History of Saint Martin

The history of Saint Martin / Sint Maarten and the entire Caribbean is filled with stories of colonial imperialism where islands changed hands from country to country. Saint Martin / Sint Maarten was one of those islands. It had its fair share of skirmishes and smoky gun battles, which caused the island to change hands many times between the Spanish, Dutch, English and French powers. There are many tales about who first discovered the island and how the local people made their money through exporting cotton, salt and tobacco amongst other products. Much of the evidence that backs up many of the stories about the history of Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten can be found in the local museums around the island.

Pre-Columbia Era

Prior to Christopher Columbus discovering St Martin in 1493, the island had already been inhabited for some 1000 years. According to records about the history of Saint Martin, it was a tribe of Arawak Indians who had left their homeland in the Orinoco basin of South America who first settled on the island. They simply kept migrating upwards along the chain of islands in the Caribbean. The Indians discovered that St Martin had a large amount of salt-pans and appropriately decided to name the island ‘Sualouiga’ which means ‘Land of Salt’.

With only a few fresh water springs around Paradise Peak, Billy Folly, Mount William and in the lowlands, small populations could be supported only in these particular areas. But it wasn’t long before a new Indian tribe came down to the island from North America, the Caribs. This cannibalistic tribe was more aggressive and subsequently overpowered the Arawaks with ease. It is from this more powerful Indian tribe that the entire Caribbean gained its name.

Columbus discovers the island

On St Martin’s Day, 11 November 1493, the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the island during a trip through the Antillean waters and named it Saint Martin. Aside from asserting title to the place, the Spanish never took much interest in St.Martin, so the Dutch, seeking an outpost halfway between their colonies in Brazil and Nieue Amsterdam (now New York), occupied the island in 1631. The Dutch West India Company installed Jan Claeszen van Campen as governor, erected their first fort on the site of Fort Amsterdam, and began to mine salt.

Before long, however, the Spanish, who wished to maintain their state monopoly in this essential preservative, became aware of the incursion and in 1633 they recaptured the island, expelling all of the Dutch, who then moved on to occupy Curaçao.

According to records about the history of Saint Martin, a rather large amount of abortive attempts were made by the Dutch over the following 15 years to reclaim back their island. This included the serious assault on the future governor of Nieue Amsterdam who ended up losing his leg. In 1647, the Spanish Commander asked permission from the King of Spain to abandon the island. After his final victory, the Commander finally had his wish granted by the king and the Spanish set sail, leaving behind, according to legend, a small contingent of French and Dutch who hid on the island and then sent out to neighbouring colonies for reinforcements.

Signing the partition Treaty

Delve deep into the history of Saint Martin and you’ll discover that on 23 March 1648 the ownership of the island was finally addressed. The Treaty of Concordia was signed by both the French and the Dutch on this date. It was agreed that St Martin would be split into two; the northern side would be owned by the French and the southern side owned by the Dutch. The Treaty recognised both the dual nationality and the unity of the island. As a result, it was decided that there would be no physical border between the two nations. It was also made clear that both people and goods would be able to move freely between both parts of the island.

Although the Treaty made the split simple and clear, the practicalities were of course not so straight forward. The border was in fact changed another 16 times prior to 1815 when the Treaty of Paris fixed the boundaries for one final time.

The 18th & 19th Century

The cultivation of sugar cane introduced slavery onto the island, and hundreds of African men, women, and children were imported for this purpose. Although the Spanish had been the first to import slaves to the island, their numbers had been few. But with the new cultivation of cotton, tobacco and sugar, mass numbers of slaves were imported to work on the plantations across St Martin.

The 1816 Treaty of Congress signed at Vienna finally signalled an end to colonial struggles and secured the ownership of the land, between the French and Dutch. Between 1648, the date of the signing of the Treaty of Concordia, and 1816, the signing of the Treaty of Congress, Saint Martin changed hands 7 times between the French, Dutch and the English. It is these multiple influences of France, the Netherlands Antilles, the English Antilles, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the United States and Sweden over these three centuries that paved the way for the multilingual and multicultural island we can enjoy today.

Running up to 1848, the slave population quickly grew larger than that of the land owners. Subjected to cruel treatment, slaves staged rebellions, and their overwhelming numbers made them impossible to ignore. Finally in 1848, 12 July, the French abolished slavery in their colonies including the French side of St. Martin. This is a significant date which is still celebrated today as Schoelcher Day. History of Saint Martin tells us that during this time slaves on the Dutch side of the island protested and threatened to flee to the French side to seek asylum. The local Dutch authorities relented and emancipated the colonies’ slaves. While this decree was respected locally, it was not until 1863 when the Dutch abolished slavery in all of their island colonies that the slaves became legally free.

20th Century

The history of Saint Martin states that after abolition of slavery, plantation culture declined and the island’s economy suffered significantly. The economic decline forces many Saint-Martiners, both French and Dutch into exile. Many emigrated to the islands of Aruba and Curaçao, drawn by the oil refineries set up by the Dutch-British Shell Oil Company in the 1920s. Others emigrated to the Dominican Republic, the US Virgin Islands and the USA. Historians believe that between 1920 and 1929 the island’s population fell by 18 percent.

In 1939, St. Martin received a major boost when it was declared a duty free port. It was the Second World War that pulled Saint Martin out of isolation and into the spotlight. Under the Vichy Regime (1940-1944) a blockade was imposed on allied forces. During and after the War, trade with the United States intensified. The US became the island’s only supplier. This was a lucrative time for many traders, who made their money by selling cigarettes, fabrics and goods in Guadeloupe and Martinique. It was at this time that a climate of self-administration and self-management began to develop, resulting in a blend of local customs, legal vacuums and foreign practices.

The Dutch began focusing on tourism in the 1950’s, however, it took the French another 20 years to start developing their tourism industry. In the 1980’s the tourism industry is in full swing as the US dollar gains great value and only a mere 4 hours separates St Martin with the USA, which subsequently turns out to be what helps to bring in the big bucks for the island. But the good times were abruptly interrupted by an unforgettable natural disaster, Hurricane Luis. On 5 September 1995, Hurricane Luis severely pounded the island causing masses of damage. Around twelve people died, hundreds were injured and thousands lost their homes. Aside from the human drama, the full force of Luis left a desert in its wake, lined with piles of rooves, boats, trees and other detritus. Most hotels and tourist accommodation facilities were destroyed and had to shut up shop, leaving hundreds jobless. 1995 will always remain a significant year in the history of the island – a disaster no one ever wants to witness again.

Today, St Martin remains one of the most desirable holiday destinations in the Caribbean, where the local charm, blended with a traditional way of living and one of the warmest welcomes on the planet, draws thousands of tourists from all over the globe for its activities and attractions.