The term French West Indies or French Antilles refers to the seven territories
currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean:
The two overseas departments of: Guadeloupe
Martinique The two overseas collectivities of:
Saint Martin Saint Barthélemy
The islands forming dependencies of Guadeloupe, namely
Les Saintes Marie-Galante
La Désirade Due to its proximity, French Guiana is
often associated with the French West Indies.
History Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc was a French
trader and adventurer in the Caribbean, who established the first permanent
French colony, Saint-Pierre, on the island of Martinique in 1635. Belain
sailed to the Caribbean in 1625, hoping to establish a French settlement on the
island of St. Christopher. In 1626 he returned to France, where he won the
support of Cardinal Richelieu to establish French colonies in the region.
Richelieu became a shareholder in the Compagnie de Saint-Christophe, created
to accomplish this with d'Esnambuc at its head. The company was not
particularly successful and Richelieu had it reorganized as the Compagnie des
Îles de l'Amérique. In 1635 d'Esnambuc sailed to Martinique with one hundred
French settlers to clear land for sugar cane plantations.
After six months on Martinique, d'Esnambuc returned to St. Christopher,
where he soon died prematurely in 1636, leaving the company and Martinique in
the hands of his nephew, Du Parquet. His nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet,
inherited d'Esnambuc's authority over the French settlements in the Caribbean.
In 1637, His nephew Jacques Dyel du Parquet became governor of the island.
He remained in Martinique and did not concern himself with the other islands.
The French permanently settled on Martinique and Guadeloupe after being
driven off Saint Kitts and Nevis by the British. Fort Royal on Martinique was a
major port for French battle ships in the region from which the French were
able to explore the region. In 1638, Jacques Dyel du Parquet, nephew of
Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc and first governor of Martinique, decided to have
Fort Saint Louis built to protect the city against enemy attacks. From Fort
Royal, Martinique, Du Parquet proceeded south in search for new territories and
established the first settlement in Saint Lucia in 1643, and headed an
expedition which established a French settlement in Grenada in 1649. Despite
the long history of British rule, Grenada's French heritage is still
evidenced by the number of French loanwords in Grenadian Creole,
French-style buildings, cuisine and places name
In 1642 the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique company received a
twenty-year extension of its charter. The King would name the Governor General
of the company, and the company the Governors of the various islands.
However, by the late 1640s, in France Mazarin had little interest in colonial
affairs and the company languished. In 1651 it dissolved itself, selling its
exploitation rights to various parties. The du Paquet family bought Martinique,
Grenada, and Saint Lucia for 60,000 livres. The sieur d'Houël bought
Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, La Desirade and the Saintes. The Knights of Malta
bought Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin, which were made dependencies of
Guadeloupe. In 1665, the Knights sold the islands they had acquired to the
newly formed Compagnie des Indes occidentales.
Dominica is a former French and British colony in the Eastern Caribbean, located
about halfway between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week on which he
spotted it, a Sunday, 3 November 1493. In the hundred years after Columbus's
landing, Dominica remained isolated. At the time it was inhabited by the Island
Caribs, or Kalinago people, and over time more settled there after being
driven from surrounding islands, as European powers entered the region. In
1690, French woodcutters from Martinique and Guadeloupe begin to set up timber
camps to supply the French islands with wood and gradually become permanent
settlers. France had a colony for several years, they imported slaves from
West Africa, Martinique and Guadeloupe to work on its plantations. In this
period, the Antillean Creole language developed. France formally ceded
possession of Dominica to Great Britain in 1763. Great Britain established a
small colony on the island in 1805. As a result, Dominica speak English as an
official language while Antillean creole is spoken as a secondary language and is
well maintained due to its location between the French-speaking departments
of Guadeloupe and Martinique. In Trinidad, the Spanish who were in
possession of the island, contributed little towards advancements, with El
Dorado the focus, Trinidad was perfect due to its geographical location.
Because Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a
Frenchman living in Grenada, was able to obtain a Cédula de Población from the
Spanish king Charles III on 4 November 1783. Following the cedula of population
French planters with their slaves, free coloreds and mulattos from the French
Antilles of Martinique, Grenada, Guadeloupe and Dominica migrated to the
Trinidad. They too added to the ancestry of Trinidadians, creating the creole
identity; Spanish, French, and Patois were the languages spoken. The Spanish
also gave many incentives to lure settlers to the island, including
exemption from taxes for ten years and land grants in accordance to the terms
set out in the Cedula. These new immigrants establishing local
communities of Blanchisseuse, Champs Fleurs, Paramin, Cascade, Carenage and
Laventille. Trinidad's population jumped to over 15,000 by the end of 1789, from
just under 1,400 in 1777. In 1797, Trinidad became a British crown colony,
with a French-speaking population. This exodus was encouraged due to the French
Revolution. The two official French overseas
departments are Guadeloupe and Martinique. St. Martin and St.
Barthélemy, formerly attached to the department of Guadeloupe, have held
separate status as overseas collectivities since 2007. These
Caribbean Départments et Collectivités d’Outre Mer are also known as the French
West Indies. French Caribbean
The French Caribbean includes all the French-speaking countries in the region.
It can also refer to any area that exhibits a combination of French and
Caribbean cultural influences in music, cuisine, style, architecture, and so on.
The Francophone Caribbean is a part of the wider French America, which includes
all the French-speaking countries in the Americas.
However, the term varies in meaning by its usage and frame of reference. It is
not used much in France, unless the speaker wants to refer to every French
dependency in the Caribbean region. This term is thus more ambiguous than the
term "French West Indies", which refers specifically to the islands that are
French overseas departments, which means they have overall the same laws and
regulations as departments on the mainland of France. Collectivities can
be included too. The following Caribbean regions are
predominantly French-speaking and/or French Creole-speaking:
French Republic: Guadeloupe
Martinique Saint-Barthélemy
Saint Martin French Guiana
Independent nation(s): Haiti
Dominica* Saint Lucia*
(*) = gained independence from Great Britain. English is its official
language, but French-based creole languages are widely spoken by the
island population due to a period of French colonization
Former French West Indian islands In addition, some of the islands of the
present and former British West Indies were once ruled by France. Among some of
them, a French-based creole language is spoken, whereas in others the language
is nearing extinction; specific words and expressions may vary among the
islands. See also
American West Indies British West Indies
Danish West Indies Dutch West Indies
Spanish West Indies References