The first set of settlers on the island were the Carib and Arawak Indians and people from northern South America. The first contact with other nations was in the early 16th century, when the Spaniards visited the island.
The Portuguese also explore the island and named it Barbados because of bearded men on the island. The island was depopulated also in the late 16th, century by Spanish raids of slaves.
An English expedition of 1625 assessed the potential of the island, and on February 17th,1627, the ship William and John landed with 80 Englishmen and 10 Africans. The early period of the English settlement which resulted in the difficulty in establishing profitability in their crop export. This was complicated and caused bitter disagreements between rivals, and questions to the British Crown or Parliament during the constitutional problem of the 1640s which led to the British Civil War.
The European sugar market was scarce, and therefore, Barbados sugar plantation owners profited very well.
Out of a series of labor disturbances in 1937, the British Government dispatched a commission in 1938 to report on social and economic conditions in the British West Indies.
The implementation of these reforms during the 1940s, provided the essential base for the establishment of political organizations. The political leaders gained great powers by 1944, and in 1950, a full universal internal self-government was established by 1961.
On November 30th, 1966, Barbados gained its independence from the British Empire, In 1968, the Prime Minister, who served for four years in two separate terms, helped to form the Caribbean Common Market (Caricom) in 1973.
Barbados has earned the nickname (LITTLE ENGLAND) because from the time of the British settlement in the 1600s, the island remained British until 1966 when it gained its independence from the British. English is the only language which is spoken in Barbados. Since its independence in 1966, Barbados has had one of the most stable, and fair political system.
