History & Politics of Barbados

 History of Barbados

Though the Portuguese and the Spanish were of the first to discover Barbados, the first lasting settlement on the island was made by those of England. Officially, England hadn't claimed Barbados until 1627 though there is speculation that the island could have been claimed at earlier times such as the year 1620.

At one point, Barbados had been referred to as the "Island of the Bearded Man". In May of 1625, the first English ship had arrived in Barbados though the first settlement hadn't begun until February of 1627. In the 1640s, the Sugar Cane industry began in Barbados and became one of the world's biggest sugar cane producers. Though with this business came indentured servants and slaves. Due to it's increasing industry and increased need for slaves, the slavery and racial indifferences sparked revolutions and unrest like in the Americas. Unlike the Americas though, Barbados hadn't succeeded with its revolutions and unrest. 

Politically as stated earlier, Barbados shared the same feelings about slavery and independence as those of the Americas had but unlike the Americas, Barbados was not willing to incite a war over them. After the fail of Bussa's Rebellion, slavery was finally abolished in 1834 but in order to get to this point, the government of Barbados needed to form. The first representative body of Barbados hadn't been created until 1639. The House of Assembly formerly known as the House of Burgess was first created with 16 land-owners which was a requirement until the year of 1950 with the Representation of the People Act changing the requirements to just being over 21 whether you owned land or not to have the ability to vote. "In 1645 the island was divided into the present 11 parishes with each parish having (2) representatives for the House of Assembly. During 1652 Col. Thomas Modyford was elected as the first Speaker of the House of Assembly, who was then dominant in Barbados' politics."(Fun Barbados) Barbados hadn't received their independence until 1966 and in the years leading up to its independence many things were put in place. In 1937 after a civil unrest, the Barbados Labour Party was created until its demise in 1961. The Democratic Labour Party was created in 1955 a few years before the Barbados Labour Party had begun to go downhill. Barbados' two main politcal parties are the BLP and the DLP, the BLP being the more conservative party though "both are centrist social democratic parties with roots in the British labor movement and no major ideological differences." (Fun Barbados)

"Due to several years of growing autonomy, Barbados, with Barrow at the helm, was able successfully to negotiate its independence at a constitutional conference with the United Kingdom in June 1966." (Wikipedia) After many years of progress, Barbados finally became independent and formally joined the Commonwealth of Nations in November of 1966, with Errol Barrow as its first Prime Minister. Errol Barrow had become Barbados' first Prime Minister due to his efforts in the Barbadian advancement.

Sources

““History of Barbados.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Barbados#Prehistory.

The Political History of Barbados.” The Political History of Barbados: From Colonization to Modern Politics | FunBarbados.com, www.funbarbados.com/OurIsland/history/political_history.cfm.