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White Barbadians

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kelisi (talk | contribs) at 07:40, 10 December 2023 (>>>"Post-colonization Europeans" made no sense. Botany Bay was founded in 1788 and acc.to this art., this was an even earlier time in Barbados. Perhaps my wording is what you meant?). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

White Barbadians
Total population
≈ 20,000
Languages
English, Bajan Creole, Portuguese
Religion
Christianity
(Catholicism, Protestantism), Judaism
Related ethnic groups
English, German people, Irish, Italians, Portuguese, Scottish, Jews

White Barbadians or European Barbadians are Barbadian citizens or residents of European descent. The majority of European Barbadians are descended from English, Portuguese, and Scottish settlers and Irish indentured servants and settlers,[1] who arrived during the British colonial period. Other European groups consisted of the French, Germans, Austrians, Spaniards, Italians, and Russians. In addition, some of those considered to be European Barbadians are of partial European ancestry and vice versa. The CIA World Factbook estimates that there are some 20,000 white Barbadians in the country.[2]

At first, Indigenous constituted the majority of the Barbadian population. With colonization, Europeans came to constitute the majority, with the island being used as a penal colony much as Australia would be later, until the transition of the Barbadian economy to one based on sugarcane production; importation of African slaves to the island altered its demographics, making European Barbadians a minority. During much of the colonial period, whites formed the island's political and economic elite. Since independence from Britain in 1966 when most European Barbadians left for the United Kingdom, most political power has shifted to the black majority.[3]

Among European Barbadians, there exists an underclass of predominantly Irish descent known as redlegs;[4] the descendants of indentured servants, and prisoners imported to the island, redlegs have historically formed a disadvantaged group within Barbadian society.[5][6]

History

Spaniards were the first Europeans to discover and land in Barbados.[7] The Spanish regularly seized large numbers of Amerindians from Barbados to be used as slave labour on other regional plantations. This prompted the Kalinago to flee Barbados for other Caribbean destinations such as Dominica and St. Vincent. Europeans caused the disappearance of the indigenous people in Barbados. The first white European settlement on Barbados consisted of British colonists.[8]

Notable European Barbadians

See also

References

  1. ^ "Article" (PDF). colorado.edu.
  2. ^ "The World Factbook". CIA. 13 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Government of Barbados History". Government of Barbados. Archived from the original on 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  4. ^ Haines, Lindsay (25 February 1973). "Poor, Backward and Adamantly White in a Black World". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "The Times – UK News, World News and Opinion". The Times.
  6. ^ "The Abbreviated History Of Barbados". Government of Barbados.
  7. ^ "History".
  8. ^ "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Barbados".


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