History Of Anguilla
Anguilla was first settled in pre-history by Amerindian tribes who migrated from South America. The date of European discovery is uncertain: some sources claim that Columbus sighted the island in 1493, while others state that the island was first discovered by the French in 1564 or 1565. The name Anguilla derives from the word for "eel" in any of various European (Romance) languages (Latin Anguilla, modern Spanish: anguila; French: anguille; Italian: anguilla), probably chosen because of the island's eel-like shape.
Anguilla was first colonised by English settlers from Saint Kitts, beginning in 1650. The island was administered by Britain until the early 19th century, when – against the wishes of the inhabitants – it was incorporated into a single British dependency along with Saint Kitts and Nevis. After a brief period as a self-declared independent republic in 1969 it became a separate British dependency (now termed a British overseas territory) in 1980.
Read more about History Of Anguilla: Pre-colonial History, Colonial Period, Recent History
Famous quotes containing the words history of and/or history:
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“Look through the whole history of countries professing the Romish religion, and you will uniformly find the leaven of this besetting and accursed principle of action—that the end will sanction any means.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)