic process. It was not until the 1930s that a movement for political rights was begun by the descendants of emancipated slaves, who started trade unions. One of the leaders of this movement, Sir Grantley Adams, founded the Barbados Progressive League (now the Barbados Labour Party
) in 1938. The Great Depression caused mass unemployment and strikes
, and the quality of life on the island lowered drastically. Adams continued to advocate more for the people, especially the poor.
Finally, in 1942, the income qualification was lowered. This was followed by the introduction of universal adult suffrage
in 1951, with Adams elected the Premier of Barbados in 1958. For his actions, Adams would later become a National Hero.
From 1958 to 1962, Barbados was one of the ten members of the West Indies Federation
, an organisation doomed to failure by a number of factors, including what were often petty nationalistic prejudices and limited legislative power. Indeed, Adams' position as "Prime Minister" is a gross misnomer, as all of the Federation members were still colonies of Britain. Adams, once a political visionary and now a man blind to the needs of his country, not only held fast to his notion of defending the monarchy
but also made additional attempts to form similarly flawed Federation-like entities after that union's demise. When the Federation was terminated, Barbados had reverted to its former status as a self-governing colony
, but efforts were made by Adams to form another federation composed of Barbados and the Leeward and Windward Islands.
Errol Walton Barrow was to replace Grantley Adams as the people's advocate and it was he who would eventually lead the island into Independence
. Barrow, a fervent reformer and once a member of the Barbados Labour Party
, had left the party to form his own Democratic Labour Party
, as the liberal alternative to the conservative BLP government under Adams. He remains a National Hero for his work in social reformation, including the institution of free education
for all Barbadians. In 1961, Barrow supplanted Adams as Premier as the DLP took control of the government.
Due to several years of growing autonomy, Barbados, with Barrow at the helm, was able to successfully negotiate its independence at a constitutional conference with the United Kingdom in June 1966. After years of peaceful and democratic progress, Barbados finally became an independent state and formally joined the Commonwealth of Nations
on November 30, 1966, Errol Barrow serving as its first Prime Minister.
. To date all have failed, and one proposal even led to deadly riots in 1876 when Governor John Pope Hennessy
tried to pressure Barbados' politicians to integrate more firmly into the Windward Islands
. Governor Hennessy was quickly transferred from Barbados by the British Crown following the situation. In 1884 attempts were then made by the influential Barbados Agricultural Society to have Barbados form a political association with the Canadian Confederation. From 1958-1962 Barbados became one of the 10 states of the West Indies Federation. Lastly in the 1990s, a plan was devised by the leaders of Guyana, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago to form a political association between those three governments. Again this deal was never completed, following the loss of Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford in the Barbadian general elections.
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
was inhabited by Arawaks and Caribs at the time of European colonization in the 16th century.
The island was a British colony from 1625 until 1966.
Since 1966, it has been a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
and parliamentary democracy, modelled on the British Westminster system
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
, with Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados, as head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
.
Early history
Some evidence exists that Barbados may not have been settled in the second millennium BC, but this is limited to fragments of conch lip adzes found in association with shells radiocarbon dated to c.1630 BC. Fully documented Amerindian settlement dates to between about 350 to 650 AD, by a group known as the SaladoidSaladoid
Saladoid culture is a pre-columbian indigenous culture of Venezuela and the Caribbean that flourished from 500 BCE to 545 CE.-Name:They have been given the name of the sites where their unique pottery styles were first recognised. The suffix "oid" has been added in this cultural classification...
-Barrancoid, who arrived from mainland South America. A second wave of migrants appeared around the year 800 (the Spanish referred to these people as "Arawaks") and a third in the mid-1200s (called "Caribs" by the Spanish). This last group was more politically organised and came to rule over the others. Frequent slave-raiding missions by the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
in the early sixteenth century led to a massive decline in the Amerindian population of Barbados so that by 1541 a Spanish writer could claim they were uninhabited. The Amerindians were either captured for use as slaves by the Spanish or fled to other, more easily defensible mountainous islands nearby.
Early British colonization
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
. This first ship, which arrived on 14 May, was captained by John Powell. The first settlement landed some time later on 17 February 1627, near what is now Holetown
Holetown
Holetown , is a small town located in the Caribbean island nation of Barbados. Holetown is located in the parish of Saint James on the sheltered west coast of the island.-History:...
(formerly Jamestown). The group was led by John Powell's younger brother, Henry, who arrived with 80 settlers and 10 slaves—these first ten slaves were among the sometimes kidnapped and other times runaway English or Irish youth. This settlement was funded by Sir William Courten
William Courten
Sir William Courten was a wealthy 17th century merchant, operating from London. He financed the colonisation of Barbados, but lost his investment and interest in the islands to the Earl of Carlisle.-Birth and upbringing:...
