History Saint Barths

 Historical dates

In November 1493: discovery of the island by Christopher Columbus. He names it after his brother.
In 1648: the first French settlers arrive, led by Jacques Le Gente.
In 1651: the island is sold to the order of Malta.
In 1656: slaughter of the settlers by the Carib Indians.
In 1659: return of the French settlers.
In 1665: Colbert buys Saint Barts off the Order and makes it a possession of the French crown.
In 1784: Saint Barts is sold to Gustav III, King of Sweden. The Swedish remain on the island for 93 years.
In 1785: the island becomes a prosperous free port.
In 1852: decline of the island which undergoes successive epidemics, hurricanes and fires.
In 1878: France buys Saint Barts again for 320,000 gold francs. The island remains a free port.
In 1946: Saint Barthelemy is administratively annexed to the department of Guadeloupe and becomes one of its districts.
In 1995: hurricane Luis causes a lot of damage to the island.
December 7th 2003: Guadeloupe refuses the institutional reform plan suggested by the elected representatives. Saint Barthelemy chooses to stop being one of Guadeloupe's communes to become a fully-fledged Overseas Community. From then on, decisions concerning this territory are directly agreed on by Saint Barthelemy and mainland France.