Guiana

Guiana is a member nation of the United British Empire on the Caribbean coast of South America east of New Granada and west of the Brazilian province of Santos. Guiana was first settled by the Dutch in 1616, a trading post 15 miles up the Essequibo River. Other settlements followed, usually a few miles inland on the larger rivers. The initial purpose of the Dutch settlements was trade with the indigenous people. The Dutch aim soon changed to the acquisition of territory as other European powers gained colonies elsewhere in the Caribbean. Although Guiana was claimed by the Spanish, who sent periodic patrols through the region, the Dutch gained control over the region early in the seventeenth century. In 1621 the Dutch government gave the newly-formed Dutch West India Company control over the Essequibo settlement and the others that followed. Dutch sovereignty was officially recognized with the signing of the Treaty of Munster in 1648.

Over the course of the seventeenth century the economy of the Guiana settlements shifted from trade to growing tobacco. Plantations were established, and as the native population died out, the Dutch began importing Negro slaves. The dismal conditions the slaves worked under led to half a dozen slave uprisings. In the late eighteenth century growing conflicts between the settlers and the Dutch West India Company led to Guiana coming under control of the Dutch government. During the Trans-Oceanic War in the late 1790s Guiana was conquered by the French, then taken from the French by the British.

After the conquest of New Granada by the United States of Mexico in 1890, Guiana became a de facto Mexican dependency, as did the nearby South American nations of Quito and Rio Negro. With the fall from power of Benito Hermión in the Cortez coup of October 1901, the British regained control of Guiana, and the country became a member of the United British Commonwealth when it was formed in 1906. Guiana remains part of the United Empire as of 1971.