A Brief History of Curaçao

Early Inhabitants Most historians agree that Curaçao’s original settlers were simple hunters and gatherers who arrived on the island around 2500 BC. They didn’t leave behind enough evidence to accurately document their presence, so researchers jump ahead to 500 AD, when the Caiquetio branch of the Arawak Indians arrived. It is from them that the island takes its name.

Unearthed evidence from this later group points to a tribe that farmed, fished, and hunted. They painted on rocks and inside caves, made ceramic housewares and religious items, and lived in huts inside small villages.

European Influence & Control

Spanish explorers, led by Alonso de Ojeda and navigated by Amerigo Vespucci, landed in 1499. They were overwhelmed by the physical size of the Caiquetios, and named Curaçao La Isla de los Gigantes, Island of the Giants. Hoping to take advantage of the strength of these peaceful hulks, the Spanish shipped most of the tribe to Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti) to work in the mines.

Juan de Ampues was appointed governor of the ABCs in 1526, and brought slaves and livestock to Curaçao in an attempt to make the island self-sufficient. While fighting off pirates, the ranches became a profitable exporter of horses, animal hides, and dyewood.

The Dutch set their sights on the island (along with Aruba and Bonaire) when they went seeking vengeance on all things Spanish during their war for independence. In 1633, after losing St. Maarten to Spain, the Dutch captured the ABCs as a consolation prize. Curaçao was the most valuable of the three islands because of its deep-water harbor, and the DutchWest India Company set up their administrative headquarters in Willemstad in 1634.

Fort Amsterdam was built on a strip of land at the mouth of Santa Anna Bay to serve as defense for the island and protection for Dutch trade routes in the Caribbean. The famous peg-legged Peter Stuyvesant became Curaçao’s governor in 1638 and, later, leader of all the New Netherlands. He lived in Nieuw Amsterdam (New York) after he was appointed director general in 1647.

Under Stuyvesant’s leadership, the island was divided into plantations, each with its own landhuis, which did some farming, but was more profitable at harvesting salt for export. The governor also established Curaçao as a slave depot where captured Africans rested and regained their strength after their grueling voyage and before their sale to new owners throughout the Caribbean and the Americas.

During the height of the slave trade, as many as 14,000 captives would be held on Curaçao at one time. Very few remained on the island, but those who did never tired of looking for a path to freedom. The Hato Caves on the north side of the island became a hideout for runaways and a planning station for revolt. In 1795 slaves, inspired by the French Revolution and uprisings on other Caribbean islands, staged the full-scale Tula Rebellion. While the revolt caused death and destruction and caught the attention of blasé slave traders and owners, slavery continued until Dutch King William III granted emancipation in 1863.

Cultures Mix

In addition to being a slave depot, Curaçao’s harbor also became an important trade and transportation center for products being conveyed between Europe and the New World. Well before the slave trade ended, new commercial ventures began, and the island welcomed new business-minded immigrants.

Jews fleeing persecution in Brazil, Spain, and Portugal, found religious freedom among the Dutch on Curaçao, and put their knowledge of trade and the Spanish language to work to become leaders of the business community.

In 1915, when oil was discovered off the coast of Venezuela, Curaçao’s protected harbor was the logical location for a refinery and transportation center.Workers from China and South America flooded onto the island to take newly created jobs that could not be filled by local residents.

When Allied forces arrived during World War II to protect the fuel supply from Nazi submarine attacks, they found a diverse blend of races and nationalities. When peace returned, Curaçao and the other Dutch islands began to consider independence, and the six-island Netherlands Antilles became an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1954.

An economic boom followed, bringing the island up-to-date with a new highway system, a desalination plant, and a floating pontoon bridge to link Willemstad’s two major districts. Wealthy North and South Americans pumped money into the economy by putting their savings into the island’s tax-sheltered financial holdings and buying its European imports.

All along, the oil refinery was adding new energy-efficient machinery and decreasing its dependence on human labor. The inevitable layoffs caused economic distress throughout the island. However, Curaçao survived the economic, political, and social changes that rocked its foundations throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.

Curaçao Today

The island still draws most of its economic strength from its harbor, which is one of the busiest in the Caribbean. Container ships and oil tankers vie with cruise ships for passage through St. Anna Bay, and the surrounding capital city of Willemstad bustles with tourists and business executives.

The refinery, now owned by the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, continues to process and export oil. Small manufacturing plants operate in an industrial park northeast of Willemstad, and international wholesalers keep the city’s international Free Zone busy.

So, unlike most Caribbean islands, Curaçao does not depend on tourism for survival. The island does, however, recognize the importance of tourism, and has plans for cautious development. While high-rise resorts and mass-appeal tourist attractions aren’t part of that plan, controlled building and mindful solicitation of select markets is.

While the official position may appear elitist and opinionated, the Curaçao people are not. They are Dutch, remember, and they welcome visitors unconditionally. They simply want to maintain their island’s vivid culture, determined nonconformity, and entrepreneurial spirit.