colony · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean
Sint Eustatius
Origins
Zeeland settlers founded a colony on Sint Eustatius in 1636 and built Fort Oranje above the harbour at Oranjestad. The island changed hands between the Dutch, English and French many times in the 17th century before settling under the Dutch West India Company.
Rule and society
With little farmland, Statia thrived as a neutral free port where goods of every nation were traded, including arms, sugar and enslaved people. Its Lower Town was lined with warehouses, and the island had a Dutch Reformed church, a Jewish congregation and a polyglot merchant class. On 16 November 1776 Fort Oranje returned the salute of the American brig Andrew Doria, the first recognition of the new republic's flag.
Decline and legacy
Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in 1780, and Admiral George Rodney seized and plundered the island in 1781. Its trade never recovered. After further occupations, Dutch rule was restored in 1816, and in 1845 the island was placed under the colony of Curaçao and Dependencies. It is now a special municipality of the Netherlands.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (1)
- Sint Eustatius was a colony of Dutch Empire1636 CE – 1845 CE
More states of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Sint Eustatius. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sint-eustatius
- MLA
- “Sint Eustatius.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sint-eustatius. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Sint Eustatius.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sint-eustatius.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Sint Eustatius’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sint-eustatius (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