The Colony of Curaçao and Dependencies ( nl, Kolonie Curaçao en onderhorigheden; pap, Kolonia di Kòrsou i dependensianan) was a Dutch colony in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexic ...

from 1815 until 1828 and from 1845 until 1954. Between 1936 and 1948, the area was officially known as the Territory of Curaçao (Dutch: '; Papiamento: '), and after 1948 as the Netherlands Antilles. With the proclamation of the

Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch: ''Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden''; in Papiamentu: ''Statuut di Reino Hulandes'') is a legal instrument that sets out the political relationship between the four countries th ...

on 15 December 1954, the Netherlands Antilles attained equal status with the Netherlands proper and

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nor ...

in the new

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

History

Under the terms of the

Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 (also known as the Convention of London; nl, Verdrag van Londen) was signed by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in London on 13 August 1814. The treaty restored most of the territories in Java that ...

, the Netherlands regained control over its

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

colonies, with the exception of

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state f ...

Essequibo Essequibo is the largest traditional region of Guyana but not an administrative region of Guyana today. It may also refer to: * Essequibo River, the largest river in Guyana * Essequibo (colony), a former Dutch colony in what is now Guyana; * Esseq ...

, and

Berbice Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 to 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain a ...

. In the newly established

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...

, these colonies were organized in the following way until 1828: As a cost-reducing measure, the three colonies were merged into a single West Indies colony ruled from Paramaribo, Suriname, in 1828. This proved to be an unhappy arrangement, causing it to be partially reverted in 1845. Sint Eustatius did not regain its status as a separate colony, however, and came to be ruled from Willemstad, Curaçao:

Politics

In 1865, Curaçao's government regulation (Dutch: ''Regeringsreglement voor Curaçao en onderhorige eilanden'') was altered to allow for a limited autonomy for the colony. The structure established in this regulation remained in force until 1936, when the first Constitution of Curaçao was enacted. This new basic law followed on a revision of the Dutch constitution in 1922, in which all references to "colony" were deleted. In the new parliament established in the colony, the Estates of Curaçao, ten out of fifteen members were elected by popular vote, with the remaining five being appointed by the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Only about 5% of the population of both colonies was allowed to vote in the elections.

Gradual decolonization

The reforms in the government structure of the colony until the Second World War were largely superficial, and thus Curaçao continued to be governed as a colony. This changed after the conclusion of the Second World War.

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...

had promised in a 1942 speech to offer autonomy to the overseas territories of the Netherlands, and British and American occupation—with consent by the Dutch government—of the islands during the war led to increasing demands for autonomy within the population as well. In May 1948, a new constitution for the territory entered into force, allowing the largest amount of autonomy allowed under the Dutch constitution of 1922. Among other things,

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

was introduced. The territory was renamed to "Netherlands Antilles" as well. After the Dutch constitution was revised in 1948, a new interim Constitution of the Netherlands Antilles was enacted in February 1951. Shortly thereafter, on 3 March 1951, the

Island Regulation of the Netherlands Antilles The Islands Regulation of the Netherlands Antilles (, ERNA; , RIAH) described the autonomy of the island territories of the Netherlands Antilles. It was enacted on 3 March 1951 by royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by ...

(

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''Eilandenregeling Nederlandse Antillen'' or ''ERNA'';

Papiamento Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; nl, Papiaments) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Arub ...

: ''Regulashon Insular delas Antias Hulandes'' or ''RIAH'') was issued by

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

, giving fairly substantial autonomy to the various island territories in the Netherlands Antilles. A consolidated version of this regulation remained in force until the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. The new constitution was only deemed an interim arrangement, as negotiations for a Charter for the Kingdom were already underway. On 15 December 1954, the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname, and the Netherlands acceded as equal partners to an overarching Kingdom of the Netherlands as established in the

. With this move, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

deemed decolonization of the territory complete and removed it from the

United Nations list of non-self-governing territories Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter defines a non-self-governing territory (NSGT) as a territory "whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government". In practice, an NSGT is a territory deemed by the United Nations Gene ...

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Curacao and Dependencies Former colonies of the Dutch Caribbean Dependent territories in the Caribbean 20th century in Curaçao 20th century in Aruba 20th century in Bonaire Netherlands Antilles States and territories established in 1815 States and territories disestablished in 1954 1815 establishments in Curaçao and Dependencies 1954 disestablishments in the Netherlands Antilles 1815 establishments in the Dutch Empire 1954 disestablishments in the Dutch Empire