“B” is for Barbados. South Carolina’s origins are so closely tied to the British West Indian colony of Barbados that it has been called a “Colony of a Colony.” Initially settled by the English in 1627, Barbados had become an exceedingly wealthy sugar-dominated economy by the time of South Carolina’s settlement in 1670. Barbados has a total of only 166 square miles of land and by 1670 most of it was tied up in a small number of sugar plantations. South Carolina offered opportunities for younger sons and smaller farmers and the prospect of provisions to feed the Barbadians. South Carolina’s slave code, modeled on that of Barbados, was the harshest on the continent. Although the emigration of freemen, indentured servants, and enslaved persons from Barbados was large only in South Carolina’s early years, the ties between the colonies remained strong.
“B” is for Barbados
