Antigua year 1884 stamps Victoria set Used stamps

Antigua year 1884 stamps One & two Penny – Victoria set ☀ Used

British Antigua refers to the period when Antigua was a colony of the British Empire. Antigua is one of the islands that make up the sovereign nation of Antigua and Barbuda, located in the eastern Caribbean Sea.

The British first established settlements on Antigua in the early 17th century, initially using the island for its valuable sugar plantations. The cultivation of sugar cane became the dominant industry, and Antigua became a major hub of the transatlantic slave trade, with thousands of Africans forcibly brought to the island to work on the plantations.

Like many other Caribbean colonies, Antigua remained under British rule for centuries, with its economy centered around sugar production and other agricultural exports. The island’s society was structured around a rigid racial hierarchy, with European colonizers at the top and enslaved Africans at the bottom.

In 1834, the British Parliament passed the Slavery Abolition Act, which abolished slavery throughout most of the British Empire, including Antigua. However, the transition from slavery to freedom was difficult, and Antigua experienced economic challenges in the years following emancipation.

Antigua remained a British colony until it gained independence on November 1, 1981, along with its sister island of Barbuda. Today, Antigua and Barbuda is a sovereign nation within the Commonwealth of Nations, with St. John’s as its capital and English as its official language.