Overseas Province of Cape Verde Província Ultramarina de Cabo Verde | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1462–1975 | |||||||||
| Anthem: "Hymno Patriótico" (1808–26) Patriotic Anthem "Hino da Carta" (1826–1910) Hymn of the Charter "A Portuguesa" (1910–75) The Portuguese | |||||||||
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| Status | Colony;Overseas province of thePortuguese Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Praia | ||||||||
| Common languages | Portuguese | ||||||||
| Head of state | |||||||||
• 1462–1481 (first) | Afonso V | ||||||||
• 1974–1975 (last) | F. da Costa Gomes | ||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||
• 1588–1591 (first) | D. Lôbo da Gama | ||||||||
• 1974–1975 (last) | V. Almeida d'Eça | ||||||||
| Historical era | Imperialism | ||||||||
• Established | 1462 | ||||||||
• Independence | 5 July 1975 | ||||||||
| Currency | Cape Verdeanreal (until 1914) Cape Verdeanescudo (from 1914) | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | CV | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Cape Verde | ||||||||
Part ofa series on the |
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| History ofCape Verde |
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| Colonial history |
| Independence struggle |
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Cape Verde was acolony of thePortuguese Empire from the initial settlement of the Cape Verde Islands in 1462 until the independence ofCape Verde in 1975.
The islands of Cape Verde were discovered in 1460-62 byPrince Henry the Navigator (Son of King John I) and Antonio Noli, in the service of Henry's relativeKing Afonso V. The southeastern islands, including the largest islandSantiago, were discovered in 1460 byAntónio de Noli andDiogo Gomes. The remaining northwestern islandsSão Nicolau,São Vicente andSanto Antão were discovered in 1461 or 1462 byDiogo Afonso.[1]: 73 There is no evidence of human settlement on Cape Verde prior to the arrival of the Portuguese.[1]: 77
In 1462, the Portuguese founded the town of Ribeira Grande (nowCidade Velha) on the south coast of Santiago.[1]: 77 The settlement became a key port of call for Portuguese colonisation in both Africa and South America. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was a centre of maritime trade of points among Africa, theCape of Good Hope,Brazil in South America, and theCaribbean. Due to its proximity to the African coast, it was an essential platform for the Atlantic trade ofenslaved Africans.[2] Other early Portuguese settlements wereSão Filipe on the island ofFogo (between 1470 and 1490),[3]Praia on Santiago (before 1516),[1]: 77 Ribeira Grande onSanto Antão (mid 16th century),[1]: 82 andRibeira Brava onSão Nicolau (1653).[4]
Between 1492 and 1497,[5]Manuel I of Portugalexiled thousands ofconversos, Jews forced to accept baptism and conversion to Christianity but considered suspect, toSão Tomé,Príncipe, and Cape Verde. They were allowed to engage in trade.
Free-lance traders were referred to aslançados, who were often, but not always, of Jewish origin.[6] Most married or had unions with African women, creating close trade ties with their families and clans.
The riches of Ribeira Grande and conflicts between Portugal and rival colonial powers France and Britain attracted pirate attacks, including those byFrancis Drake (1585) andJacques Cassard (1712).[1]: 195 Despite the construction ofForte Real de São Filipe in 1587-93, Ribeira Grande remained vulnerable and went into decline. The capital was moved toPraia in 1770.[7]
The eruption of the volcanoPico do Fogo in 1680 covered much of the island of Fogo in ash, which forced many inhabitants to flee to the nearby island ofBrava.[8] From the end of the 18th century,whaling ships fromNorth America started hunting whales around the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands. They used the harbours of Brava to stock up on supplies and drinking water. They hired men from Brava as sailors, and several of these settled around the Massachusetts whaling port ofNew Bedford.[1]: 439–440
The exploitation of salt on the island ofSal took a rise from around 1800.[9] The port city ofMindelo grew rapidly after 1838, when acoal depot was established to supply ships onAtlantic routes.[10] In the course of the 19th century, thePlateau of Praia was completely redeveloped with streets according to agrid plan, lined with grand colonial buildings and mansions.[7] Slavery was abolished in Cape Verde in 1876.[11]
From the beginning of the 20th century the port of Mindelo lost its importance for transatlantic navigation. Causes for this were the shift from coal to oil as fuel for ships, the rise of competing ports like Dakar and the Canary Islands and the lack of investment in port infrastructure.[10] Due to its generally dry climate, Cape Verde has been struck by a series of drought-related famines between the 1580s and the 1950s. Two of Cape Verde'sworst-ever famines occurred in 1941–43 and 1947–48, killing an estimated 45,000 people.[12] Several thousands of islanders emigrated, for instance accepting contract labour on the cocoa plantations ofPortuguese São Tomé and Príncipe.[13]
In the lead-up to and during thePortuguese Colonial War, those planning and fighting in thearmed conflict inPortuguese Guinea often linked the goal of liberation ofGuinea-Bissau to the goal of liberation in Cape Verde. For instance, in 1956,Amílcar andLuís Cabral founded theAfrican Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). However, there was no armed conflict in Cape Verde, and ultimately independence for Cape Verde resulted from negotiation with Portugal after the April 1974Carnation Revolution.[14] In August 1974, an agreement was signed inAlgiers between the Portuguese government and the PAIGC, recognising the independence of Guinea-Bissau and the right to independence of Cape Verde.[15] On 5 July 1975, at Praia, Portugal's Prime MinisterVasco Gonçalves turned over power to National Assembly PresidentAbílio Duarte, and Cape Verde became independent.
Cape Verde Islanders had higher educational levels and were often appointed to low-level administrative posts in Portuguese territories. Thereby they acquired a reputation of loyalty to Lisbon.[16]
14°55′N23°31′W / 14.92°N 23.51°W /14.92; -23.51
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