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As a child I always found History courses interesting as the saying so rightly states “You don’t know where you are going until you know where you came from”.  Upon commencement of this class we were informed that this was not a history class and to dispel any previously taught knowledge about the Caribbean from our minds. The class was facilitated via online with tutorial sessions online and in person.  I chose the in person tutorial.  Professor Alexis was great she made the sessions very interactive and informative which heighten my learning experience. Outside of this I encountered the following challenges:-

v  Clash in my timetable with another subject which left me having to make a choice as to which class I would attend on that day.  I expressed my concerns as it was stated that the class would not be posted online for later review.  I was told only if other students have a similar complaint it would be posted. This was not re-assuring and certainly did not help to calm my nerves.  Shortly after the encounter a notice was posted indicating that the lectures would be posted.  This news gave me great relief.

v  Lack of organization in uploading the postings to e-learning   were not done in a timely manner which meant having to review two postings back to back, this interfered with my other subject areas while increasing the pressure as I played catch up.

v  Assignment one was based on Trinidad which posed a disadvantage for the other students from the region like myself.  Nevertheless I took it upon myself to visit the Amerindian Park in Arima to gather photographs of artefacts to conduct my research.  Seeking directions to the site one storekeeper with teary eyes begged my friend and I not to get lost in that area.  Upon arrival to the Park I was most disappointed as there was no tour guide to expound on my findings.  There were however pamphlets which were available but provided limited information and extremely vague in content.  Unsure as to how to tackle this assignment I approached my tutorial tutor who sympathized with me and allowed the other non-Trinidianian students to complete the assignment based on local artefacts from their home countries.  This gesture of kindness/compromise was very much appreciated, however if such information was communicated from the beginning it would have simplified the task as persons would have been better able to tackle the assignment somewhat stress free.

v  Assignment two the multiple choice examination only allowed one question per page and candidates were not allowed to return to the previous page to review answers given and if not answered were not able to return to tackle that question (s) once time permitted them to do so.  This I felt was a gross injustice to students which in my opinion compromised my grade significantly because I completed the test in ample time to review the answers I was not too sure about.

v  Whereas the topic is “Caribbean Civilization” little regard was given to the other islands “smaller islands” in the region. The brief mention of the smaller islands leaves one to believe that there were no great moments in history.  Consideration should be given to a holistic review of Caribbean Civilization to incorporate the triumphs and falls of these islands.

Thanks to my tutorial lecturer for her time and assistance, would not have made it this far without your guidance.

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As we reflect over the past fifty years the question that is most pressing on the minds of most of the Anguillian public is "Were we better off then than now" .  Many varying view points are being expressed.  Anguilla has grown as a people and a country attributing most of our success to our strong religious background.  Highlighting a leader "James Ronald Webster" as a kind and exceptional man who placed country above self.  This he demonstrated during his time in Government, when he paid Civil Servants salary from his own personal funds as the island was not in a position to generate the required income to self-sustain itself.  Mr Webster was also the driving force behind the introduction of the Social Security scheme to the island in 1982.  This scheme which was mandatory required all eligible individuals between work age 16 to 65 to participate.  To date many individuals are recipients of the Survirors benefit, maternity grant, sick leave supplemental just to name a few.

During this era the island saw the development of the Malliouhana Hotel which gave rise to big spenders gracing our shores.  As other small scale development came on stream the island not having any natural resources to promote saw Tourism as a lucrative market to promote the islands pristine blue waters and adopted the logo "Anguilla Tranquility Wrapped in Blue" .

Anguillians were proud they had formed not one but two indigenous Banks whose main driver was to develop the Anguillian community.  This they did, most home-owners on the island attributes their success to either the National Bank of Anguilla Limited or the Caribbean Commercial Bank who took a chance on them.   Anguillians and citizens from other countries patronized the local banks.  Gone were the days when they had to send their monies to St Kitts to be saved, the St Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank Ltd SKNA is still in existence today.  Sadly due to the intervention of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank on August 12th 2013, the NBA nor the CCB are no longer in existence and many elderly shareholders who depended on that stream of revenue has lost it.

Foreign investment has been severely impacted and economic activity is virtually non-existent. This has led to an increase in taxation however with declining salaries, increased taxation and individuals migrating to mother Britian, it would seem as if Sir Robert Bradshaw wish to make “the island a dessert and the people eat rocks and bones” maybe on the horizon.

