History of Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua was first inhabited by the Siboney ("stone people") whose settlements date at least to 2400 BC. The Siboney were succeeded by the Arawaks who originated in Venezuela and gradually migrated up the chain of islands now called the Lesser Antilles. The warlike Carib people drove the Arawaks from neighboring islands but apparently did not settle on either Antigua or Barbuda. Christopher Columbus landed on the islands in 1493 naming the larger one "Santa Maria de la Antigua." The English colonized the islands in 1632.

Sir Christopher Codrington established the first large sugar estate in Antigua in 1674, and leased Barbuda to raise provisions for his plantations. Barbuda's only town is named after him. Codrington and others brought slaves from Africa's west coast to work the plantations. Antiguan slaves were emancipated in 1834 but remained economically dependent on the plantation owners.