1789-1814







Guadeloupe, 1635-1789



Discovered in 1493, a Spanish settlement was established in 1626, to be destroyed by the French. It was settled by the French under L'OLIVE and DUPLESSIS in 1635. The COMPANIE DES ISLES D'AMERIQUE soon sold the island to CHARLES HOUEL (governor 1643-1664). The war with the Caribs was fierce and resulted in their expulsion from Guadeloupe (1660). The first African slaves were brought in in 1650, the first slave revolt occurred in 1656. In 1664, Guadeloupe became property of the COMPANIE DES INDES ORIENTALES. In 1674, the French crown reacquired Guadeloupe and Martinique, turning the islands into a crown colony. Guadeloupe, hitherto administrated from Martinique, was made a separate colony in 1769.
Guadeloupe, for it's sugar and cocoa plantations, soon became one of France's most important colonies. In the early 18th century, coffee was introduced as another profitable plantation crop. Occupied by the English in 1758, it was handed back to France in 1763.

ST. BARTHELEMY, discovered 1496, was settled by the French in 1648/60. In 1673 bought by the French crown, it was occupied by the British in 1744-1748 and ceded to Sweden in 1784. Another outlying possession, ST. MARTIN, was very much contested. In 1648 joint French-Dutch rule was introduced, but often did not work, as both the Dutch and the French frequently warred. The British occupied the island in 1744-1748 and in 1781. When under French rule, these islands have been administrated from Guadeloupe.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Articles from Island Connoisseur : History of Guadeloupe, Basse Terre, Les Saintes, St. Barthelemy
Timetable of the French West Indies in the 17th Century by Sylvie Roussel Gaucherand, in French
Compagnie des Indes Orientales, from Musee de la Compagnie des Indes
History of Guadeloupe, from Antilles Info Tourisme
Histoire de Guadeloupe Pt.5 : Le XVIIme Siecle, Pt.6 : Le XVIIIme Siecle from twinetwork
History of St. Martin, from Welcome to St. Martin and from West Indies Online
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE Jan Rogozinski, A Brief History of the Caribbean (1992) London : Penguin 1994



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on November 6th 2004

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