Liberta is a town located in Saint Paul Parish, on the island of

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...

. It had a population of 2,560 in 2001. It the third-largest town on Antigua. It is located in the southern island area, north of

Falmouth Harbour Falmouth Harbour is a horseshoe-shaped bay and natural harbour on the far southern coast of the island of Antigua in Antigua and Barbuda. It is located within Saint Paul Parish. Geography The small township and port of Falmouth lies clos ...

and the port of Falmouth, to which it is connected by road.

History

Around the time of the 19th century

British emancipation The emancipation of the British West Indies refers to the abolition of slavery in Britain's colonies in the West Indies during the 1830s. The British government passed the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, which emancipated all slaves in the Bri ...

of slaves in

British Antigua and Barbuda The history of Antigua and Barbuda covers the period from the arrival of the Archaic peoples thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Antigua and Barbuda were inhabited by three ...

, a colonial plantation owner had financial troubles and was forced to sell off a part of her property in small lots. The ex-slaves in the neighbourhood bought up all the small freeholds, as they desired to own land in perpetuity. “Liberta”, meaning liberty and honoring the freed people, became the settlement's name in 1835. By 1842, a painted signboard near its border read: “The Village of Liberta”. The new landowners immediately settled on the lots they had purchased, framed their houses, and cultivated their gardens. Besides working on nearby plantations, income was sometimes also earned working as mechanics at

Nelson's Dockyard Nelson's Dockyard is a cultural heritage site and marina in English Harbour, located in Saint Paul Parish on the island of Antigua, in Antigua and Barbuda. It is part of Nelson's Dockyard National Park, which also contains Clarence House and ...

at Falmouth Harbour. Later on, their descendants also worked in other trades, such as tailors and shop keepers.

Education

Liberta Junior Secondary serves grades 1–9 in the village. There is a small

steelpan The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descriptio ...

orchestra there.

Demographics

Liberta has six enumeration districts.

Census Data (2011)

Enumeration Districts

* ''70800 Liberta'' * ''70901 Liberta-West_1'' * ''70902 Liberta-West_2'' * ''71000 Liberta-North Central'' * ''71100 Liberta-South Central'' * ''71200 Liberta-SouthWest''

References