Essequibo (colony)

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Map showing the area in 1888

Essequibo (also: Essequebo) was a Dutch colony on the north coast of South America from 1616 to 1814 , in the region of the Essequibo and Demerara rivers . Essequibo was part of the colonies that are also known under the collective name of Dutch Guiana .

history

Dutch colonization

Although the Spaniard Alonso de Ojeda was the first European to explore the coast of today's Guyana and report on it, there was no real occupation or settlement beyond individual attempts to explore the hinterland. Because this region seemed to the Spaniards far less profitable than other parts of South America and Central America.

The Dutch were able to establish colonies in the area that had not yet been seized by the Spaniards (in the west) and the Portuguese (in the east), including - after a first settlement in 1581 on the Pomeroon - the second colony in 1616 Essequibo.

The first bases of the Zeeland merchants at the mouths of the Pomeroon and Essequibo were used for barter with the indigenous peoples. But soon plantations were created to grow coffee, tobacco, indigo plants , cocoa, cotton and, above all, sugar. In order to cultivate these, slaves were "imported" from Africa, who had to toil in the fields under poor conditions for the profit of their masters.

Changing owners

Dutch rule, exercised from 1621 by the West India Company (WIC) (trade monopoly), was interrupted by the British from 1665 to 1666 and 1781 to 1782 when the colonies of Berbice and Essequibo (including Demerara ) were conquered. English rule was replaced by the French from 1782 to 1784. After the French ceded the colony again in 1784, Essequibo remained in Dutch possession again until 1796, when it was again and almost definitely occupied by the British. Because of the Peace of Amiens it came back briefly into Dutch hands from 1802 to 1803, after which it was taken over again by the British. With the British-Dutch Treaty of 1814 , Essequibo officially fell to the United Kingdom on August 13, 1814 . On July 21, 1831, it was merged with Demerara and Berbice as British Guiana before the area became independent as Guyana in 1966 .

Fortifications

The most important defensive fortification was the Fort Kijkoveral (figurative: see everything) on ​​a river island of the Essequibo, at the confluence with the Cuyuni and the Mazaruni. Fort Island was both the colony's administrative center and the seat of the governor .

Demerara

From 1745 the number of plantations along the Demerara and its tributaries increased more and more. Above all, the influence of the British through colonists who settled here from Barbados was noticeable. With the appointment of a commander in 1750, this area got its own character. Around 1780 a small capital was founded at the mouth of the Demerara, which was named Stabroek in 1784, named after one of the directors of the WIC. In 1812 the city got its current name Georgetown .

In 1800 there were around 380 sugar cane plantations in operation in Essequibo and Demerara .

exploration

The German explorer Robert Hermann Schomburgk undertook a scientific expedition to British Guiana from 1835 to 1839 and between 1840 and 1844 he traveled the border rivers on behalf of the British government to determine the borders with neighboring Venezuela and Suriname .