Blog #3
Barbados History The history of Barbados dates all the way back to 1625 when Captain John Powell claimed the island for King James I of England. Then in 1628 Earl of Carlisle granted 10,000 acres to a group of Merchants. Over the next few decades, much of the land would be for dispute. Tobacco was a huge thing in Barbados despite it having poor quality. To top it off there was a tobacco glut which resulted in an economic crisis. This also resulted in sugar replacing tobacco in 1645. Demographics and Slaves In the mid-1600s there was an establishment of large sugar plantations causing a large importation of nearly 40,000 slaves from west Africa. This shifted the demographics by 1660 and the African descent outnumbered the English decent. More and more slaves were brought to the island by the 17th and 18th-century and tensions began to rise. The tensions rose and lead to the Bussa Rebellion , one of the largest slave revolt in history. Culture Much of the culture is very div