Barbados has an interesting history. It is believed that the first people to pass through Barbados were Amerindians known as Arawaks from Venezuela. They had large canoes that could operate in the ocean and were able to navigate through currents that baffle sailors and ships today. The Arawaks originally called the island of Barbados Ichirouganaim. Ichirouganaim can be translated in several ways, the most popular version is “Red land with white teeth”, possibly referring to the red stone on the island and the coral reef that surround the island. Archaeologists have only recently discovered evidence to support this. The Arawaks were unable to hold on to their dominance of their island home because they were soon conquered by the fearsome Caribs who were another Amerindian people. The Carib had more modern weapons than the Arawak. They dominated the island until the Europeans began to arrive.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive on the island. They did not want to settle there but thought it could be a nice place to visit. In anticipation of future visits, the Portuguese let loose some wild hogs to ensure that there was plenty of meat. The Portuguese and Pedro a Campos in particular, are the ones who gave the island the name Barbados which means the bearded ones, possibly referring to the fig trees that looked like they had beards or the water foaming around the reefs. The Spaniards, who were the next to arrive, changed the composition of the island inhabitants. The Caribs were unable to resist the might of the Spanish. The indigenous people were either enslaved or fled to other islands in the Caribbean. The population of the island was so decimated by the Spanish that it could be classified as uninhabited by 1541. The Spanish, like the Portuguese, chose not to settle on the island and soon moved on to other places and opportunities.
The British were the first people to settle on the island. The first ship arrived and claimed the island for King James I on May 14, 1625. The first group of settlers did not arrive until February 17, 1627. These first settlers were not actually occupants but tenants. The title for the island of Barbados was owned by a London merchant named Sir William Courten and he received the profits from the settlers’ labors. In the “Great Barbados Robbery”, Courten lost the title to James Hay who was the 1st Earl of Carlisle. Carlisle is the one who appointed the first governor and created the House of Assembly as a governing body for the planters on the island. Pieter Blower introduced the sugar cane industry in 1637. This led to the importing of African slaves in large numbers. The slave’s life expectancy was extremely short and the plantation owners ordered replacements like any other commodity, as if they were ordering a new pair of shoes.
In the story of the settlement of Barbados, the Spanish and the British have equal stakes in the villain category. The Spaniards are the ones who decimated the indigenous population and either enslaved or ran off the few who remained. While the Spanish enslaved the indigenous people, it was in small numbers and they took them on to other destinations. Their biggest sin was the almost complete destruction of a people and a culture. The British are the ones who introduced slavery in large numbers to the island. In the beginning, the British brought over English and Irish kids they used as indentured servants. When the sugar cane industry got into its full swing, the African slaves were brought over en masse. One quote was that there were three slaves for every one planter. Both the Spanish and the British are shown in unflattering lights in the history of Barbados.
The heroes of the story are the Amerindians, the Arawaks and the Caribs. They managed to survive on the island for centuries. Near the end of their dominance, they did so while dealing with the first waves of European sailors. The Arawaks were able to hold their own until the Caribs arrived and attained dominance. The Caribs were able to survive until the Spanish arrived. Even after the Spanish arrived, the Caribs and the Arawaks who were not killed or enslaved escaped to more defensible, mountainous islands. Hints of their culture, now known as Kalinago, can still be found on Dominica, the Grenadines, and Saint Vincent.
The most interesting part of the story is the British and their indentured servants, the young English and Irish kids that were runaways or kidnapped and then the persecuted Irish Catholics who came to the island later. I would like to find out more about their circumstances and the history behind their move or removal, whichever the case may be, to Barbados. I am also interested in finding out whether or not there are descendants of these people on the island and how they feel about their ancestor’s arrival on the island and the way it came about.
Sources:
Barbados History http://barbados.org/history1.htm
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