History of Suriname

Plantations in Suriname around 1800.

A plantation in Suriname by Dirk Valkenburg (1707?)

Native American period

The history of Suriname dates from 3000 BC when Native Americans first inhabited the area. Present-day Suriname was the home to many distinct indigenous cultures. The largest tribes were the Arawaks, a nomadic coastal tribe that lived from hunting and fishing, and the Caribs. The Arawaks (Kali'na) were the first inhabitants of Suriname; later, the Caribs arrived, and conquered the Arawaks using their sailing ships.^[1][2] They settled in Galibi (Kupali Yumï, meaning "tree of the forefathers") on the mouth of the Marowijne river. While the larger Arawak and Carib tribes lived off the coast and savanna, smaller groups of indigenous peoples lived in the rainforest inland, such as the Akurio, Trió, Wayarekule, Warrau, and Wayana.

Dutch colonization

Coastline of the Guianas

The first Europeans who came to Suriname were Dutch traders who visited the area along with other parts of the South America's 'Wild Coast.' The first attempts to settle the area by Europeans was in 1630, when English settlers led by Captain Marshall attempted to found a colony.^[3] They cultivated crops of tobacco, but the venture failed financially.

In 1650 Lord Willoughby, the governor of Barbados furnished out a vessel, to settle a colony in Surinam. At his own cost equipped a ship of 20 guns, and two smaller vessels with things necessary for the support of the plantation.^[4] Major Anthony Rowse settled there in his name. Two years later, for the better settling of the colony, he went in person, fortified and furnished it with things requisite for defence and trade. 'Willoughbyland' consisted of around 30,000 acres (120 km²) and a fort. In 1663 most of the work on the ca. 50 plantations was done by native Indians and 3,000 African slaves.^[5] There were around 1,000 whites there, joined by Brazilian Jews, attracted by religious freedom which was granted to all the settlers by the English.

The settlement was invaded by seven Dutch ships (from the Zeeland region), led by Abraham Crijnssen, on 26 February 1667. Fort Willoughby was captured the next day after a three hour fight^[6] and renamed Fort Zeelandia. On 31 July 1667, the English and Dutch signed the Treaty of Breda, in which for the time being the status quo was respected: the Dutch could keep occupying Suriname and the British the formerly Dutch colony New Amsterdam (modern day New York). Willoughbyland was renamed Dutch Guyana. This arrangement was made official in the Treaty of Westminster of 1674, after the British had regained and again lost Suriname in 1667 and the Dutch regained the colony in 1668. In 1683 the Society of Suriname was set up, modelled on the ideas of Jean-Baptiste Colbert to profit from the management and defence of the Dutch Republic's colony. It had three participants, with equal shares in the society's responsibilities and profits—the city of Amsterdam, the family Van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck, and the Dutch West India Company. The family Van Aerssen only succeeded to sell their share in 1770. The Society came to an end in 1795 when this kind of trade and business was no longer seen as acceptable.

Slavery and emancipation

Funeral at slave plantation, Suriname. Colored lithograph printed circa 1840-1850, digitally restored.

Maroon village, Suriname River, 1955

In South America, slavery was the norm. The native people proved to be in limited supply and consequently people from Africa were imported as slaves to work on the plantations. The plantations were producing sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton and were exported for the Amsterdam market. In 1713 for instance most of the work on the 200 plantations was done by 13,000 African slaves. Their treatment was bad, and slaves have escaped to the jungle from the start.^[7][8] These Maroons (also known as "Djukas" or "Bakabusi Nengre") attacked the plantations in order to acquire goods that were in short supply and to find themselves women. Notable leaders of the Surinam Maroons were Alabi, Boni, Joli-coeur and Broos (Captain Broos). In the 18th century, three of the Maroon people signed a peace treaty, similar to the peace treaty in Jamaica whereby these people were recognised as free people and where they received a yearly tribute that provided them with the goods they used to "liberate" from the plantations. A contemporary description of the war between the Maroons and the plantation owners in Suriname can be found in Narrative of a Five Years Expedition Against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam by John Gabriel Stedman.

Suriname was occupied by the British in 1799, after the Netherlands were incorporated by France, and was returned to the Dutch in 1816, after the defeat of Napoleon. The Dutch abolished slavery only in 1863; although the British had already abolished it during their short rule. The slaves were, however, not released until 1873; up to that date they conducted obligatory but paid work at the plantations. In the meantime, many more workers had been imported from the Dutch East Indies, mostly Chinese inhabitants of that colony. After 1873, many Indian laborers where imported from India. This emigration was ended by Mohandas Gandhi in 1916. After that date, many laborers were again imported from the Dutch East Indies, especially Java.