Anguilla at 50 Logo design , Anguilla . Personal photograph by author. april 16th 2017.

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This is "Caribbean Civ" by Audio Visual by Rickiell & Co. on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

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After hearing the news that Bank of America International was seeking to pull out of Anguilla, eight visionary Anguillians took up the mantel to form a Bank and purchase the assets of Bank of America.  These eight individuals spearheaded by Conrad W Fleming decided to raise the capital by issuing shares.  The share offering was closed after two days, having raised the required capital.
On March 8th 1985 The National Bank of Anguilla Limited commenced operations as a locally owned and operated Bank, with a start-up capital of EC$15 million (US$5.6) in assets, EC$3.0 million (US$1.1) in loans, EC$13 million (US$4.8) in deposits and EC$ 1.0 million (US$370.4 thousand) in capital and reserves. This was quite commendable based on the history of Anguilla.  Also upon the opening of the bank there were about 600 shareholders who believed in the initial dream however there were many other persons who wanted to become shareholders but failed to meet the deadline date.  In January of 2001 for 10 weeks NBA placed 450000 shares on sale to the public and it is said that on the day in which the offer closed the subscriptions was oversubscribed by 2 percent. By the end of March 2002 NBA had EC$359.1 million (US$133.0) in assets, EC$228.2 million (US$84.5) in loans, EC$309.1 million (US$114.5) in deposits and EC$45.5 million (US$16.9) in capital and reserves. Which showed tremendous growth coming from an almost gone nation.  The history of this Nation shows great Strength and Resilience.

National Bank of Anguilla Limited. 2004/5/24 . Anguilla . News.ai . Web. 17 Apr. 2017 . <http://news.ai/ref/atm.html>.

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In 1967 James Ronald Webster of Neo-indian descendant led the Anguillian people in the Revolution to gain their freedom from the Statehood of St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla. Mr. Webster wanted to replace St. Kitts and Nevis with direct British rule solely for social and economic purposes. Around this time Anguilla was still very much underdeveloped by that I mean there was still no running water, telephones, street lights, paved roads and proper housing projects and structures. St. Kitts on the other hand had full amenities and the leader of the day Sir Robert Bradshaw was not a bit concerned about the plight of the Anguillian people.  A humble, ambitious and peaceful people had taken enough, they followed the correct channels but was always outnumbered so their cause was blantantly ignored.  In an attempt to pacify them he sent the "leftovers" of any aid destined to the federation while ensuring that his people the Kittians and Nevisian were very comfortable.

Disapproving of the Anguillians steps to be heard Mr Bradshaw with his authoritative tone uttered the most vile words any human could have said "I WILL TURN THAT ISLAND INTO A DESSERT AND THE PEOPLE WOULD EAT ROCKS AND BONES"

Mr James Ronald Webster and the resilient Anguillian people fought against the Kittian authorities who invaded for their freedom.  It must be clearly stated that during this revolution not one person lost their lives as it was not the intention of the Anguillians to kill.  In 1971 after being invaded by the British and realizing that Anguillians were peaceful law abiding citizens, the British acceded and granted Anguilla freedom from its oppressors..

In 1976 Mr. James Ronald Webster won 6 out of 7 seats in the election making him the island’s first Chief Minister and the Father of the Nation.  In December of 1980 Anguilla  officially became a separate British Dependent Territory.

Walblake Demonstration in 1967 and  Mr.
Webster on his return to Anguilla from the US in 1969 after talks with the UN

P, C. Walblake demonstration 1967 . N.d. Heritage Museum Anguilla , Anguilla . Aahsanguilla.com. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. <http://www.aahsanguilla.com/revolution.html>.
Webster on his return to Anguilla from the US in 1969 after talks with the UN . N.d. Anguilla . Thetimes.co.uk . Web. 17 Apr. 2017. <https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ronald-webster-d36m7pj6r>.

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In the union between St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla the Anguillian people began to resent them because whatever benefits were available only aided St. Kitts and Nevis further under developing Anguilla.  In the early 1900s there was a severe outbreak of Malaria causing many deaths.  Suffering an economic depression until the Mid-1930s.  This depression brought about the constitutional reform in 1936 only allowing persons who met the criteria the ability to vote and the Anguillians were awarded a representative to sit on the legislative council in St. Kitts. In 1952 the first election took place and in 1956 the Leeward Island Federation was dissolute.  Although there was signs of change politically the Anguillian people remained powerless against St. Kitts and Nevis and their social and economic conditions continued to worsened.  So in 1956 they petitioned to dissolve the Association with St Kitts and Nevis however it was ignored.  After the crash of the West Indies Federation in 1962 and the Little Eight, the British granted the Statehood Association of St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla the rights to self- governance.

