|
|
The earliest settlers in Barbados were Amerindians, who came
to the island in dug-out canoes from the Guianas in South America.
Christopher Columbus, the first European visitor to the West Indies,
never stopped at Barbados, but in the early sixteenth century,
Spanish slave-traders arrived to collect Amerindians to labor
in the gold and silver mines of New Spain.
In
1625 a party of British sailors landed in Barbados, claiming the
island for their king, and in February 1627 eighty colonists landed
at present-day Holetown. They quickly found that sugar grew
well in the island soil, and the industry brought almost
instantaneous prosperity. By the 1650s, Barbados was reckoned to be
the wealthiest place in the New World.
As
Barbados developed, a workforce was needed for the sugar
plantations. At first, the main source of workers was indentured
laborers , escaping poverty in England and Scotland. In return
for their passage to Barbados, these men and women signed contracts
to work on the plantations without wages for up to seven years.
Later, large numbers of West African slaves were brought to
Barbados, and the island slowly began to take on its present-day
ethnic composition.
By
1700, the wonder days of Barbados sugar had passed. Huge fortunes
had been made, but increased competition from Jamaica and the
Leeward Islands had reduced profits. Many of the small planters were
squeezed out of business, handing even more economic power to the
large plantation owners.
In
1807 the British government abolished the slave trade. Far more
threatening to the planters, though, was the movement for the
abolition of slavery itself. Barbadian slave-owners made some small
improvements in the slaves' working conditions, but the slaves
realized that these were little more than a reluctant sop to the
abolitionists. Rumors spread, claiming that emancipation was being
blocked on the island. Frustration grew, and in April 1816 Barbados
faced its only serious slave uprising.
|
Bussa's Rebellion
- named for its alleged leader, an African slave from a plantation
in St Philip - began in the southeast with attacks on property and
widespread burning of the sugar fields, and quickly spread to all of
the island's southern and central parishes. Within three days,
however, the rebellion was crushed; just a handful of whites were
killed, but over a thousand slaves were either killed in battle or
executed afterwards.
Nonetheless, by the early 1830s the reformers in London had won the
argument for the abolition of slavery and full
emancipation took place on August 1, 1838. The planters remained
confident that the new situation would work to their advantage; no
longer responsible for the upkeep of their workers, they would have
a large pool of cheap, unorganized labor desperate for work.
Some former slaves headed to the towns, particularly Bridgetown, but
most had little choice but to continue work on the sugar estates.
The white planters still ran Barbados; they owned almost all of the
farmland, and controlled the Assembly that made the island's laws.
A
significant influence on the island's development was the decision
by the United States in 1904 to build the Panama Canal . By
the outbreak of World War I Barbados had provided at least 20,000
workers - virtually all black and a huge percentage of the local
workforce. Many returned with sizeable savings, which they were able
to invest in new businesses and in land. The white planters, who had
previously refused to sell land to blacks, were now obliged to do so
by economic circumstances. Even if much of the land bought by blacks
was marginal, by the 1930s the pattern of land ownership had changed
dramatically.
|
Caribbean guide
Barbados Travel Guide
Alongside economic change, the island saw significant political
development. Black political parties were formed in the 1930s and
1940s to fight elections and, although executive power remained with
the British-appointed governor, black politicians were appointed to
the highly influential Executive Committee.
During the 1960s, foreign investment and tourism were
actively encouraged to reduce the island's dependence on sugar. The
British government finally recognized the capability of the Bajans
to govern themselves and, in 1966, Barbados became an independent
country .
Development has been fast since independence and the economy has
boomed. Tourism remains the main money-earner, but success in
manufacturing and other service industries means that not all of the
island's eggs are in the tourism basket.
|
|