, a London merchant who owned the title to Barbados and several other unclaimed islands. Thus, the first colonists were actually tenants and the profits of their labour returned to Courten and his company.
Courten would later lose this title to James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle
James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle
James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle was a Scottish aristocrat.-Life:He was the son of Sir James Hay of Fingask , and of Margaret Murray, cousin of George Hay, afterwards 1st Earl of Kinnoull.He was knighted and taken into favor by James VI of Scotland, brought into England in 1603, treated as a "prime...
in what was called the "Great Barbados Robbery." Carlisle then chose as governor Henry Hawley
Henry Hawley
Lieutenant General Henry Hawley was a British Army officer who entered the army in 1694.-Early life:He saw service in the War of Spanish Succession as a captain of Erie's Foot. After Almanza he returned to England, and a few years later had become lieutenant-colonel of the 19th...
. It was he who established the House of Assembly
Barbados House of Assembly
The House of Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Barbados. It has 30 Members of Parliament , MPs are directly elected in single member constituencies using the simple-majority system for a term of five years....
in 1639, in an effort to appease the planters who might otherwise oppose his controversial appointment.
In the very early years, the majority of the population was white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
and male, with African slaves providing little of the workforce. Cultivation of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, ginger
Ginger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
and indigo
Indigo
Indigo is a color named after the purple dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and related species. The color is placed on the electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet...
was handled primarily by European indentured labour until the start of the sugar cane industry.
Sugar cane and slavery
Sugar cane cultivation began in the 1640s, after its introduction in 1637 by Pieter Blower. Initially, rum was produced but by 1642, sugarSugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
was the focus of the industry. As it developed into the main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates which replaced the small holdings of the early British settlers as the wealthy planters pushed out the poorer. Some of the displaced farmers relocated to British colonies in North America, most notably South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. To work the plantations, tribal peoples of Africa were imported as slaves in such numbers that there were three for every one planter. The slave trade ceased in 1807 and slaves were emancipated in 1834. Persecuted Catholics from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
also worked the plantations. Life expectancy of slaves was short, and replacements were purchased annually.
Sugar cane dominated Barbados' economic growth, and the island's cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
was at the top of the sugar industry until 1720.
Increasingly after 1750 the plantations were owned by absentee landlords living in Britain and operated by hired managers.
Roberts (2006) shows that slaves did not spend the majority of time in restricted roles cultivating, harvesting, and processing sugarcane, the island's most important cash crop. Rather, slaves involved in various activities and in multiple roles: raising livestock, fertilizing soil, growing provisional crops, maintaining plantation infrastructure, caregiving, and other tasks. One notable soil management technique was intercropping, planting subsistence crops between the rows of cash crops - which demanded of the slaves skilled and experienced observations of growing conditions for efficient land use.
Political history
Carrington (1982) examines politics during the American Revolution, revealing that Barbadian political leaders shared many of the grievances and goals of the American revolutionaries, but that they were unwilling to go to war over them. Nevertheless, the repeated conflicts between the island assembly and the royal governors brought important constitutional reforms which confirmed the legislature's control over most local matters and its power over the executive.From 1800 until 1885, Barbados then served as the main seat of Government for the former British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
colonies of the Windward Islands
Windward Islands
The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.-Name and geography:The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the...
. During the period of around 85 years the resident Governor of Barbados also served as the Colonial head of the Windward Islands
Colonial heads of the Windward Islands
This is a list of viceroys in the British Windward Islands. The colony of the Windward Islands was created in 1833 and consisted of Grenada, Barbados , Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tobago , St. Lucia , and Dominica . The Governor of Barbados was also the Governor of the Windward Islands,...
. After the Government of Barbados officially exited from the Windward Island union in 1885, the seat was moved from Bridgetown to St. George's
St. George's, Grenada
St. George's, population 89,018 , with an agglomeration of 4,500 people , is the capital of Grenada, . The city is surrounded by a hillside of an old volcano crater and is on a horseshoe-shaped harbor....
on the neighbouring island of Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, where it remained until the territory of the Windward Islands was dissolved.
Soon after Barbados' withdrawal from the Windward Islands, Barbados became aware that Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
was going to be amalgamated with another territory as part of a single state. In response, Barbados made an official bid to the British Government to have neighbouring Island Tobago joined with Barbados as a political union. The British government however decided that Trinidad would be a better fit and Tobago instead was made a Ward of Trinidad.
