Antigua & Barbuda: Colonial Period

Antigua's difficult terrain and limited fresh water discouraged early Spanish and French settlement, and the island's indigenous Kalinago (Carib) inhabitants resisted colonization for over a century. English settlers from the nearby colony of Saint Kitts established the first permanent European settlement in 1632, initially cultivating tobacco, indigo, and ginger. Barbuda, settled somewhat later, was largely used for provisioning and, from 1685, was leased to the Codrington family, who administered it privately for generations.

Sugar became the dominant crop after planter Christopher Codrington introduced large-scale sugar cultivation to Antigua in 1674. Within decades, sugar estates worked by enslaved Africans had replaced most other agriculture, making the island's economy almost entirely dependent on plantation labor and the transatlantic slave trade. English Harbour, fortified in the 18th century, served as a key Royal Navy base protecting British Caribbean shipping and sugar interests, with Horatio Nelson stationed there in the 1780s.

Britain abolished slavery throughout its Caribbean colonies in 1834, and Antigua was notable for moving directly to full emancipation without an intermediate apprenticeship period. Former slaves faced limited access to land and continued to depend heavily on plantation wages. Antigua and Barbuda remained under British colonial administration through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, forming part of the Leeward Islands Federation from 1871 to 1956 before eventually advancing toward self-government.