Anguilla / History, Population, Politics

History

Archaeological finds indicate that settlements of Arawak Indians have lived on Anguilla since more than 3300 years ago, with as many as 40 villages dotted around the island. In later times, the Amerindian name for the island became Malliouhana, which is thought to have meant ‘arrow-shape sea serpent’. The name Anguilla derives from the Spanish (it means eel). The island is thought to have been spotted by Christopher Columbus in 1493, but the explorer certainly did not set foot on the island.

There were occasional visitors and attempted settlements in the early yeas of European presence in the Caribbean, the French in 1564, the Spanish again in 1633 and the Dutch from Sint Maarten, but these did not work and it was not until 1650 that the island was permanently settled. This time it was the English, but it was still hard. After six years they were practically wiped out by Amerindians and in 1666 they received more harassment, from the French this time. Not to be thwarted the French were back in 1688 with the help of the Irish. This time the settlers were forced to seek refuge in Antigua.

Life on Anguilla was always hard, due mainly to lack of fresh water. When sugar didn’t work so they turned to cotton, importing African labour in the early 1700s to work the plantations. Raids on the island continued were a plague into the late 1700s. The last attack on the island was the French again in 1796, but it is reckoned to have been brought on by the Anguillan attack on that island a short while before....

The island was so poor that the slaves were left to their own devices for a couple of days a week, so that they could grow their own food to feed themselves. They also began to trade with other islands in locally built boats. After Emancipation in the 1840s things got so bad through droughts and near famine that the British suggested that Anguilla be abandoned and everyone be moved to Demerara in Guyana (then British Guiana). In an early show of their determination, the islanders refused to leave and continued to be peasant farmers or make a living from the sea.

In a colonial reshuffle in 1825 Britain decided to annex Anguilla to St Kitts and Nevis. Eventually in 1872 the island was forced reluctantly into a federation with St Kitts. Nevis joined the Presidency of St Kitts and Nevis in 1882, but it took until 1951 for Anguilla to be added. Throughout this period the Anguillians were simply neglected. Their dissatisfaction finally erupted in 1967, when Britain made a move to create an Associated State of St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, forcing on Anguilla the prospect of Independence in association with the other two islands.

The Anguillians were emphatically against this and showed their displeasure in an armed, if gentlemanly, revolt (nobody was killed). They forced the St Kitts police off the island and to prevent them returning blocked the runway and manned the ports. Two years of negotiations came to nothing. As the political situation deteriorated further, the Anguillians found themselves on the receiving end of a show of force. They were invaded by British paratroopers, who in turn found themselves welcomed. An administration under a Commissioner was established and after a further decade of negotiations, on December 19, 1980, Anguilla finally became a separate Dependent Territory of Britain. Currently Anguilla is called a British Overseas Territory, one of five in the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Queen Elizabeth II has been represented by Governor Alan Huckle since 2004.

Population

Anguilla’s has a population of approximately 14,760 (July 2010), and a literacy rate of 95%.

Politics

The head of Anguilla’s legislative government is Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes of the Anguilla United Movement, who was elected in February 2010, having previously held the post from 1994 to 2000. The Executive Council is appointed by the governor from among the elected members of the 11 person House of Assembly, in which there are 7 elected members, 2 ex officio and 2 appointed members.