History of French Guiana
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The '''history of [[French Guiana]]''' spans many centuries. Before the first Europeans arrived, there was no written history in the territory. It was originally inhabited by a number of Native American peoples, among them the [[Carib]], [[Arawak]], [[Emerillon]], [[Galibi]], [[Palikour]], [[Wayampi]] (also known as Oyampi) and [[Wayana]]. The first Europeans arrived in the expeditions of [[Christopher Columbus]], shortly before 1500.
== Beginnings of European involvement ==
In [[1498]] French Guiana was first visited by Europeans when [[Christopher Columbus]] sailed to the region on his third voyage and named it the "Land of pariahs".{{Fact|date=October 2007}} In 1604 [[France]] attempted to settle in the area, but was forced to abandon it in the face of hostility from the [[Portugal|Portuguese]], who viewed it as a violation of the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]]. French settlers returned, however, in [[1643]] and managed to establish a settlement at [[Cayenne]] along with some small-scale plantations. This second attempt would again be abandoned following [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Amerindian]] attacks. The French returned once more in [[1664]], and founded a second settlement at [[Sinnamary]] (this was attacked by the Dutch in [[1665]]).
In [[1667]] the [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] seized the area. Following the [[Treaty of Breda]] on [[31 July]] [[1667]] the area was given back to France. The Dutch briefly occupied it for a period in [[1676]].
== Consolidation of French rule ==
After the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]] in [[1763]], which deprived France of almost all her possessions in the Americas other than Guiana and a few islands, [[Louis XV of France|Louis XV]] sent thousands of settlers to Guiana who were lured there with stories of plentiful [[gold]] and easy fortunes to be made. Instead they found a land filled with hostile natives and tropical diseases. One and a half years later only a few hundred survived. These fled to three small islands which could be seen off shore and named them the [[Iles de Salut]] (or "Islands of Salvation"). The largest was called [[Royal Island]], another [[Ile Saint-Joseph|St. Joseph]] (after the patron saint of the expedition), and the smallest of the islands, surrounded by strong currents, Île du Diable (the infamous "[[Devil's Island]]"). When the survivors of this ill-fated expedition returned home, the terrible stories they told of the colony left a lasting impression in France.
In [[1794]], after the death of [[Robespierre]], 193 of his followers were sent to French Guiana. In [[1797]] the republican general [[Pichegru]] and many deputies and journalists were also sent to the colony. When they arrived they found that only 54 of the 193 deportées sent out three years earlier were left; 11 had escaped, and the rest had died of tropical fevers and other diseases. Pichegru managed to escape to [[United States]] and then returned to France where he was eventually executed for plotting against Napoleon.
Later on, slaves were brought out from Africa and plantations were established along the more disease-free rivers. Exports of sugar, hardwood, [[Cayenne pepper]] and other spices brought a certain prosperity to the colony for the first time. Cayenne, the capital, was surrounded by plantations, some of which had several thousand slaves.
== 1800s and the penal era ==
In [[1809]] an Anglo-Portuguese naval squadron took French Guiana (ousting governor [[Victor Hugues]]) and gave it to the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] in [[Brazil]]. However with the signing of the [[Treaty of Paris (1814)|Treaty of Paris]] in [[1814]] the region was handed back to the French, though a Portuguese presence remained until [[1817]].
In [[1848]] France abolished [[slavery]] and the ex-slaves fled into the rainforest setting up communities similar to the ones they had been stolen from in Africa. Now called [[Maroon (people)|Maroons]], they formed a sort of [[buffer zone]] between the Europeans who settled along the coast and main rivers, and the unconquered, and often hostile, Native American tribes of the inland regions. Without the availability of slave labour the plantations were soon taken over by the jungle, and the planters ruined.
In [[1850]] several shiploads of Indians, Malays and Chinese were brought out to work the plantations but, instead, they set up shops in Cayenne and other settlements.
[[Image:Quartier - Disciplinaire, St. Laurent.jpg|thumb|300px|"Quartier - Disciplinaire", St. Laurent, 1954]]
In [[1852]] the first shiploads of chained convicts arrived from France. In [[1885]], to get rid of habitual criminals and to increase the number of colonists, the French Parliament passed a law that anyone, male or female, who had more than three sentences for theft of more than three months each, would be sent to French Guiana as a "relégué." These relégués were to be kept in prison there for six months but then freed to become settlers in the colony. However, this experiment was a dismal failure. The prisoners were unable to make a living off the land and so were forced to revert again to crime, or to eke out a hand-to-mouth existence until they died. In fact, being sent to French Guiana as a relégué was a life sentence, and usually a short life sentence, as most of the relégués died very quickly from disease and malnutrition. The prisoners would arrive at [[St-Laurent du Maroni| St Laurent du Maroni]] before being transported to various camps throughout the country. The [[Iles du Salut]] were used to house political prisoners and for solitary confinement. The islands became notorious for the brutality of life there, centering around the notorious [[Devil's Island]]. Famous political figures to be sent to the islands included [[Alfred Dreyfus]] and [[Henri Charrière]], who managed to escape. He later wrote a best-selling book about his experiences called ''[[Papillon (autobiography)|Papillon]]''.
