Guadeloupe

History of Guadeloupe

With the abolition of slavery proclaimed by Convention on February 4, 1794, the slaves revolt and freed claim the political equality. The English come to assistance of the royalist landowners and occupy the island for two months before the Republicans with at their head Victor Hugues, emissary of Convention, supported by the slaves and its 1500 men make themselves main from the island and carry out many royalists.

In 1802, Napoleon restores slavery and continues the combat against the English for the conquest of the islands.

In metropolis since 1842, Lamartine, Barbès and Victor Schoelcher claim the emancipation of the slaves, which will lead to abolition by the decrees of March 4 and April 27, 1848. 87 000 guadeloupéens black became French citizens and forsook, for a good part, the very hard agricultural work, the production of sugar fall from 33000 to 12000 tons.
From 1853 the colonists of the time organized the immigration of free workers Hindous, the " coolies ", in order to mitigate the crisis of labour, which enriches the population by the island of a new ethnos group.

In 1912, the population rises with 212 000 inhabitants. During the First World War, 30 000 West-Indians fight in the allied rows 20 000 of them were killed, wounded or made captive. 1928 are the year which knew the worst cyclone of the century for the islanders.
Two years after, the metropolitan customs mode applies to the French West Indies.
March 19, 1946, the island becomes a French department.

From 1982 with the progressive installation of decentralization, the independence ideas weaken.