History of Curaçao
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The island of Curaçao was first settled by the Arawaks, an Amerindian people native to the area. They are believed to have inhabited the island for many hundreds of years before the arrival of Europeans.
Contents
European colonization
The Sephardic Jews who arrived from the Netherlands and then-Dutch Brazil since the 17th century have had a significant influence on the culture and economy of the island. Curaçao is home to the oldest active Jewish congregation in the Americas, dating to 1651. The Jewish Community of Curaçao also played a key role in supporting early Jewish congregations in New Amsterdam (actual New York), Cayena and Coro[disambiguation needed] in the 18th and 19th centuries. The years before and after World War II also saw an influx of Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe, many of whom were Romanian Jews.[citation needed]
For much of the 17th and 18th centuries, the primary business of the island was the slave trade. Slaves arrived often from Africa and were bought and sold on the docks in Willemstad before continuing on to their ultimate destination. Between 1662 and 1669, Domingo Grillo and Ambrosio Lomelín shipped 24,000 slaves, assisted by the Dutch West India Company and the Royal African Company from Jamaica.[1][2][3]
The slaves that remained on the island were responsible for working the plantations established earlier. This influx of inexpensive manpower made the labor-intensive agricultural sector far more profitable and between the Netherlands and China the trading done on the docks and the work being done in the fields, the economic profile of Curaçao began to climb, this time built on the backs of the slaves.[citation needed]
In 1795, there was a slave revolt, which was eventually put down by the Dutch.[citation needed]
The defeat of the Dutch in the Napoleonic Wars caused Curaçao to be conquered by the British Empire from 1800 to 1803, and again from 1807 to 1816,[4] after which it was handed back to the Dutch due to the Treaty of Paris.
Curaçao's proximity to Venezuela resulted in interaction with cultures of the coastal areas. For instance, architectural similarities can be seen between the 19th-century parts of Willemstad and the nearby Venezuelan city of Coro in Falcón State. In the 19th century, Curaçaoans such as Manuel Piar and Luis Brión were prominently engaged in the wars of independence of Venezuela and Colombia. Political refugees from the mainland (such as Simon Bolivar) regrouped in Curaçao. Children from affluent Venezuelan families were educated on the island.[citation needed]
The Dutch abolished slavery in 1863, bringing a change in the economy with the shift to wage labour. Some inhabitants of Curaçao emigrated to other islands, such as Cuba, to work in sugar cane plantations. Other former slaves had nowhere to go and remained working for the plantation owner in the tenant farmer system.[5] This was an instituted order in which the former slave leased land from his former master. In exchange the tenant promised to give up most of his harvest to the former slave master. This system lasted until the beginning of the 20th century.[citation needed]
In the 1920s Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe came to Curacao. Most of them started their careers as peddlers, but they knew how to get ahead and managed to attain great prosperity. They kept their Jewish identity and formed a close-knit and isolated group.[citation needed]
On 8 June 1929 Fort Amsterdam was raided and captured by Venezuelan rebel Rafael Simón Urbina together with 250 others.[6] They plundered weapons, ammunition and the treasury of the island.[7] They also managed to capture the Governor of the island, Leonardus Albertus Fruytier, and hauled him off to Venezuela on the stolen American ship Maracaibo.[6]
Following the raid the Dutch government decided to permanently station marines and ships on the island.[7][8][9]
Government
Frits Goedgedrag was the first governor of Curaçao. He submitted his resignation to Queen Beatrix on 24 October 2012, to become effective one month later.[10]
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| King | King Willem-Alexander | 30 April 2013 | |
| Governor | Lucille George-Wout | 4 November 2013 |
Fourth cabinet
A fourth cabinet was sworn in on 7 June 2013, and was characterized as a "political" cabinet, set to complete the full term of parliament.[11]
Third Cabinet
The third cabinet was termed a "Task cabinet" and coalition of PAIS, PS, PNP and independent member Glenn Sulvaran. It was planned to be in office for 3 to 6 months and resigned on 27 March 2013 continuing in a demissionary capacity until a new cabinet is formed.[12] Hodge previously was director of the Postspaarbank Curaçao.[13] The composition of the cabinet is:
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Ivar Asjes | PS | 31 December 2012 |
| Minister of Economic Development | Ivan Martina | PAIS | 31 December 2012 |
| Minister of Finance | José Jardim | 31 December 2012 | |
| Minister of Health, Environment, and Nature | Denzil Whiteman | PS | 31 December 2012 |
| Minister of Administration, Planning and Service | Etienne van der Horst | PAIS | 31 December 2012 |
| Minister of Justice | Nelson Navarro | PAIS | 31 December 2012 |
| Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports | Rubina Bitorina | PS | 31 December 2012 |
| Minister of Traffic, Transport and Regional Planning | Earl Winston Balborda | PNP | 31 December 2012 |
Interim Cabinet
On 29 September an interim cabinet was appointed consisting of 4 ministers. The cabinet will continued in a demissionary capacity from 19 October upon the elections until a new cabinet took over on 31 December 2012.[14]
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister, General Affairs, Justice | Stanley Betrian | 29 September 2012 | |
| Finance, Economic development | José Jardim | 29 September 2012 | |
| Health, Environment and Nature, Social development, work | Stanley Bodok | 29 September 2012 | |
| Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Planning and service | C. G. Smit | 29 September 2012 | |
| Traffic, Transportation and Planning | Dominique Adriaens[15] | 17 October 2012 |
First cabinet
The first Cabinet of Curaçao, installed on 10 October 2010[16] lost its majority in the Parliament of Curaçao in 2012, after 2 members of the parliament left their party. The cabinet stayed as a demissionary cabinet and called elections for 19 October 2012. As a result of a request by the majority of the Parliament of Curaçao, the Governor appointed an interim-cabinet on 29 September 2012. This move was termed a coup by Schotte, who did not accept the decision.
This cabinet included five members of the Movement for the Future of Curaçao, including Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte, Minister of Economic Affairs Abdul Nasser El Hakim, and Minister Plenipotentiary of Curaçao Sheldry Osepa; three members of the Sovereign People's Party, and two members of the Partido MAN.
Notes
- ↑ Collection Schimmel, Herbert & Ruth
- ↑ The slave trade: the story of the Atlantic slave trade, 1440-1870 Door Hugh Thomas, p. 213.
- ↑ The Genoese in Spain: Gabriel Bocángel y Unzueta (1603-1658): a biography by Trevor J. Dadson [1]
- ↑ http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/curacao.htm
- ↑ Called "Paga Tera"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ http://www.gowealthy.com/gowealthy/wcms/en/home/articles/travel/sightseeing/Forts-in-Curacao-XnhcaRlwxh.html
- ↑ http://www.zum.de/whkmla/military/lowcountries/milxnederland.html
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ RNW.nl - Eerste kabinet Curaçao is rond
External links
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- The Ashkenazi Jews of Curacao
