The plantations of Sint Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean) were primarily set up in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by European settlers. Workers on the plantations were obtained from human trafficking, and the proceeds primarily went back to the mother country. In the second half of the eighteenth century, trade became more of a priority to Sint Eustatius rather than the plantation economy.
The colonization of Sint Eustatius began in 1635 by Jan Snouck and other Zeelanders. In 1682, the island was sold to the Dutch West India Company (WIC), which owned it until its abolition in 1792. The patronage was in the hands of a group of merchants from Zeeland, the Netherlands, including Abraham van Peere and Pieter van Rhee. The first tobacco of Sint Eustatius was introduced on the market in Vlissingen in 1638. [1] Around 1689, many plantation owners moved away due to repeated destruction and looting during takeovers by other colonial powers, often to nearby Saint Thomas. The plantations were neglected. The Peace of Utrecht introduced a truce and in 1715, eleven sugar plantations were operating again. The neglected plantations, owned by the West India Company, were sold around 1730. In the 1740s, trade on Sint Eustatius progressed and the 'Benedendorp' (Lower village) of Sint Eustatius was built up, including many warehouses. [2]
The number of plantations increased from 35 in the 1730s to 75 in the 1750s. In 1840, there were ten left. In 1752, wealthy planters moved to the Dutch colony of Demerara, which then began to flourish. The first plantations introduced were tobacco plantations, which in later decades gave pathway to coffee, cotton, and sugarcane plantations. Cotton farming continued until about 1740. The Great Hurricane of 1780 destroyed the coffee plantations on Sint Eustatius and coffee cultivation has since disappeared. After the Capture of Sint Eustatius by Admiral George Rodney in 1781 and the subsequent French occupation, Sint Eustatius returned to Dutch hands in 1784. Many inhabitants who had fled to Saint Thomas returned and agriculture was again practiced on a large scale. This was primarily the sugarcane culture. [3] At the beginning of the twentieth century, then Lieutenant Governor Gerrit Johan van Grol (1867-1950) made several attempts to make cotton cultivation and honey cultivation abundant on the island.
Sint Eustatius did not develop into a full plantation economy as in Suriname, for example, due to the low annual rainfall. Long periods of drought resulted in crop failures. Deforestation and erosion led to poor soil quality. [4]
Much archival material, from Sint Eustatius from the seventeenth and eighteenth century, has been lost due to hurricanes and violent takeovers by the French and English. From historical maps of Sint Eustatius, information can be derived about the names of the plantations, the division of ownership, and the size of possessions. [5] These maps are still used by historians and archaeologists.
Archaeological excavations also contribute to knowledge about the plantations. Because relatively few large-scale economic development projects have taken place on St. Eustatius, the island is rich in archaeological sites. Excavations have taken place on former plantations Golden Rock, Godet, Guyeau, Fair Play, Schottenhoek, Steward and Pleasures and are mostly performed by the St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR). [6]
The first settlers used kidnapped indigenous peoples as slave laborers, also called "red" slaves, primarily from Dominica. The first enslaved Africans of the transatlantic slave trade were brought to Sint Eustatius in the 1640s, and then worked on the increasingly successful tobacco plantations. By 1650 they had completely replaced the indigenous slave laborers.
Many of the elite of Sint Eustatius were both planters and traders. The families Heyliger, Doncker, De Windt, Lindesay, Markoe and Cuviljé formed a close-knit oligarchy. [7] Abraham Heyliger and William Moore were among the richest settlers with an abundance of land and the most numbers of enslaved workers owned. [8]
The list below provides an overview of the plantations that existed on Sint Eustatius. The list is not (yet) complete.
Over the years, unmarked burial grounds have been discovered in various former plantations on Sint Eustatius, where human remains have also been excavated. This concerned cemeteries from the time of Saladoid habitation as well as African burial ground belonging to a former plantation such as the Godet African Burial Ground and the Golden Rock African Burial Ground.
The current landscape of Sint Eustatius is still primarily determined by the location of the old plantations. Ruins of the plantation houses can be found everywhere. Many roads follow the boundaries of the old plantations and districts or regions on the island often have the same names.
