Pieces of Eight

Barbados

Barbados means “The Bearded Ones,” and was named by a Portuguese explorer in 1536. The name refers to the island’s fig trees, whose hanging roots resembled beards (at least to the explorers). Over the next decade, Spanish conquistadors frequently raided the island, taking the Indians to work as slaves.

In 1620, the British landed on what was, by then, a deserted island. Settlers began arriving within the decade and Barbados was soon part of the British Crown.

The plantations of Barbados were, until recently, worked by slaves. Although many were African, a large number were actually white men, seized during England’s consolidation of Scotland and Ireland. As the number of slaves grew, the smaller plantations were swallowed by richer landowners. Many of the farmers uprooted and moved to the Carolinas to farm cotton.