Curacao Island - History
The
ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) were discovered in 1499 by a
lieutenant of Columbus, Alonso de Ojeda, who found the islands inhabited
by Caiquetos, a tribe of peaceful Arawak Indians, who had fled Venezuela
from a more blood thirsty tribe, the Caribs. De Ojeda claimed the islands
for the Spanish, but because there was no gold there they were declared
"useless islands". The Awarak community on was largely
transported to work on Hispaniola, and nowadays no full blooded Indians
are found on Curacao.
The
island remained Spanish throughout the 16th century, but fell
to the Dutch in 1634. Curacao became an important trading post and a base
for excursions against the Spanish. Some of the plantation houses "landhuizen",
stem from this period. They were used for agricultural purposes, some as
cattle farms and some were country estates for the rich merchant families
that lived in Willemstad. Most of these "landhuizen" still exist
today. Some of them have decayed into ruins, but others have been restored
and serve now as restaurants or museums.
Conflicts
in Europe and the Americas in the 18th century led to Curacao becoming a
commercial meeting place for pirates, American rebels, Dutch merchants,
Spaniards and Creoles from the mainland. In 1800 the English took Curacao,
but withdrew in 1803, only to occupy it again in 1807. In 1816, Dutch rule
was restored and the island was declared a free port. In the 20th century
the economy prospered with the discovery of oil in Venezuela, and the
subsequent decision by the Dutch-British Shell oil company to set up a
refinery on Curacao because of its political stability and its good port
facilities. The second 
world
war brought the offshore industry to Curacao to accommodate Dutch
companies in Germany-invaded Holland.
After
the war, demands for autonomy from Holland began to grow, resulting in the
Netherlands Antilles becoming an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands. In 1982 the Shell refinery closed its doors, leaving many
unemployed. Curacao has now focussed on tourism as a substantial source of
income besides its offshore industry.
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