The Netherlands Antilles, also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting at of Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, and Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire in the Leeward Antilles. The country came into being in 1954 as the autonomous successor of the Dutch colony of Curaçao and Dependencies, and it was dissolved in 2010, when like Aruba in 1986, Sint Maarten and Curaçao gained status of constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Bonaire gained status of special municipality of Netherlands as the Caribbean Netherlands. The neighboring Dutch colony of Surinam in continental South America, did not become part of the Netherlands Antilles but became a separate autonomous country in 1954. All the territories that belonged to the Netherlands Antilles remain part of the kingdom today, although the legal status of each differs. As a group they are still commonly called the Dutch Caribbean, regardless of their legal status. People from this former territory continue to be called Antilleans in the Netherlands.
Sint Eustatius, known locally as Statia, is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality of the Netherlands.
The SSS islands, locally also known as the Windward Islands, is a collective term for the three territories of the Dutch Caribbean that are located within the Leeward Islands group of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. In order of population size, they are: Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. In some contexts, the term is also used to refer to the entire island of Saint Martin, alongside Sint Eustatius and Saba.
Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean region of North America. With a population of 58,477 as of June 2023 on an area of 34 km2 (13 sq mi), it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the northern 56% of the island constitutes the French overseas collectivity of Saint Martin. Sint Maarten's capital is Philipsburg. Collectively, Sint Maarten and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.
The Scout and Guide movement in the Dutch Caribbean is served by
The Netherlands Antilles was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was dissolved on 10 October 2010.
The Catholic Church in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands, commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The realm is not a federation; it is a unitary monarchy with its largest subdivision, the eponymous Netherlands, predominantly located in Northwestern Europe and with several smaller island territories located in the Caribbean.
Johannes de Graaff (1729–1813), also referred to as Johannis de Graeff in some documents, was a Dutch Governor of Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles representing the Dutch West India Company during the difficult time of the American Revolutionary War.
The Caribbean Netherlands is a geographic region of the Netherlands located outside of Europe, in the Caribbean, consisting of three special municipalities. These are the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, as they are also known in legislation, or the BES islands for short. The islands are officially classified as public bodies in the Netherlands and as overseas territories of the European Union; as such, European Union law does not automatically apply to them.
The Dutch Caribbean are the New World territories, colonies, and countries of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea, mainly the northern and southwestern regions of the Lesser Antilles archipelago.
An island council was the governing body of an island territory, an administrative level of the Netherlands Antilles until its dissolution.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba since 10 October 2012, the effective date of legislation passed by the States General of the Netherlands enabling same-sex couples to marry. The Caribbean Netherlands was the first jurisdiction in the Caribbean to legalise same-sex marriage, and was followed a few months later by French Caribbean territories, including Guadeloupe and Martinique, in May 2013.
Island council elections were held in the Netherlands Antilles on 29 April and 6 May 1983 to elect the members of the island councils of its six island territories. The election was won by the People's Electoral Movement in Aruba, the Bonaire Democratic Party in Bonaire, the New Antilles Movement in Curaçao, the Windward Islands People's Movement in Saba, the Democratic Party Statia in Sint Eustatius, and the Democratic Party in Sint Maarten.
The Waterfort, also called Fort Amsterdam, is a fortress on the southwest coast of Sint Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean, of which only ruins remain. It is one of the sixteen known fortresses on Sint Eustatius and is threatened by sea currents and surf.
There are 14 known cemeteries on St. Eustatius a special municipality of the Netherlands, some of which are still in use.
The Godet African Burial Ground is an unmarked historical burial ground for enslaved African men, women and children located at the southwest coast of Sint Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean. The burial ground was part of the former Godet plantation on the island.
The Golden Rock African Burial Ground is an unmarked historical burial ground of enslaved African men, women and children located on the premises of the airport on Sint Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean in the ‘Cultuurvlakte’. The burial ground was part of the former Golden Rock plantation on the island.
Fort Oranje is a historic fortress located in Sint Eustatius in the Dutch Caribbean. It is located in Oranjestad, the island's capital, on a cliff overlooking Oranje Bay. It was named after the House of Oranje, the royal family of the Netherlands.
Golden Rock is the name of an archaeological site in the centre of the island of Sint Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean, named after a nearby former plantation. Golden Rock was the nickname of Sint Eustatius from its prominence as a major colonial trading port in the late 17th and early 18th century. The site contains the remains of a late Saladoid village, an African burial ground, and a village of enslaved Africans.