British Guiana

British Guiana was a British colony, partof the mainland British West Indies.It was located on the northern coast of SouthAmerica. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.^{[2][page needed]}

The first known Europeans to encounter Guiana was Sir WalterRaleigh, an English explorer, and his crew. The Dutch werethe first Europeans to settle there, starting in the early 17th century. Theyfounded the colonies of Essequibo and Berbice,adding Demerara inthe mid-18th century.

In 1796, Great Britain took over these three colonies duringhostilities with the French, who had occupied the Netherlands.Britain returned control of the territory to the BatavianRepublic in 1802, but captured the colonies a year later duringthe Napoleonic Wars. TheNetherlands officially ceded the colonies to the United Kingdom in 1815.

The British consolidated the territories into a single colony in1831. The colony's capital was at Georgetown (knownas Stabroek prior to 1812). Since the late 19th century, the economy has becomemore diversified but has still relied on resource exploitation.Guyana became independent of the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966.

Establishment[edit]

The English made at least two unsuccessful attempts in the 17thcentury to colonise the lands that would later be known as British Guiana. Bythat time, the Dutch had established two colonies in the area: Essequibo,administered by the Dutch West IndiaCompany, and Berbice, administered by the Berbice Association.The Dutch West India Company founded a third colony, Demerara, inthe mid-18th century.

During the French RevolutionaryWars of the late 18th century, when the Netherlands wereoccupied by the French, and Great Britain and France were at war, Britain tookover the colony in 1796. A British expeditionary force was dispatched from itscolony of Barbados toseize the colonies from the French-dominated BatavianRepublic. The colonies surrendered without a struggle. Initiallyvery little changed, as the British agreed to allow the long-established lawsof the colonies to remain in force.

In 1802 Britain returned the colonies to the Batavian Republicunder the terms of the Treatyof Amiens. But, after resuming hostilities with France in the NapoleonicWars in 1803, Britain seized the colonies again less than ayear later. The Netherlands officially ceded the three colonies to the UnitedKingdom in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of1814.

The UK continued separate administration of the individualcolonies until 1822, when the administration of Essequibo and Demerara wascombined. In 1831, the administration Essequibo-Demerara and Berbice wascombined, and the united colony became known as British Guiana. During WorldWar II the United States Navy established NAF British Guiana and NAFParamaribo in British Guiana.^[3]

Economyand politics[edit]

The economy was based on cultivation and processing of sugarcane asa commodity crop, dependent on extensive labor by enslaved workers of mostly sub-Saharan African descent.Although the UK and the United States abolished the Atlantic slave trade in1807, the domestic slave trade flourished until Britain emancipated all theenslaved in its colonies in the 1830s. The wealth they generated had largelyflowed to a group of absentee slave owners living in Britain, especially in Glasgow and Liverpool.^{[4][page needed]}

The economy of British Guiana was completely based on sugarcane productionuntil the 1880s, when falling cane sugar prices stimulated a shift toward ricefarming, mining and forestry. But the production of sugarcane remained asignificant part of the economy (in 1959 sugar still accounted for nearly 50%of exports). Under the Dutch, settlement and economic activity was concentratedaround sugarcane plantations lying inland from the coast.

Under the British, cane planting expanded to richer coastallands, with greater coastline protection. Until the abolition of slavery inthe British Empire, sugar planters depended almost exclusively onslave labour to produce sugar. Georgetown was the site of a significant slaverebellion in 1823.

In the 1880s gold and diamond deposits were discovered inBritish Guiana, including what was thought to be the world's largest diamond in1922.^[5] Theydid not generate significant revenue.

Bauxite depositsproved more promising and would remain an important part of the economy. Thecolony did not develop any significant manufacturing industry, other than sugarfactories, rice mills, sawmills, and certainsmall-scale industries (including a brewery, a soap factory, a biscuit factoryand an oxygen-acetylene plant, among others).

The London-based BookerGroup of companies (Booker Brothers, McConnell & Co., Ltd)dominated the economy of British Guiana. The Bookers had owned sugarplantations in the colony since the early 19th century; by the end of thecentury they owned a majority of them. By 1950 they owned all but three. Withthe increasing success and wealth of the Booker Group, they expandedinternationally and diversified by investing in rum, pharmaceuticals,publishing, advertising, retail stores, timber, and petroleum, among otherindustries. The Booker Group became the largest employer in the colony, leadingsome to refer to it as "Booker's Guiana".