[[Image:Condemened men's block, St. Laurent..jpg|thumb|300px|"Quartier Spécial" - Condemned men's block, St. Laurent, 1954 (the guillotine stood at the spot where the photographer took the photo).]]
In [[1853]], [[gold]] was discovered in the interior, precipitating [[border]] disputes with Brazil and [[Dutch Guiana]] (these were later settled in [[1891]], [[1899]] and [[1915]], though a small region of the border with [[Suriname]] is still disputed).
== 20th century ==
The territory of [[Inini]], consisting of most of the interior of French Guiana, was created in 1930. It was abolished in 1946.
After the fall of France to [[Nazis]] in [[World War II]] the local government declared its allegiance to the [[Vichy France|Vichy]] government, despite widespread support for [[Charles de Gaulle]]. This government was later removed by the Allies in August 1944.
French Guiana became an [[Département d'outre-mer|overseas ''département'']] of [[France]] on [[19 March]], [[1946]].
The infamous penal colonies, including Devil's Island, were gradually phased out and then formally closed in [[1951]]. At first, only those freed prisoners who could raise the fare for their return passage to France were able to go home, so French Guiana was haunted after the official closing of the prisons by numerous freed convicts leading an aimless existence in the colony.
Visitors to the site in December 1954 reported being deeply shocked by the conditions and the constant screams from the cell-block still in use for convicts who had gone insane and which had only tiny ventilation slots at the tops of the walls under the roof. Food was pushed in and bodies removed once a day.
In [[1964]] [[Kourou]] was chosen to be launch site for rockets, largely due to its favourable location near the [[equator]]. The [[Guiana Space Centre]] was built and became operational in [[1968]]. This has provided limited local employment and the mainly foreign technicians, and hundreds of troops stationed in the region to prevent sabotage, bring income to the local economy.
The 1970s saw the settlement of [[Hmong people|Hmong]] refugees from [[Laos]] in the county, primarily to the towns of [[Javouhey]] and [[Cacao, French Guiana| Cacao]]. The Green Plan (Plan Vert) of [[1976]] aimed to improve production, though it had only limited success. A movement for increased autonomy from France gained momentum in the 70's and 80's, along with the increasing success of the Parti Socialiste Guyanais.
Protests by those calling for more autonomy from France have become increasingly vocal. Protests in [[1996]], [[1997]] and [[2000]] all ended in violence. While many Guianese wish to see more autonomy, support for complete independence is low due to large economic support from France.
== References ==
* Belebenoit, René. 1940. ''Hell on Trial''. Translated from the Original French Manuscript by Preston Rambo. E. P Dutton & Co. Reprint by Blue Ribbon Books, New York, 1941.
* Belbenoit, René. 1938. ''[[Dry Guillotine]]: Fifteen years among the living dead''. Reprint: Berkley (1975). ISBN 0-425-02950-6. Reprint: Bantam Books, 1971.
* Charrière, Henri. ''[[Papillon (autobiography)|Papillon]]''. Reprints: Hart-Davis Macgibbon Ltd. 1970. ISBN 0-246-63987-3 (hbk); Perennial, 2001. ISBN 0-06-093479-4
* Tissot, Jean-Michel: ''La Guyane telle quelle'', Paris (Le Créations du Pélican) 1998. ISBN 2-7191-0379-9
==Further reading==
* Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. ''A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny''. Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN 0-201-52396-5.
==External links==
* [http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Launchers_Europe_s_Spaceport/SEMNHV67ESD_0.html History of French Guiana] - History from the European Space Agency.
* [http://www.historyofnations.net/southamerica/frenchguiana.html History of French Guiana]
{{History of South America}}
[[Category:History of French Guiana| ]]
[[bn:ফরাসি গায়ানার ইতিহাস]]
[[de:Geschichte Französisch-Guayanas]]
[[es:Historia de Guayana Francesa]]
[[fr:Histoire de la Guyane]]
[[pt:História da Guiana Francesa]]