GRADE FIVE SOCIAL STUDIES
Hello Boys and Girls, Are you enjoying your holidays? Make sure that you read a lot and revise and practise what you have learnt in order to be able to do or know it better. This week our focus will be on the forts that played an important part in the early history of Guyana. These forts are mostly ruins but because of their importance they are now national monuments.
National monuments which tell of historical events
What is a fort? A fort can be defined as a strong building or a place with a wall or a fence around it, which is used by soldiers to protect and defend them and important places such as settlements, crossings and towns from their enemies.
The Dutch, the earliest European settlers in Guyana built forts cleverly, in positions where they were most useful in defending and protecting their interest from the attacks and destruction from their rivals or enemies. These forts were also used as headquarters from where the Dutch governed their colonies. How many of the Dutch forts have you heard of or read about? Let us find out about these forts, their names and locations.
Fort Zeelandia On an island named Fort Island, about 16 km from the mouth of the mighty Essequibo River stands the remains of Fort Zeelandia. Next to the fort the Dutch built the Court of Policy and Dutch Church. Half of the building was used as the Court of Policy and the other half used as a church. Fort Island was once the capital of the colony of Essequibo. It was from there they ruled the colony. This fort built in 1744 served to protect the interests of the Dutch from their enemies, the English and the French and also as stronghold against the slaves who rebelled. The brick fort was designed by Laurens Storm Van Gravesande who was the secretary of the colony of Essequibo.
If you take a trip to Fort Island you would be surprised to find the walls of Fort Zeelandia and the Court of Policy building still standing. The weapons store which once stored ammunition is still in the compound of the fort along with cannons pointed towards the river as a reminder of the hostile climate back then. Also, you will see the tombs of one or two Dutch officials inside the church.
Fort Nassau This was another fort built to defend Dutch settlement. It was constructed about 56 miles up the Berbice River, on the eastern bank. In 1627, a Dutch merchant named Abraham Van Pere with permission from the Dutch West India Company to establish a settlement in Berbice sent his first settlers to build a fort. Whether they built the original Fort Nassau or not is not quite clear. However, we do know that the first Fort Nassau was burnt by the French in 1712, but was rebuilt by the Dutch. In 1763, during the slave revolt, the Dutch governor Van Hoogenheim passed an order that it be destroyed in order to prevent the rebelling slaves from capturing it. Later, in 1764 the Dutch constructed some strong defences and a large warehouse on the site. The ruins of these are still evident on the site.
By 1785 the fort was finally abandoned and a new settlement formed downstream. This settlement was named Fort Andries. It later became known as the town of New Amsterdam.
Fort Kyk-Over-Al Fort Kyk-Over-Al, a small red brick fort was built on a small island at the junction of the Essequibo, Cuyuni and Mazaruni rivers. No one seems to know the exact date when the fort was erected, but it may have been sometime in the 1620s or later. The fort was used as a storehouse for the goods from the indigenous people and as the centre of administration for the Dutch. Around the fort were provision grounds and benabs for the conduct of trade with the indigenous tribes. The name Kyk-Over-Al means “see over all” referring to the good view of the rivers from the fort.
For you to do
1. Why was it important for the Dutch soldiers to have a good view of the rivers from Fort Kyk-Over-Al? 2. On the map below show the locations of the three forts mentioned. Insert their names.