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The Bat Bomb Invention and Other Odd Facts from History and War

Khalid Elhassan May 10, 2020 33 min

39. Hardscrabble Anguilla

The Caribbean island of Anguilla was conquered and colonized by English settlers in 1650. Attempts were made to transform Anguilla into a typical British plantation colony worked by African slaves, but the island’s climate and soil were unfavorable, and the plantations were largely unsuccessful. By 1819, there were only about 300 Europeans, 300 free blacks, and 2500 slaves on the island.

Anguilla’s flag. American Nautical Services

When the British abolished slavery in the 1830s, most whites returned to Europe, while the blacks continued to eke out a living as fishermen and subsistence farmers. To economize on the costs of administering an island that produced little of value, the British forced Anguilla – against its inhabitants’ wishes – into union with the more populous nearby islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The Anguillians grudgingly accepted the forced union. Resentment remained, however, and reared its head a century later when Britain decolonized its Caribbean holdings.

Also Read: The British Abolitionist Who Devoted His Life to Ending Slavery.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.