History of Martinique
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== Carib and Arawak Era ==
'''Martinique''' was originally inhabited by [[Arawak]] and [[Carib]] peoples.
[[Christopher Columbus]] came across the island in [[1493]], making the region known to European interests. In [[1635]], [[Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc]] landed with a hundred [[France|French]] settlers from [[Saint Kitts and Nevis| Saint Kitts]], settling in the northwestern region that later became known as [[Saint-Pierre, Martinique|St. Pierre]]. The French settler systematically fought the fiercely resisting Caribs for territorial control, a battle that increased in brutality as the French settlers desired increased territory to grow [[sugarcane|sugar cane]] on the island. Between [[1640]] and [[1660]], those Caribs who had survived the fighting were forcibly removed from the island in what has become known as the [[Carib Expulsion]]. Many were killed in a brutal massacre in the area now known as [[Fort-de-France]]. The city later became a major port for ships following the trade winds from Europe.
== Europe, Sugar, and Slavery ==
[[Image:Martinique1865.jpg|thumb|250px|1865 map featuring Martinique.]]
By the middle of the 17th century, France was the dominant European power on the island. Although labor intenstive, sugar was a lucrative product to trade, and cultivation on Martinique soon focused only on growing and trading sugar. In [[1642]], [[Louis XIII of France|King Louis XIII]] authorised an action referred to as "La Traite des Noirs" that allowed for [[black people]] to be seized from [[Africa]] and forcibly brought to work as [[slavery|slaves]] on the French sugar plantations. Ensuing [[Culture of Martinique|Martinican culture]] has in many ways been the result of [[Creole peoples|creolization]] between the French colonial settlers, known locally as békés, and enslaved Africans.
[[British expedition against Martinique|Britain captured the island]] during the [[Seven Years' War]], holding it from [[1762]] to [[1763]]. However, the [[sugar trade]] made the island so valuable to the royal French government, that at the [[Treaty of Paris]] which ended the Seven Years War they exchanged the entirety of Canada in order to regain Martinique as well as the neighboring island of Guadeloupe. Between [[1794]] and [[1815]], there was a strong British interest in Martinique, with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] controlling the island during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] from 1794 to 1802, after which the British returned the island to the French with the [[Treaty of Amiens]] and [[Napoleon I of France|Napoléon Bonaparte]] reinstated slavery. Led by [[Victor Schoelcher]], the French officially abolished slavery in 1848.
== Mount Pelée Eruption ==
On May 8, [[1902]], a blast from the volcano [[Mount Pelée|Mont Pelée]] destroyed the town of St. Pierre, killing almost all of its 29,000 inhabitants. The only survivor was a prisoner saved by his position in a jail dungeon with only single window. The town had to be completely rebuilt and lost its status as capital, a title which shifted to [[Fort-de-France]].
== Departmental Era ==
In 1946, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to transform Martinique from a colony of France into a department, known in French as a Département d'Outre-Mer or DOM. Along with its fellow DOMs of [[Guadeloupe]], [[Réunion]], and [[French Guiana]], Martinique was intended to be legally identical to any department in the metropole. However, in reality, several key differences remained, particularly within social security payments and unemployment benefits.
French funding to the DOM has somewhat made up for the social and economic devastation of the slave trade and sugar crop monoculture. With French funding to Martinique, the island had one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean. However, it remained dependent upon French aid, as when measured by what Martinique actually produced, it was one of the poorer islands in the region.
==Sources and references==
* {{cite book
| last = Burton
| first = Richard D.E.
| title = Assimilation or Independence? Prospects for Martinique
| publisher = [[McGill University]]
| series = Centre for Developing-Area Studies
| year = 1978
| isbn = 0888190395 }}
* {{cite book
| last = Burton
| first = Richard D.E. and Fred Reno
| title = French and West Indian: Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana Today
| publisher = [[University Press of Virginia]]
| series = New World Studies
| year = 1995
| isbn = 0813915651 }}
* {{cite book
| last = Wilgus
| first = A. Curtis
| title = The Caribbean: British, Dutch, French, United States
| publisher = [[University of Florida Press]]
| year = 1958
| isbn = 0813915651 }}
==External links==
* [http://www.martinique.pref.gouv.fr/pages/histoireinstitang.html Institutional History of Martinique] - Official site of the French Government (translation by Maryanne Dassonville)
{{French overseas empire}}
{{History of North America}}
[[Category:History of Martinique| ]]
[[Category:National histories|Martinique]]
[[fr:Histoire de la Martinique]]