The Caribbean island of Barbados was discovered by the Portuguese and taken over by Spain in 1492. The Spaniards enslaved and wiped out the native Carib indians but then abandoned Barbados in favour of the larger Caribbean islands. The island was claimed for King James I of England in May 1625 by Captain John Powell. On 17 February 1627, a party of 80 English settlers and 10 slaves founded a colony at Holetown (formerly known as Jamestown). The colonists established a House of Assembly in 1639. Land was allocated to speculators and within a few years, much of the island had been deforested to make way for tobacco and cotton plantations. During the 1630s, sugar cane was introduced. Sugar became the island's principal industry and Barbados dominated sugar production in the Caribbean until the 18th Century.
At first, labour on the plantations relied upon the indenture of servants, where civilians who wanted to emigrate could do so by signing an agreement to serve a planter in Barbados for a period of five or seven years. To meet further labour demands, convicted criminals and some prisoners from the Civil Wars were shipped to Barbados as slaves. The white slaves and indentured labourers were known as "Redlegs". Their descendants still live on the island. During the 1640s and '50s, planters came to rely increasingly on slave labour from West Africa.
During the Civil Wars, the colony remained neutral and quietly continued trading with the Netherlands and New England. With the collapse of the King's cause, however, many Royalists fled to Barbados. In 1650, Charles II confirmed the appointment of Lord Willoughby of Parham as governor of Barbados. When Willoughby's appointment was eventually accepted by the Barbadian House of Assembly, Parliament passed an act to stop all trade between Barbados and England; furthermore, the Navigation Act of 1651 attempted to prevent the Dutch from trading with the island.
A Commonwealth expeditionary force was sent to regain control of the island. Commanded by General-at-Sea Sir George Ayscue, the squadron of seven warships carrying about 1,000 soldiers arrived off Carlisle Bay on 16 October 1651. Lord Willoughby insisted that the House of Assembly declare openly for the King. He also took steps to improve fortifications on the island and to strengthen the militia, which could muster up to 7,000 infantry and cavalry. Ayscue proceeded to blockade the island, seizing 27 Dutch vessels that were trading with the colony in contravention of the Commonwealth embargo. He succeeded in contacting the influential planter Thomas Modyford and persuading him to defect to the Commonwealth side with a large number of troops. With the opposing forces more evenly balanced, Ayscue landed his troops near Oistin's Town on the south coast of the island and prepared for battle against Willoughby. After some initial skirmishing, heavy rains put a stop to military operations. Lord Willoughby realised that he had no hope of winning against the Commonwealth in the long run. He surrendered to Ayscue on 11 January 1652.
When Cromwell launched the Western Design against Spanish possessions in the West Indies in 1654, Barbados was regarded as an important staging post for the expedition. It was expected that fresh supplies could be taken on and additional troops levied for the attack on Hispaniola. In the event, Barbadian employers were reluctant to allow their men to join the expedition. Although some 4,000 additional troops were levied, the planter Colonel Harris who was appointed their commander, refused to leave Barbados and the governor Daniel Searle, whom the Council of State had nominated as a leader of the expedition, also refused to go.
After the Restoration, Lord WIlloughby was reappointed to the governorship of Barbados.