Editing Curaçao (section)

===Dutch colonial rule===
[[File:Curacao, 1807 RCIN 735132 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Royal Navy]] warships under [[Charles Brisbane]] capturing Curaçao on 1 January 1807]]

In 1634, during the [[Eighty Years' War]] of independence between the [[Dutch Republic|Republic of the Netherlands]] and Spain, the [[Dutch West India Company]] under Admiral [[Johann van Walbeeck]] invaded the island; the Spanish surrendered in San Juan in August. Approximately 30 Spaniards and many indigenous people were then deported to Santa Ana de Coro in Venezuela. About 30 Taíno families were allowed to live on the island while Dutch colonists started settling there.<ref name="The History of Curaçao"/>

The Dutch West India Company founded the capital of Willemstad on the banks of an inlet called the Schottegat; the [[natural harbour]] proved an ideal place for trade. Commerce and shipping—and [[piracy in the Caribbean|piracy]]—became Curaçao's most important economic activities. Later, [[salt mines|salt mining]] became a major industry, the mineral being a lucrative export at the time.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} From 1662, the Dutch West India Company made Curaçao a centre of the [[Atlantic slave trade]], often bringing slaves from West Africa to the island, before selling them elsewhere in the Caribbean and [[Spanish Main]].<ref name="The History of Curaçao"/>

[[Sephardic Jews]] fleeing persecution in [[Expulsion of the Jews from Spain|Spain]] and [[Expulsion of the Jews from Portugal|Portugal]] sought safe haven in [[Dutch Brazil]] and the [[Dutch Republic]]. Many settled in Curaçao, where they made significant contributions to its civil society, cultural development and economic prosperity.<ref name="history">{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Curacao.html|title=Curacao Virtual Jewish History Tour|website=jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref> In 1674 the island became a [[free port]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://discovercuracao.today/history | title=The story of Curacao &#124; History | access-date=8 February 2024 | archive-date=8 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208140039/https://discovercuracao.today/history | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the [[Franco-Dutch War]] of 1672–78, French Count<!--"Admiral" might be more appropriate here--> [[Jean II d'Estrées]] planned to attack Curaçao. His fleet—12 [[Man-of-war|men-of-war]], three [[fire ship]]s, two transports, a [[hospital ship]], and 12 [[privateer]]s—met with disaster, losing seven men-of-war and two other ships when they struck [[reef]]s off the [[Las Aves archipelago]]. The serious navigational error occurred on 11 May 1678, a week after the fleet set sail from [[Saint Kitts]]. To commemorate its narrow escape from invasion, Curaçao marked the events with a day of thanksgiving, which was celebrated for decades into the 18th century.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

[[File:Curaçao, Broad Street.jpg|thumb|Willemstad, 1885]]
Many Dutch colonists grew affluent from the slave trade, building impressive colonial buildings in the capital of Willemstad; the city is now a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]].

In 1795, [[Curaçao Slave Revolt of 1795|a major slave revolt]] took place under the leaders [[Tula (Curaçao)|Tula Rigaud]], Louis Mercier, Bastian Karpata, and Pedro Wakao. Up to 4,000 slaves in northwest Curaçao revolted, with more than 1,000 taking part in extended gunfights. After a month, the slave owners were able to suppress the revolt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.papiamentu.net/curacao/heroes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020826055753/http://www.papiamentu.net/curacao/heroes.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=26 August 2002 |title=Curaçao History |publisher=Papiamentu.net |access-date=2010-10-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXsBJzA61lcC&pg=PA525 |title=Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion|last=Rodriguez|first=Junius P.|date=2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313332739|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:The colorful buildings of the Handelskade in Willemstad, Curaçao.jpg|thumb|The colorful buildings of the Handelskade in [[Willemstad]], Curaçao]]
Curaçao's proximity to South America resulted in interaction with cultures of the coastal areas more than a century after the independence of the Netherlands from Spain. Architectural similarities can be seen between 19th century Willemstad neighborhoods and the nearby Venezuelan city of [[Santa Ana de Coro|Coro]] in [[Falcón State]], which has also been designated a World Heritage Site. Netherlands established economic ties with the [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]] that included the present-day countries of [[Colombia]] and [[Venezuela]]. In the 19th century, Curaçaoans such as [[Manuel Piar]] and [[Luis Brión]] were prominently engaged in the wars of independence of both Venezuela and Colombia. Political refugees from the mainland, such as [[Simon Bolivar]], regrouped in Curaçao.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://curacao-art.com/galleries/octagon-museum/|title=Octagon Museum – Curaçao Art}}</ref>

During the [[French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars]], [[British Empire|British]] forces twice occupied Curaçao; the [[Invasion of Curaçao (1800)|first occupation]] lasted from 1800 to 1803, and the second occupation from 1807 to 1815.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/curacao.htm |title = Curacao in the British Empire}}</ref> At the end of the [[Napoleonic wars]] stable Dutch rule returned in 1815. After the signing of the [[Convention of London (1814)|Treaty of London]], the island was incorporated into the colony of [[Curaçao and Dependencies]].<ref name="curacao-travelguide.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.curacao-travelguide.com/about/history/ |title=The History of Curaçao|access-date=2019-07-15}}</ref>

The Dutch [[Timeline of abolition of slavery and serfdom|abolished slavery]] in 1863, causing vast changes in the economy with the shift to [[wage labour]].<ref name="curacao-travelguide.com"/> Some Curaçao inhabitants emigrated to other islands, such as [[Cuba]], to work in [[Sugar plantations in the Caribbean|sugarcane plantations]]. Other former slaves had nowhere to go and continued working for plantation owners under the [[tenant farmer]] system,<ref>Called "Paga Tera"</ref> in which former slaves leased land from former masters, paying most of their [[harvest]] to owners as rent. The system lasted until the early 20th century.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

Belle Alliance,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-12 |title=Our Story - Avila Beach Hotel Curacao |url=https://www.avilabeachhotel.com/about-avila/our-story/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.avilabeachhotel.com |language=en-US}}</ref> an elegant 18th-century estate in Willemstad, occasionally hosted the island’s Governor as a guest during official visits.

Historically, Dutch was not widely spoken on the island outside of the colonial administration, but its use increased in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref name="Putte">''Dede pikiña ku su bisiña: Papiamentu-Nederlands en de onverwerkt verleden tijd''. van Putte, Florimon., 1999. Zutphen: de Walburg Pers</ref> Students on Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire were taught predominantly in Spanish until the early 19th century, when the British occupied all three islands. Teaching of Spanish was restored when Dutch rule resumed in 1815. Also, efforts were made to introduce widespread bilingual Dutch and [[Papiamento|Papiamentu]] education in the late 19th century.<ref>Van Putte 1999.</ref>