Antigua and Barbuda

VII

Government

Antigua and Barbuda is a constitutional monarchy. The British monarch, represented by a governor-general, is the head of state.

A

Executive and Legislature

The prime minister is the head of government. There are two legislative houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate; both have 17 seats. One of the seats in the House of Representatives is allocated to Barbuda and all members are elected for up to five-year terms by universal adult suffrage. The Senate is composed of 11 members appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister, 4 on the advice of the leader of the opposition, 1 at the discretion of the governor-general, and 1 on the advice of the Barbudan Council, which is responsible for local government on that island.

The two main political parties in Antigua and Barbuda are the United Progressive Party (UPP) and the Antigua Labour Party (ALP). The Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) is one of the larger minority parties.

B

Health and Welfare

The state provides free medical care, and the social security system supplies benefits for senior citizens and sick or disabled people. Life expectancy is 70.3 years for males and 75.2 years for females (2008).

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VIII

History

The first inhabitants of the islands were the Ciboney, who were related to the Arawak. Archaeological evidence points to settlements dating from around 2400 bc. Between ad 35 and 1100 the Arawak lived on Antigua, but the Carib were in residence at the time of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493, during his second voyage. He named the island Santa María de la Antigua after a church in Seville, Spain, but did not settle it. Subsequent attempts by both the French and Spanish to establish colonies were fought off by the Carib.

A

Colonization

It was not until 1632 that Antigua was successfully colonized by the British. Apart from a brief interlude of French rule in 1666, the island and its dependencies, Barbuda and Redonda, remained under British control until independence in 1981.

The first sugar plantation was established in 1674 by Sir Christopher Codrington. Barbuda, colonized by the British in 1678, was leased by the Codrington family until the late 19th century, when it reverted back to the British crown. It was used by them to raise provisions for the slaves introduced to clear the forests of Antigua and plant sugarcane.

Antigua was a valuable colony, not only for the sugar grown there, but also for its deep natural harbors, notably at Saint John’s and at Falmouth on the southeastern side of the island. Ships were refitted there safe from attack, and during the 17th and 18th centuries fortifications were built, many of which still survive, notably Shirley Heights and Nelson’s Dockyard in Saint John’s.

Horatio Nelson, a famous British naval commander, served for nearly three years in Antigua as a young man, and visited the island again in 1805 during his pursuit of a French fleet, which ended with the Battle of Trafalgar. The future king William IV was also on Antigua, as a young midshipman, in the 1780s.

Slavery was abolished on the islands in 1834, but the resulting freedom was limited and brought little respite from the harsh working conditions on the sugar estates. There was no land available for the freed slaves and the plantation owners continued to treat them as they had before. By the 20th century tension had risen and workers protested violently against low wages, food shortages, and poor living conditions. In 1939 the first labor movement was formed to try to resolve persistent problems.

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