European Rivalry and Colonial Change: The Development of Suriname and Cayenne in the 17th Century

During the seventeenth century the Guiana Coast was the stage for cooperation, competition, and conflict between various Amerindian and European peoples. French, Dutch, English, and Jewish settlers tried to build a life in newly established European settlements along the Guiana rivers. This paper focuses on the influence of European transfers of power on the development of these new colonies. Investigating the experiences of various groups of settlers along the Guiana Coast, this paper explores the extent the colonisation was influenced by national differences. It argues that after a colonial takeover, a new European power could only bring about a limited change, because the settlers depended on local and international connections established before a European transfer. The key to a successful transfer was the ability of the new government to retain the settlers already living in the colony, as their expertise, assets, and trading contacts were invaluable.

This paper compares the settlements along the rivers Surinam and Cayenne, investigating the influence of European rivalry on colonial development. In 1664, French forces conquered the Dutch colony of Cayenne, inhabited by Dutch and Jewish settlers. Suriname changed hands in 1667, when a Dutch fleet took over the English colony. After falling into French hands, Cayenne's Jewish settlers moved with their slaves to Surinam, because the French only allowed Catholic worship and the English establishment offered them the religious liberties they had enjoyed under the Dutch in Cayenne. Because the colonizers shared the wish to accommodate settlers regardless of their religion, the transition from English to Dutch rule did not result in the immediate departure a group of settlers as had the transition from Dutch to French rule in Cayenne. Ultimately, only when settlers decided to leave was the development of a colony truly changed, emphasizing the limited power of the European Metropole.