In August 2019, I had the privilege of travelling to Antigua for a short stay. My first time on the island was completely amazing — the island is beautiful! During our time there, we had to go on an obligatory island tour. An information packed tour taught me lots of interesting pieces of Antiguan history. So, I am writing this article to share this knowledge with you.
Records show that the earliest settlements in what we now know as Antigua dates back to 2900BC. Antigua was given its name by Christopher Columbus, who arrived at the already discovered island, in 1493. The Caribs’ (the local, native people) defended their land making it extremely difficult for Europeans to settle. However, by 1632 Britain successfully had invaded and colonised the island. Not long after, settlers began to populate the island including Christopher Codrington and his family who owned the first large sugar plantation which became very profitable.
Britain was committed in defending their empire and canons (as displayed in the image) have been preserved in their original standing. Several threats from other European nations including Spain meant that Britain had to guard the coastline. Britain’s colonialism brought Christian missionaries to the island. One of the oldest churches on the island, St Barnabas’ Anglican Church, is a sweet tourist attraction. While for some the church may seem insignificant, the church does in fact represent the absolute control that colonial power held. Every aspect of life including religion was determined by the colonial power.
As with other British colonies, slavery did not end officially until 1838 (when the apprenticeship scheme ended). As mentioned, sugar was the main produce of the island. The Codrington family did very well off of their sugar crops and slave labour resulting in other planters following suit and replacing their crops with sugar, placing sugar at the centre of the islands’ economy. The Codrington family were ‘gifted’ Barbuda from the Crown in 1685. The small island was intended for breeding slaves however it became a self-reliant land for slaves to leave (the conditions of this are unknown). The Codrington legacy lives on through Antigua’s sister island, Barbuda, having its only town named after him.
Betty’s Hope is one of the earliest sugar plantations in Antigua that can still be visited today. The plantation dates back to 1651 and was one of the 150 sugar mills that belonged to the Codrington family until 1944. Records show that just under 400 slaves worked on this estate. The majority of the labour came from African slaves. Irish indentured labourers had been trialled previously but proved to be unsuccessful. Thus, it was common for the plantation overseers to be Irish. Historians have attributed this to explain why many Antiguans today have Irish surnames.
Whilst some may find this tourist attraction eerie, it is very informative. The Antiguan government have invested in this history location to preserve a piece of their history.
The last destination on our tour was Devil’s Bridge. according to local history, the bridge gained its name due to the enslaved populations believing the devil lived there. This tourist attraction possesses a morbid history. Slaves would throw themselves into the treacherous waters, in an attempt to escape slavery and ‘go back to Africa’. However, the local history also tells that some enslaved peoples would throw themselves into the water to end their misery. Intentionally or not, those waters have claimed many lives. The atmosphere here was very sombre and reflective. I did find myself thinking of those hopeless souls that found hope in those waters — may they rest in paradise, eternally.
For an island that has a tiny population of just over 80,000 its history is rich. This article has largely focused on Antigua’s history during colonialism which is not to be interpreted as this is the islands’ most important history. Unfortunately, for a lot of nations that were former colonies, their history is focused on that period of time. These nations should place more emphasis on their history before colonialism. However, considering the detrimental impact that colonialism and slavery had on these nations it is understandable why their investment and taught history focuses on this period. Antigua gained independence from Britain in November 1981, which highlights how recent this history is.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tour — it was interesting to see physical reminders of British imperialism that remain on the island. I implore many more nations to invest in their history to preserve it, as our history paves the way for our future.
