Kolonie Demerary(1745–1803) Colony of Demerara(1803–1812) County of Demerara(1838–1958) Demerara | |||||||||
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| 1745–1812 1838–1958 | |||||||||
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 The Demerara colony in 1759 (Note this map has East at its top.) Seehere for its exact location (6° 48' N 58° 10' W). | |||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital | Fort Zeelandia (1745–1755) Borsselen (1755–1782) Stabroek (1782–1815) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Dutch,English,Guyanese Creole,Guyanese Hindustani,Tamil,South Asian languages,African languages,Akawaio,Macushi,Waiwai,Arawakan,Patamona,Warrau,Carib,Wapishana,Arekuna,Portuguese,Spanish,French,Chinese | ||||||||
| Religion | Christianity,Hinduism,Islam,Judaism,Afro-American religions,Traditional African religions,Indigenous religions | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established as aDutch West India Company colony | 18 October 1745 | ||||||||
| 24–27 February 1781 | |||||||||
| 22 January 1782 | |||||||||
| 1783 | |||||||||
• Colony of theDutch Republic | 1 January 1792 | ||||||||
| 27 March 1802 | |||||||||
• Joined withEssequibo to formDemerara-Essequibo | 28 April 1812 | ||||||||
| 20 November 1815 | |||||||||
• Demerara-Essequibo merges withBerbice to becomeBritish Guiana | 21 July 1831 | ||||||||
• County of Demerara | 1838 | ||||||||
• Merged into the newregions | 1958 | ||||||||
| Currency | Spanish dollar,Dutch guilder,British Guiana dollar,British West Indies dollar | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Guyana | ||||||||
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Demerara (/ˌdɛməˈrɛərə/;Dutch:Demerary,[ˌdeːməˈraːri]) is a historical region inthe Guianas, on the north coast ofSouth America, now part of the country ofGuyana. It was a colony of theDutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 until 1815. It was merged withEssequibo in 1812 by the British who took control. It formally became a British colony in 1815 untilDemerara-Essequibo was merged with Berbice to form the colony ofBritish Guiana in 1831. In 1838, it became acounty of British Guiana until 1958. In 1966, British Guiana gained independence asGuyana and in 1970 it became a republic as theCo-operative Republic of Guyana. It was located around the lower course of theDemerara River, and its main settlement wasGeorgetown.
The name "Demerara" comes from a variant of theArawak wordimmenary ordumaruni, which means "river of theletter wood" (wood ofBrosimum guianense tree).[1]Demerara sugar is so named because originally, it came from sugarcane fields in the colony of Demerara.
Demerara was first mentioned in 1691 as a trading post.[2] On 18 October 1745, Demerara was created as a separate colony, even though it was located on an unoccupied part ofEssequibo, because the people from the province ofHolland wanted to settle there and Essequibo was part ofZeeland.[3] In the founding documents, it was mentioned that the colonists should live in peace with theAmerindian population and respect their territories, because they fought with the colony of Essequibo against the French privateers and helped to chase them off. The Amerindians were considered free people, and they were not allowed to enslave them.[4]
The first planter was Andries Pieterse who already owned a plantation in Essequibo. Half a year later, there were 18 large sugar plantations and 50 smaller plantations.[5] The colony was initially governed fromFort Zeelandia byLaurens Storm van 's Gravesande, the governor of Essequibo. In 1750 he appointed his son Jonathan as Commander of Demerara.[6]
Demerara grew rapidly,[7] and attracted many English planters.[8] TheDutch West India Company, who had a monopoly on the slave trade, was unable to supply them, leading to illegal smuggling from English colonies.[9]
In 1755, Gedney Clarke, a Barbados merchant and plantation owner,[10] requested political representation,[11] therefore the administration was moved to the island ofBorsselen,[8] 20 miles (32 km) upriver near plantationSoesdyke which was owned by the commander of Demerara.[12] The decision was criticised because the island was hard to defend,[13] and the planters had started to build houses around the guard post near the mouth of the river. That settlement later became known asStabroek,[8] and in 1782 the capital of the colony.[14] The town was renamedGeorgetown in 1812.[15]
In 1763, aslave uprising took place in neighbouringBerbice. Governor van 's Gravesande formed an alliance with the AmerindianArawak,Kalina,Warao andAkawaio[16] tribes,[17] and prevented the uprising from spreading to Demerara and Essequibo.[8] 50 soldiers from Demarara were sent to Berbice as assistance.[18] The slave uprisings were a source of concern: in a 1767 letter toFrederick the Great, the King of Prussia, which aimed to promote the colony for German planters, a request was added for 100 soldiers.[19]
In 1780, there were almost 200 plantations in Demerara compared to 129 in Essequibo.[20] Demerara had become more successful than Essequibo.[18][8] The rivalry between the colonies resulted in the creation of a combinedCourt of Policy in Fort Zeelandia.[21] The majority of the white population of the colony were English[8] and Scottish[22][23] planters.
In 1781, the American revolution induced the Dutch Republic to join with the Bourbon side against the British. A large fleet underAdmiral Lord Rodney's command was sent to the West Indies, and after having made some seizures in the Caribbean Islands, a squadron was detached to take possession of the colonies ofEssequibo and Demerara, which was accomplished[24] without even a fight.[25][26] The previous year, the colony produced 10,000hogsheads of sugar, 5,000,000 pounds coffee and 800,000 pounds cotton.[26]
In 1782 the Frenchtook possession of the whole of the Dutch settlements, compelling Gov. Robert Kingston to surrender.[27] The opinion of the Dutch newspapers varied. TheLeeuwarder Courant called it the loss of our Demerary,[28] while theHollandsche historische courant described it as a pleasant reconquest.[29] TheTreaty of Paris (1783) restored these territories to the Dutch.[30]
The British recaptured Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice in 1796.[23] A deal was struck with the colony: all laws and customs could remain, and the citizens were equal to British subjects. Any government official who swore loyalty to theBritish crown could remain in function.[23] They returned the colony to the Dutch in 1802 under the terms of thePeace of Amiens,[31] but re-took control of it a year later.[31]
On 28 April 1812,[32] the British combined the colonies of Demerara andEssequibo into the colony ofDemerara-Essequibo.[31] They were ceded to Britain on 13 August 1814. On 20 November 1815, the Netherlands ratified the agreement.[33]
Large slave rebellions broke out in West Demerara in 1795 and on theEast Coast of Demerara in 1823.[34] Although these rebellions were easily and bloodily crushed, according to Winston McGowan, they may have had a long-term impact in ending slavery:
The 1823 revolt had a special significance not matched by the earlierBerbice uprising. It attracted attention in Britain inside and outside Parliament to the terrible evil of slavery and the need to abolish it. This played a part, along with other humanitarian, political and economic factors, in causing the British parliament ten years later in 1833 to take the momentous decision to abolish slavery in British Guiana and elsewhere in the British Empire with effect from 1 August 1834. After serving four years of a modified form of slavery euphemistically called apprenticeship, the slaves were finally freed on 1 August 1838.
— [35]
On 21 July 1831, Demerara-Essequibo united withBerbice asBritish Guiana, nowGuyana.[36] In 1838, Demerara was made one of the three counties of Guiana, the other two being Berbice and Essequibo.[37] In 1958, the county was abolished when Guiana was subdivided into districts. Historical Demerara was divided in 1958[38] and are a part ofGuyanese administrative regions ofDemerara-Mahaica,Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, andUpper Demerara-Berbice.[37]
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6°48′44″N58°10′12″W / 6.8121°N 58.1701°W /6.8121; -58.1701
