The history of Anguilla runs from the beginning of human habitation, probably via settlement from South America. Following a series of rebellions against white occupiers and a short-lived period as an independent republic during the 1960s, Anguilla has been a separate British overseas territory since 1980.
Pre-Columbian Anguilla
The earliest inhabitants of Anguilla were Indigenous people from South America, commonly (if imprecisely) referred to as Arawaks. These people travelled to the island on rafts and in dugout canoes, settling in fishing, hunting and farming groups. Forty Indigenous villages have been excavated, the largest being those at Island Harbour, Sandy Ground, Sandy Hill, Rendezvous Bay, and Shoal Bay East. The Amerindian name for the island was Malliouhana. The earliest Amerindian artefacts found on Anguilla have been dated to around 1300 BC, and remains of settlements dating from AD 600 have been uncovered. Religious artefacts and remnants of ceremonies found at locations, such as Big Springs and Fountain Cavern, suggest that the pre-European inhabitants were extremely religious in nature. The first Indigenous population are popularly said to have been later displaced by fiercer Island Caribs, but this version of events and characterisation is disputed by some.
Colonial Anguilla
The European discovery and renaming of the island is uncertain. Some claim it had been sighted by Columbus; others credit it to the French explorer René Goulaine de Laudonnière during his voyages in 1564 and 1565. The Dutch West India Company established a fort on the island in 1631. The Dutch withdrew after the destruction of the fort by Spanish forces in 1633.
Anguilla was conquered and colonised by English settlers from St. Christopher beginning in 1650. A local council was formed, overseen by Antigua. Six years later, Natives from another island attacked, killing most of the men and enslaving the women and children.
thumb|Attack on [[HMS Blanche by a squadron of French ships in the Sombrero Passage, 19 July 1805. Napoleonic Wars (1803–15). ]]
On 27 November 1796, the French warships Décius and Vaillante landed 400 Frenchmen at Rendezvous Bay under Victor Hugues. These were able to destroy the villages at South Hill and The Valley, but the local British regrouped on the Long Path before Sandy Hill Fort. The frigate HMS Lapwing, sailing from St. Christopher under Captain Barton, was able to defeat the French ships and the assault again ended in failure. The lack of successful large-scale plantations and a formal colonization meant limited oversight, colonial communication and proper administration, giving Anguilla an unlawful reputation. This also paved the way for many cases of slave abuse on the island. Anguilla's population is estimated to have fallen from a peak of around 10,000 to just 2000. In 1819, there were 360 Europeans, 320 free Africans, and 2451 slaves. Several mixed-race mulatto slaves that were children of their masters were often willed freedom and in some cases willed land. In March of 1831, the free black and coloured class petitioned for equal treatment; however, this was dismissed by the white ruling class, with the foreman of the jury claiming that it would lead to a white exodus. There were droughts and famines in the 1830s and 1840s. These periods of drought and famine exacerbated the already existing destitution, leading to widespread poverty, crop failure, economic hardship, and suffering on the island, which in turn led to lawlessness and administrative failure. As a result, theft, assault, and smuggling became abundant as a means of survival, especially amongst the slaves, later turned apprenticed labourers. Amidst the turmoil, slaveowners couldn't afford to feed or clothe their slaves, leading many of the enslaved to become insubordinate and abscond from their estates and or refuse to work. The British abolished slavery in their colonies during the 1830s. During the early years of abolition and the period leading up to the decree, several slave owners and planters illicitly removed black Anguillians off-island to be sold in neighboring islands that still practiced slavery in order to recoup financial losses. Emancipation increased the number of runaway slaves to Anguilla from the neighbouring French and Dutch islands, who were yet to be freed. While the plantation owners returned to Europe, or migrated to other parts of the Americas, the freedmen continued to eke out livings on Anguilla as subsistence farmers and fishermen.
The British government attempted to send the entire population of the island to Demerara in British Guiana (modern Guyana) but most remained. Adams agreed to support this pact in principle, but the Council rejected it, replacing Adams as chairman with Ronald Webster. In December, two members of Britain's Parliament worked out an interim agreement by which for one year a British official would exercise basic administrative authority along with the Anguilla Council. Tony Lee took the position in January 1968,
See also
- Republic of Anguilla
- History of the Caribbean
- History of the Americas