Indentured workers wererecruited from India from 1850 to 1920, and were largely locked in place. Aminority achieved mobility. Some secretly fled; others waited until theircontracts expired. Indian migration within the colonies involved three phases:desertion from the plantations; movement settlements and later to urban areas;and intra-regional migration from one Caribbean island to another. Thetraditional rigid Indian castesystem largely collapsed in the colonies.^{[6][page needed]}

Guianese served in all British forces during the Second WorldWar, and enjoyed veterans' benefits afterwards. The colony made a small butimportant financial contribution to the war effort. It also served as a refugefor Jews displaced from continental Europe, where the Nazis and Fascists workedto destroy them in the Holocaust.^{[7][page needed]}

Railways[edit]

Britishcolonists built the first railway system in British Guiana: 98 km(61 mi) of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge, fromGeorgetown to Rosignol, and 31 km (19 mi) of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) line between Vreeden Hoop andParika; it opened in 1848. Several narrow-gauge lineswere built to serve the sugar industry and others were built to serve the laterbauxite and other mines.

In 1948, when the railwayin Bermuda was closed down, the locomotives, rolling stock,track, sleepers and virtually all the associated paraphernalia of a railwaywere shipped to British Guiana to renovate the aged system.

The lines ceased to operate in 1972. The large Central Stationis still standing in Georgetown. Some of the inland mines still operatenarrow-gauge lines.

Administration[edit]

See also: List of Governors of BritishGuiana

The British long continued the forms ofDutch colonial government in British Guiana. A Court of Policy exercised both legislative andexecutive functions under the direction of the colonial Governor (whichexisted from 1831 to 1966). A group known as the Financial Representatives satwith the Court of Policy in a Combined Court to set tax policies. A majority ofthe members of the Courts was appointed by the Governor; the rest were selectedby a College of Kiezers (Electors).The Kiezers were elected, with the restrictive franchise basedon property holdings and limited to the larger landowners of the colony. TheCourts were dominated in the early centuries by the sugar planters and theirrepresentatives.

In 1891 the College of Kiezers was abolished in favour of directelection of the elective membership of the Courts. Membership of the Court ofPolicy became half elected and half appointed, and all of the FinancialRepresentatives became elective positions. The executive functions of the Courtof Policy were transferred to a new Executive Council under the control of theGovernor. Property qualifications were significantly relaxed for voters and forcandidates to the Courts.

In 1928 the British Government abolishedthe Dutch-influenced constitution and replaced it with a Crowncolony constitution. A Legislative Council with an appointedmajority was established, and the administrative powers of the Governor werestrengthened. These constitutional changes were not popular among the Guyanese,who viewed them as a step backward. The franchise was extended to women.

In 1938 the West India RoyalCommission ("The Moyne Commission") was appointed toinvestigate the economic and social condition of all the British colonies inthe Caribbean regionafter a number of civil and labourdisturbances. Among other changes, the Commission recommended someconstitutional reforms. As a result, in 1943 a majority of the LegislativeCouncil seats became elective, the property qualifications for voters and forcandidates for the Council were lowered, and the bar on women and clergyserving on the Council was abolished. The Governor retained control of theExecutive Council, which had the power to veto or pass laws against the wishesof the Legislative Council.

The next round of constitutional reforms came in 1953. A bicamerallegislature, consisting of a lower House of Assembly andan upper State Council, was established. The voting membership of the House ofAssembly was entirely elective. The membership of the State Council wasappointed by the Governor and the House of Assembly and possessed limitedrevisionary powers. A Court of Policy became the executive body, consisting ofthe Governor and other colonial officials. Universal adult suffrage wasinstituted, and the property qualifications for office abolished.

The election of 27 April1953 under the new system provoked a serious constitutionalcrisis. The People's ProgressiveParty (PPP) won 18 of the 24 seats in the House of Assembly.This result alarmed the British Government, which was surprised by the strongshowing of the PPP. It considered the PPP as too friendly with communistorganisations.

As a result of its fears of communist influence in the colony,the British Government suspended the constitution, declared a state of emergency,and militarily occupied British Guiana on 9 October 1953. Under the directionof the British Colonial Office,the Governor assumed direct rule of the colony under an Interim Government,which continued until 1957. On 12 August 1957, elections wereheld and the PPP won nine of fourteen elective seats in a new legislature.