African slaves worked on plantations owned by merchants of British descent
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
. It was these merchants who continued to dominate politically even after emancipation, due to a high income restriction on voting. Only an exclusive 30%, therefore, had any voice in the democratic process. It was not until the 1930s that a movement for political rights was begun by the descendants of emancipated slaves, who started trade unions. One of the leaders of this movement, Sir Grantley Adams, founded the Barbados Progressive League (now the Barbados Labour Party
Barbados Labour Party
The Barbados Labour Party is the main opposition party of Barbados. Led by Rt. Hon.Owen Arthur, the BLP holds 9 out of 30 seats in the House of Assembly as of January 2008...
) in 1938. The Great Depression caused mass unemployment and strikes
British West Indian labour unrest of 1934–1939
TheBritish West Indian labour unrest of 1934–1939 encompassed a series of disturbances, strikes and riots in the United Kingdom's Caribbean colonies. These began as the Great Depression wore on and ceased on the eve of World War II...
, and the quality of life on the island lowered drastically. Adams continued to advocate more for the people, especially the poor.
Finally, in 1942, the income qualification was lowered. This was followed by the introduction of universal adult suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
in 1951, with Adams elected the Premier of Barbados in 1958. For his actions, Adams would later become a National Hero.
From 1958 to 1962, Barbados was one of the ten members of the West Indies Federation
West Indies Federation
The West Indies Federation, also known as the Federation of the West Indies, was a short-lived Caribbean federation that existed from January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962. It consisted of several Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom...
, an organisation doomed to failure by a number of factors, including what were often petty nationalistic prejudices and limited legislative power. Indeed, Adams' position as "Prime Minister" is a gross misnomer, as all of the Federation members were still colonies of Britain. Adams, once a political visionary and now a man blind to the needs of his country, not only held fast to his notion of defending the monarchy
Monarchy of Barbados
The monarchy of Barbados is a constitutional system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Barbados, forming the core of the country's Westminster style parliamentary democracy...
but also made additional attempts to form similarly flawed Federation-like entities after that union's demise. When the Federation was terminated, Barbados had reverted to its former status as a self-governing colony
Self-governing colony
A self-governing colony is a colony with an elected legislature, in which politicians are able to make most decisions without reference to the colonial power with formal or nominal control of the colony...
, but efforts were made by Adams to form another federation composed of Barbados and the Leeward and Windward Islands.
Errol Walton Barrow was to replace Grantley Adams as the people's advocate and it was he who would eventually lead the island into Independence
Barbados Independence Act 1966
The Barbados Independence Act 1966 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted independence to Barbados with effect from 30 November 1966...
. Barrow, a fervent reformer and once a member of the Barbados Labour Party
Barbados Labour Party
The Barbados Labour Party is the main opposition party of Barbados. Led by Rt. Hon.Owen Arthur, the BLP holds 9 out of 30 seats in the House of Assembly as of January 2008...
, had left the party to form his own Democratic Labour Party
Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)
The Democratic Labour Party is a political party in Barbados, and currently the ruling party of the country. It is led by Freundel Stuart.-History:...
, as the liberal alternative to the conservative BLP government under Adams. He remains a National Hero for his work in social reformation, including the institution of free education
Education in Barbados
Education in Barbados is based primarily on the British model.There are presently:*1 infant school,*4 public nursery schools,*71 public primary schools,*2 assisted special schools,*20 registered private schools,*23 public secondary schools,...
for all Barbadians. In 1961, Barrow supplanted Adams as Premier as the DLP took control of the government.
Due to several years of growing autonomy, Barbados, with Barrow at the helm, was able to successfully negotiate its independence at a constitutional conference with the United Kingdom in June 1966. After years of peaceful and democratic progress, Barbados finally became an independent state and formally joined the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
on November 30, 1966, Errol Barrow serving as its first Prime Minister.
Confederations, and political union proposals
A number of proposals have been mooted in the past to have Barbados integrated with either neighboring countries or once even the Canadian ConfederationCanadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
. To date all have failed, and one proposal even led to deadly riots in 1876 when Governor John Pope Hennessy
John Pope Hennessy
Sir John Pope Hennessy, KCMG , was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator who served as the eighth Governor of Hong Kong.-Early life:...
tried to pressure Barbados' politicians to integrate more firmly into the Windward Islands
Windward Islands
The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.-Name and geography:The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the...
. Governor Hennessy was quickly transferred from Barbados by the British Crown following the situation. In 1884 attempts were then made by the influential Barbados Agricultural Society to have Barbados form a political association with the Canadian Confederation. From 1958-1962 Barbados became one of the 10 states of the West Indies Federation. Lastly in the 1990s, a plan was devised by the leaders of Guyana, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago to form a political association between those three governments. Again this deal was never completed, following the loss of Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford in the Barbadian general elections.
