GRADE FIVE Social Studies

The Grade Six pupils have finished their Secondary Schools Entrance Examination and are now awaiting their results. So, it is now time for our attention to be focused on you who will soon be the new batch of Grade Six pupils to write this national examination in 2019. From this week until the end August 2018 Grade Five Social Studies Lessons will be presented. These lessons will help you to revise or learn new concepts.

This week we will have a glimpse into our history to learn about our country before it became an independent country.

Guyana as a Colony As you know, Guyana was given its name by the indigenous people – the Amerindians who were the first to come to this country long, long before the European explorers arrived here. They have left us with the name Guyana which means “Land of many waters”.

It was sometime in the early 1600s that some Dutch traders came to our country and established the first European settlement – a trading post at Kyk-over-al in the Essequibo River. That trading post set up in 1616 was for the purpose of trading with the Amerindians. The Europeans brought cloth, colourful beads, axes, knives and other articles for the Amerindians and exchanged them for dyes, cassava, fish and hammocks.

The Dutch in the Netherlands formed the Dutch West India Company in 1621 and the government gave it complete control of the trading post on the Essequibo. Later, the company was in control of the colony of Essequibo. The Dutch built a fort on Kyk-over-al, sometime after they built Fort Zeelandia in the Essequibo River. They also settled in Pomeroon for a time.

The Dutch established a second colony on the Berbice River in 1627. They settled Demerara in 1741 and it became a separate colony in 1773 under the control of the Dutch West India Company.

Trading activities of the Dutch soon gave way to the establishment of plantations and agricultural activities on the banks of the Essequibo River. The main crop grown was sugar. Much later, the plantations were moved down the river to the flat coastlands. As the production of sugar and other crops increased, there was a labour shortage since the indigenous people were not suitable for work on the plantations. So, the Dutch brought enslaved Africans from Africa to provide labour. The enslaved Africans worked under brutal conditions which led to many rebellions. One such rebellion was the Berbice Slave Uprising which began in February 1763 on two plantations on the Canje River in Berbice. It was led by Cuffy. The enslaved Africans were defeated.

The Dutch, in 1746 allowed British immigrants to settle in an area near the Demerara River. So by 1760 there were more British people than Dutch settlers in Demerara. This led to the passing of the internal affairs of the colony into the hands of the British although most of the plantation owners were still Dutch.

War broke out between Britain and the Netherlands (Dutch) resulting in the British take over of Berbice, Essequibo and Demerara. France later joined with the Netherlands and seized the control of the colonies from the British. During their two-year reign, the French built a new town, Longchamps at the mouth of the Demerara River. The Dutch regained control of the colonies in 1784 and renamed the town Stabroek which they used as their new capital. In 1812 the British renamed the capital Georgetown.

War continued among the European nations for the control the colonies. In 1796 Britain won the war with France and took control of the Dutch colonies. From 1796 to 1802 Berbice and the united colony of Demerara and Essequibo were under the control of Britain. However by the Treaty of Amiens these colonies were returned to the control of the Dutch. Shortly after the signing of that treaty war began again between Britain and France and in 1803 Berbice and the united colony of Demerara and Essequibo were seized once more by British troops. In 1814 all the colonies were under the rule of Britain and in 1831 Britain united the colony of Berbice and the united colony of Demerara and Essequibo as one country – British Guiana. Britain ruled until 1966 when the country became Independent. We will continue next the topic next week. For you to do 1. Guyana was once a colony. What is a colony? 2. What was the name of Guyana when it was a colony? 3. Name the countries that ruled Guyana before it gained its independence.

Goodbye boys and girls!