[pt_section element_name=”Section” width=”boxed” bg_color=”#eaf0b7″ bg_image=”” padding=”0px,0px,10px,0px” margin=”,,,” extra_class=””][pt_row element_name=”Row”][pt_column width=”1/1″][pt_picture element_name=”Single Photo” image=”1872″ extra_class=””][/pt_picture][/pt_column][/pt_row][pt_row element_name=”Row”][pt_column width=”9/12″][pt_text element_name=”A Brief History of” extra_class=””]
A Brief History of
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Anguilla
(British Overseas Territory)
[/pt_text][/pt_column][pt_column width=”3/12″][pt_picture element_name=”Flag” image=”1865″ extra_class=””][/pt_picture][/pt_column][/pt_row][/pt_section][pt_section element_name=”Section” width=”boxed” bg_color=”#ffffff” bg_image=”” padding=”10px,0px,10px,0px” margin=”,,,” extra_class=””][pt_row element_name=”Row”][pt_column width=”1/1″][pt_text element_name=”History Text 1″ extra_class=””]The History of Anguilla goes back a surprisingly long way. The Island was first settled by Indigenous tribes who migrated from South America around 1300 BC. The date of European colonisation is uncertain: some sources claim that Columbus sighted the island during his second voyage in 1493, while others state that the island was first discovered by the French explorer René Goulaine de Laudonnière in 1564.[/pt_text][pt_text element_name=”History Text 2″ extra_class=””]
In more modern times, the history of Anguilla is dominated by its colonisation by the British.
The Island is thought to have been first colonised by the British from Saint Kitts in 1650 and used it as a place of refuge. Further migration came from St. Christopher, Barbados, Nevis and Antigua. [/pt_text][pt_text element_name=”History Text 3″ extra_class=””] The French temporarily took the island in 1666 but it was returned to the British under the Treaty of Breda the following year. The French made further unsuccessful attempts to capture the island during the War of Austrian Succession (1745) and the Napoleonic Wars (1796). [/pt_text][pt_text element_name=”History Text 4″ extra_class=””] In the 17th Century Europeans brought African slaves with them and by 1683 there were at least 100 slaves from Central and West Africa. [/pt_text][pt_text element_name=”History Text 5″ extra_class=””]Initially Anguilla was administered by the British through Antigua. In 1825 it was placed under the administration of nearby Saint Kitts. In 1967, the new unified dependency of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla led to the Anguillian Revolutions of 1967 and 1969 headed by Atlin Harrigan and Ronald Webster. The island briefly became an independent Republic. However the aim was for separation from Saint Kitts and Nevis not independence from Britain. It returned to British control in 1972 and in 1980 was separated from Saint Kitts and Nevis to become a British Crown colony (now a British overseas territory).[/pt_text][pt_text element_name=”History Text 6″ extra_class=””] Today Anguilla is a self-governing overseas territory of the UK with a Chief Minister as the head of government with executive power exercised by a government in a House of Assembly elected on a multi-party system. There is an independent judiciary. The UK is responsible for defence but there is no active garrison or armed forces based in the Colony other than a small marine police force who operate fast patrol boats. [/pt_text][/pt_column][/pt_row][/pt_section][pt_section element_name=”Section” width=”boxed” bg_color=”” bg_image=”” padding=”10px,0px,10px,0px” margin=”,,,” extra_class=””][pt_row element_name=”Row”][pt_column width=”1/1″][pt_text element_name=”Other Caribbean Destinations” extra_class=””]
More Information about Anguilla:
Overview | Accommodation | Places of Interest | How to Get There | Weather & Climate | Local Cuisine | Things To Do in Anguilla
Other Caribbean Destinations:
Anguilla (UK) | Antigua & Barbuda | Aruba (NL) | Bahamas | Bermuda (UK) | British Virgin Islands (UK) | Caribbean Netherlands (NL) | Cayman Islands (UK) | Cuba | Curacao (NL) | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Grenada | Guadeloupe (F) | Haiti | Jamaica | Martinique (F) | Montserrat (UK) | Puerto Rico (USA) | St Barthelemy (F) | St Kitts & Nevis | St Lucia | St Martin (F) | St Maarten (NL) | St Vincent & the Grenadines | Trinadad & Tobago | Turks & Caicos (UK) | US Virgin Islands (USA) [/pt_text][/pt_column][/pt_row][/pt_section]