History
Before the arrival of Europeans, Suriname was home to many indigenous tribes such as Arawaks, Caribs, Kalina people and Warao people. [5] Christopher Columbus inaugurated the presence in the region of Europeans, who enslaved the indigenous people. [6] Subsequently, the Spanish, British, Dutch, and French attempted to establish their presence but were unsuccessful until the 1650s. Plantation owners from Barbados arrived with enslaved individuals to cultivate Suriname. The settlement flourished to such an extent that it attracted further European interest, leading to conflicts between the Dutch and the British over territorial claims. Following the conclusion of the second Anglo-Dutch War, the British ceded Suriname to the Dutch in 1677. [7] Diseases such as influenza and tuberculosis, brought by the Europeans, wiped out much of the indigenous population. [8] The white people in Suriname were explorers and exploiters who brought in three hundred thousand African slaves and harshly used them under the justification of God and profit. They included Moravian missionaries who spread a blend of Christianity and limited self-governance. White men in Suriname sexually assaulted and raped Black women and fathered many mixed-race children—who became ministers, priests, officials, teachers, and officers. While some white people in Suriname treated Black people kindly, others brutally executed runaway black slaves by hanging them on meat hooks. [9]
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