A constitutional convention convened in London in March 1960reached agreement on another new legislature, to consist of an elected House ofAssembly (35 seats) and a nominated Senate (13 seats). In the ensuing electionof 21 August 1961, the PPP won 20 seats in the House of Assembly, entitling itas the majority party to appoint eight senators. Upon the 1961 election,British Guiana also became self-governing,except as to defence and external matters. The leader of the majority partybecame Prime Minister, who then named a Council of Ministers, replacing theformer Executive Council.

From 1962 to 1964, riots, strikes and other disturbancesstemming from racial, social and economic conflicts delayed full independencefor British Guiana. The leaders of the political parties reported to theBritish Colonial Secretary that they were unable to reach agreement on theremaining details of forming an independent government. The British ColonialOffice intervened by imposing its own independence plan, in part requiringanother election under a new proportionalrepresentation system. Britain expected that this system wouldreduce the number of seats won by the PPP and prevent it from obtaining amajority.

The December 1964 elections for the new legislature gave the PPP45.8% (24 seats), the People's NationalCongress (PNC) 40.5% (22 seats) and the United Force (UF) 12.4%(7 seats). The UF agreed to form a coalition government withthe PNC, and accordingly, the PNC leader became the new Prime Minister. InNovember 1965 an independence conference in London quickly reached agreement onan independent constitution; it set the date for independence as 26 May 1966.On that date, at 12 midnight, British Guiana became the new nation of Guyana.

Territorialdisputes[edit]

Westernboundary with Venezuela[edit]

Main article: Guyana–Venezuela territorialdispute

In 1840, the British Government assigned the German-bornexplorer Robert HermannSchomburgk to survey and mark out the western boundary ofBritish Guiana with newly independent Venezuela.Venezuela did not accept the SchomburgkLine, which placed the entire CuyuniRiver basin within the colony. Venezuela claimed all lands westof the Essequibo River as itsterritory (see map in this section).

The dispute continued on and off for half a century, culminatingin the Venezuela Crisis of1895, in which Venezuela sought to use the United States' MonroeDoctrine to win support for its position. US President GroverCleveland used diplomatic pressure to get the British to agreeto arbitration of the issue, ultimately agreeing terms for the arbitration thatsuited Britain. An arbitrationtribunal convened in Paris in 1898, and issued its award in1899. The tribunal awarded about 94% of the disputed territory to BritishGuiana. A commission surveyed a new border according to the award, and theparties accepted the boundary in 1905.

There the matter rested until 1962, when Venezuela renewed its19th-century claim, alleging that the arbitral award was invalid. After hisdeath, Severo Mallet-Prevost, legal counsel for Venezuela and a named partnerin the New York law firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost,Colt & Mosle published a letter alleging that the judges onthe tribunal acted improperly as a result of a back-room deal between Russiaand Great Britain. The British Government rejected this claim, asserting thevalidity of the 1899 award. The British Guiana Government, then under theleadership of the PPP, also strongly rejected this claim. Efforts by allparties to resolve the matter on the eve of Guyana's independence in 1966failed; as of today, the dispute remains unresolved.

Eastern boundary with Suriname[edit]

See also: Borders of Suriname

Robert Schomburgk's 1840 commission also included a survey ofthe colony's eastern boundary with the Dutch colony of Surinam,now the independentnation of Suriname. The 1899 arbitration award settling the BritishGuiana–Venezuela border made reference to the border with Suriname ascontinuing to the source of the CourantyneRiver, which it named as the KutariRiver. The Netherlands raised a diplomatic protest, claiming thatthe New River,and not the Kutari, was to be regarded as the source of the Courantyne and theboundary. The British government in 1900 replied that the issue was alreadysettled by the longstanding acceptance of the Kutari as the boundary.

In 1962, the Kingdom of theNetherlands, on behalf of its then-constituent country ofSuriname, finally made formal claim to the "New River Triangle",the triangular-shaped region between the New and Kutari rivers that was indispute. The then Surinamese colonial government and, after 1975, theindependent Surinamese government, maintained the Dutch position, while theBritish Guiana Government, and later the independent Guyanese government,maintained the British position.

Stamps and postal history of British Guiana[edit]

Main article: Postage stamps and postal historyof British Guiana

BritishGuiana is famous among philatelists for itsearly postage stamps, which were first issued in 1850. These stamps includesome of the rarest, most expensive stamps in the world, such as the unique British Guiana 1cmagenta from 1856, which was sold in 2014 for US$9.5 million.^[8]

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