In the 20th century, the natural resources of Suriname, rubber, gold and bauxite were exploited. The US company Alcoa had a claim on a large area in Suriname where bauxite, from which aluminium can be made, was found. Given that the peace treaties with the Maroon people granted them title to the lands, there have been international court cases that negated the right of the Surinam government to grant these claims.^{[clarification needed]} On November 23, 1941, under an agreement with the Netherlands government-in-exile, the United States occupied Dutch Guiana to protect the bauxite mines.^[9]

Post-independence Era

In 1945, the first full election was held, with the Netherlands providing aid in health matters.

In 1954, Suriname gained self-government, with the Netherlands retaining control of defence and foreign affairs.

In 1973 the Dutch government started negotiations with the local government, led by the NPK (a largely Creole party) about independence, which was granted on November 25, 1975. The Dutch instituted an aid programme worth US$1.5 billion to last till 1985. The first President of the country was Johan Ferrier, with Henck Arron (leader of the Surinam National Party) as Prime Minister. Roughly a third of the population emigrated to the Netherlands, fearing that the new country would not be able to survive.

In 1980, the government of Henck Arron was overthrown in a military coup led by Sergeant-Major Desi Bouterse. President Ferrier refused to recognise the new government, appointing Henk Chin A Sen (of the Nationalist Republican Party). Another coup followed five months later, with the army replacing Ferrier with Chin A Sen. These developments were largely welcomed by a population that expected the new army-installed government to put an end to corruption and improve the standard of living. This was despite the fact that the new regime banned opposition parties and became increasingly dictatorial. The Dutch initially accepted the new government, however, relations between Suriname and the Netherlands collapsed when 15 members of the political opposition were killed by the army on December 8, 1982, in Fort Zeelandia. This event is also known as the December killings (Decembermoorden in Dutch). The Dutch and Americans cut off their aid in protest at the move.

In 1985, the ban on opposition parties was lifted, and work began on devising a new constitution. The following year saw the start of an anti-government rebellion of the Maroons in the interior, calling themselves the Jungle Commando and led by Ronnie Brunswijk. The Bouterse government violently tried to suppress the insurgency by burning villages and other similar means. Many Maroons fled to French Guiana.

See also

• British colonization of the Americas
• Dutch colonization of the Americas
• French colonization of the Americas
• History of the Americas
• History of South America
• History of the Caribbean
• List of colonial heads of Suriname (Netherlands Guiana)
• List of Presidents of Suriname
• List of Prime Ministers of Suriname
• Politics of Suriname
• Spanish colonization of the Americas

References

1. ^ Romero-Figueroa, Andrés. Basic Word Order and Sentence Types in Kari'ña. Meunchen: Lincom Europa 2000
2. ^ Carlin, Eithne and Boven, Karen (2002). The native population: Migrations and identities. In: Atlas of the languages of Suriname, Eithne Carlin and Jacques Arends (Eds.) Leiden: KITLV Press
3. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica: A Dictionary of ARTS, SCIENCES, and General LITERATURE, Volume XI (Ninth Edition—Popular Reprint In 1614 the states of Holland granted to any Dutch citizen a four years' monopoly of any harbour or place of commerce which he might discover in that region (Guiana). The first settlement, however, in Suriname (in 1630) was made by an Englishman, whose name is still preserved by Marshal's Creek. ed.). http://books.google.com/books?id=paQMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA253&lpg=PA253&dq=marshall's+creek+suriname+river. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 
4. ^ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=76434&strquery=Francis%20Willoughby%201651%20Surinam
5. ^ George Warren (1667) An impartial description of Surinam.
6. ^ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=76508&strquery=William%20Byam
7. ^ The Boni Maroon Wars in Suriname by Wim S.M. Hoogbergen
8. ^ Stedman, John Gabriel (1962) The Journal of John Gabriel Stedman, 1744-1797, soldier and author, including an authentic account of his expedition to Surinam in 1772 Mitre Press, London, OCLC 924217
9. ^ World War II Timeline

Further reading

• Kurlansky, Mark. 1992. A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny. Addison-Wesley Publishing. ISBN 0-201-52396-5.
• Hoefte, Rosemarijn and Peter Meel (eds.), Twentieth Century Suriname. Continuities and Discontinuities in a New World Society, Leiden 2001, KITLV
• National Review Online Secrets of Suriname: Another Reagan-administration Cold War success story

External links

• The Amerindians of Suriname
• U.S. State Department Background Note: Suriname
• The World of Surinam
• Andre Mosis, Surinam percussion
• History of Suriname