S ir Robert Bradshaw . feburary 23 2016 . TimesCaribbeanonline. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. <http://timescaribbeanonline.com/the-colonel-the-rt-excellent-sir-robert-llewellyn-bradshaw/ >.

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In 1793 the French once again declared war on the British and Anguilla was invaded by the French militia in 1796, outnumbered help was called from the nearby island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts). Upon arrival to the Anguillian waters the French spotted the Kittian navels and speedily retreated, however on the open waters two French ships were destroyed causing one death and six wounded. After the dust settled the British Government decided to group Anguilla with St Kitts and Nevis.  This arrangement however only benefitted St. Kitts and Nevis because the socio-economic conditions in Anguilla remained harsh.  The drought of 1832 destroyed all the food crops and the famine resulted in one month with at least 4 funerals per day. One day there was 12 funerals.  The surviving population gained their freedom in 1834.  The planter class sold their land to the freed Africans who could afford to buy it and returned to England. The newly freed Africans tried to develop the island the best they could but the country went through another drought and depression in the 1840s.  This gave the British the idea to move the entire population British Guiana but they resisted and rejected the offer.

St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla Flag . N.d. Www.crwflags.com. Web. 17 Apr. 2017. <http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/kn-ai.html>.

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In 1650 the English explorers colonized Anguilla, they realized that the island had no mineral wealth but found the land to be fertile for the growing of Tobacco and Corn which they traded back to England for other needed necessities such as livestock. Due to the shortage of water over the years, they resorted to growing cotton which was also a profitable trade.

In 1656 the English were attacked by Neo-Indians claiming the lives of nearly all the men.  The women and children they spared and used as slaves.  This continued for a decade when the French invaded the island in 1666 with 300 men.  The English citing defeat on the horizon burnt down their homes and fled to the brushes.  This victory was but short lived as the English regained control in 1667 via the treaty of Breda.  The production and distribution of Cotton and Tobacco dwindled and the explorers no longer saw the island as a cash cow, so they left in 1683 leaving the enslaved to die.  The courage and resilience of the people was shown as they continued growing Tobacco and Cotton and in later years (1700’s) the produced sugar.

N.d. Anguilla . Www.twinpalmsvillas.com. Web. 16 Apr. 2017. <http://www.twinpalmsvillas.com/anguilla-history/

Walblake House . N.d. Anguilla . Walblake.ai. Web. 16 Apr. 2017. <http://wallblake.ai/images/stable01.jpg>.

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The Evolution of a Forgotten Civilization 

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The Evolution of a Forgotten Civilization 

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The story of this beautiful land will be discussed in this portfolio in an effort to educate the reader about this "little island".

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This course was taught via online lectures, online tutorials and face to face tutorial sessions.  Its aim was to properly educate students on a series of historical events which took place throughout the Caribbean.

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The first known inhabitants of Anguilla were the Neo- Indians, who originated from the Orinoco region of South America and migrated around 2000 BC. Malliouhana was the name given to Anguilla by the Neo-indians which means eel shaped. Situated 18.6 degrees North and 63 degrees West, averaging three miles wide at its widest point and sixteen miles long Anguilla is the most northerly of the archipelago islands of the Caribbean.   The Neo-indians through their rich belief prayed to their gods of the sun, the moon and the stars.  They were skilful in their creation of utensils such as water jugs, bowls, spoons, knives etc., and survived by fishing and cultivating crops such as Maize, Cassava, Sweet Potatoes,Tobacco and Fruits. This they depended on the movement of the universe to plant and harvest.

There were several Neo-Indian settlements throughout the island with the largest settlements found in Island Harbour, Shoal Bay, East End and Sandy Hill just to name a few.
Mapping out Anguilla . N.d. Anguilla . Www.cheapcaribbean.com. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. <http://www.cheapcaribbean.com/deals/anguilla-information.html>.
Amerindian. N.d. Heritage Museum Anguilla , Anguilla 15 Apr. 2017.