See also
- British colonization of the AmericasBritish colonization of the AmericasBritish colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas...
- French colonization of the AmericasFrench colonization of the AmericasThe French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...
- History of the AmericasHistory of the AmericasThe history of the Americas is the collective history of the American landmass, which includes North and South America, as well as Central America and the Caribbean. It begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an Ice Age...
- History of North AmericaHistory of North AmericaThe history of North America is the study of the past, particularly the written record, oral histories, and traditions, passed down from generation to generation on the continent in the Earth's northern hemisphere and western hemisphere....
- History of the British West Indies
- List of Prime Ministers of Barbados
- List of Governors of Barbados
- LongitudeLongitudeLongitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
- Piracy in the CaribbeanPiracy in the Caribbean] The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 16th century and died out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began combating pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1690s until the 1720s...
- Politics of BarbadosPolitics of BarbadosThe politics of Barbados function within a framework of constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions; constitutional safeguards for nationals of Barbados include: freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association.Executive power is vested in...
- Spanish colonization of the AmericasSpanish colonization of the AmericasColonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
- Timeline of Barbadian historyTimeline of Barbadian historyThis is a timeline of Barbadian history. To read about the background to these events, see History of Barbados and History of the Caribbean. See also the list of Governors and Prime Ministers of Barbados....
- West Indies FederationWest Indies FederationThe West Indies Federation, also known as the Federation of the West Indies, was a short-lived Caribbean federation that existed from January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962. It consisted of several Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom...
Further reading
- Beckles, Hilary McD., and Andrew Downes. "The Economics of Transition to the Black Labor System in Barbados, 1630-1680," Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Autumn, 1987), pp. 225–247 in JSTOR
- Blackman, Francis W.Woodie BlackmanFrancis Woodbine Blackman was a Caribbean author, former secretary of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, a member of the Dalkeith Methodist Church, and a retired consultant of the Canadian Training Aid Programme.-Early life:His parents, James T. Blackman and his mother Etta ,...
, National heroine of Barbados: Sarah Ann Gill (Barbados: Methodist Church, 1998, 27 pp) - Blackman, Francis W.Woodie BlackmanFrancis Woodbine Blackman was a Caribbean author, former secretary of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, a member of the Dalkeith Methodist Church, and a retired consultant of the Canadian Training Aid Programme.-Early life:His parents, James T. Blackman and his mother Etta ,...
, Methodism, 200 years in Barbados (Barbados: Caribbean Contact, 1988, 160 pp) - Butler, Kathleen Mary. The Economics of Emancipation: Jamaica & Barbados, 1823-1843 (1995) online edition
- Dunn, Richard S., "The Barbados Census of 1680: Profile of the Richest Colony in English America," William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 1 (Jan. 1969), pp. 3–30. in JSTOR
- Harlow, V. T. A History of Barbados. (1926).
- Michener, James, A. 1989. Caribbean. Secker & Warburg. London. ISBN 0-436-27971-1 (Especially see Chap. V., "Big Storms in Little England", pp. 140–172; popular writer
- Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny. Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN 0-201-52396-5.
- Howe, Glenford D., and Don D. Marshall, eds. The Empowering Impulse: The Nationalist Tradition of Barbados (Canoe Press, 2001) online edition
- Molen, Patricia A. "Population and Social Patterns in Barbados in the Early Eighteenth Century," William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 2 (Apr., 1971), pp. 287–300 in JSTOR
- Richardson; Bonham C. Economy and Environment in the Caribbean: Barbados and the Windwards in the Late 1800s (The Press University of The West Indies, 1997) online edition
- Ragatz, Lowell Joseph. "Absentee Landlordism in the British Caribbean, 1750-1833," Agricultural History, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Jan., 1931), pp. 7–24 in JSTOR
- Sheridan; Richard B. Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the British West Indies, 1623-1775 (University of the West Indies Press, 1994) online edition
- Starkey, Otis P. The Economic Geography of Barbados (1939).
- Thomas, Robert Paul. "The Sugar Colonies of the Old Empire: Profit or Loss for Great Britain?" Economic History Review Vol. 21, No. 1 (Apr., 1968), pp. 30–45 in JSTOR
External links
- Notable dates of Barbadian History - Government of Barbados
- African influences in Barbados
- Barbados Museum & Historical Society
- History, Government Information Services, Government of Barbados
- Rulers.org — Barbados List of rulers for Barbados
- Watson, Karl. The Civil War in Barbados. BBC History, 2001-04-01.
- The Tramways of Barbados: historical survey with map and 16 illustrations
- Report of the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice