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

Khalid Elhassan May 10, 2020 33 min

38. The Colony That Feared Independence

Anguilla’s old courthouse. Anguilla Archaeological and Historical Society

So long as the British were in charge, the Anguillians accepted being part of the colony of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, which combined the three islands into a single unit for ease of administration. That changed in 1967, when the British granted the amalgamated colony its own constitution, a considerable degree of self-government, and the status of an “associated state”. It was a major step on the road to eventual independence.

Anguillians had long resented playing second fiddle to the more populous St. Kitts. In an independent state that included its bigger neighbor, Anguilla would have been dominated. Resenting and fearing the prospect of such political subservience, the Anguillians rebelled.

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.