Final answer:
Antigua and Barbuda achieved independence from the United Kingdom on November 1, 1981, becoming a sovereign state within the Commonwealth.
Step-by-step explanation:
Antigua and Barbuda gained independence from the United Kingdom on November 1, 1981. This was part of a larger wave of decolonization where many countries in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean sought self-governance and autonomy from European colonial powers.
Like many other nations, Antigua and Barbuda went through a process of negotiating their independence, which culminated in becoming a sovereign state within the Commonwealth, with the British monarch as the titular head of state.