The History of Sao Tome and Principe

Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe

By 1515, São Tomé and Príncipe had become slave depots for the coastal slave trade centered at Elmina.[14] The cultivation of sugar was a labour-intensive process and the Portuguese began to enslave large numbers of Africans from the continent. In the sugar boom's early stages, property on the islands had little value, with farming for local consumption while the economy relied mainly on the transit of slaves, though already many foodstuffs were imported.[15] When the local landowner Álvaro Borges died in 1504, his cleared land and domesticated animals were sold for only 13,000 réis, about the price of three slaves.[16] According to Valentim Fernandes around 1506, São Tomé had more sugarcane fields than Madeira "from which they already produce molasses,"[17] but the island lacked facilities for industrial sugar production.

Independence (1975)

By the late 1950s, when other emerging nations across the African continent demanded their independence, a small group of São Toméans formed the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP), which eventually established its base in nearby Gabon. Picking up momentum in the 1960s, events moved quickly after the overthrow of the Caetano dictatorship in Portugal in April 1974. The new Portuguese regime was committed to the dissolution of its overseas colonies. In November 1974, their representatives met with the MLSTP in Algiers and worked out an agreement for the transfer of sovereignty. After a period of transitional government, São Tomé and Príncipe achieved independence on 12 July 1975, choosing as the first president the MLSTP Secretary General Manuel Pinto da Costa. In 1990, São Tomé became one of the first African countries to undergo democratic reform, and changes to the constitution - the legalization of opposition political parties - led to elections in 1991 that were nonviolent, free, and transparent. Miguel Trovoada, a former prime minister who had been in exile since 1986, returned as an independent candidate and was elected president. Trovoada was re-elected in São Tomé's second multiparty presidential election in 1996.

São Tomé and Príncipe in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries

Eventually, competition from sugar-producing colonies in the Western Hemisphere began to hurt the islands. The large enslaved population also proved difficult to control, with Portugal unable to invest many resources in the effort. Sugar cultivation thus declined over the next 100 years, and by the mid-17th century, São Tomé had become primarily a transit point for ships engaged in the slave trade between continental Africa and the Americas. Railroad in São Tomé and Príncipe circa 1919 In the early 19th century, two new cash crops, coffee and cocoa, were introduced. The rich volcanic soils proved well suited to the new crops, and soon extensive plantations (known as roças), owned by Portuguese companies or absentee landlords, occupied almost all of the good farmland.[citation needed] By 1908, São Tomé had become the world's largest producer of cocoa, which remains the country's most important crop. The roças system, which gave the plantation managers a high degree of authority, led to abuses against the African farm workers. Although Portugal officially abolished slavery in 1876, the practice of forced paid labour continued. Scientific American documented in words and pictures the continued use of slaves in São Tomé in its 13 March 1897 issue.[citation needed] Observations of the solar eclipse of May 29, 1919 in Príncipe by Sir Arthur Eddington provided one of the first successful tests of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.

Independent Democratic Action

It took part in the 29 July 2001 presidential elections, in which its candidate, Fradique de Menezes, won 55.2% of the vote and was elected president. After the elections Fradique de Menezes joined a new party - the Force for Change Democratic Movement-Liberal Party. In the legislative election held on 3 March 2002, the Independent Democratic Action was the main party in the Uê Kédadji alliance, that won 16.2% of the popular vote and 8 out of 55 seats. It left this alliance and won in the 2006 election 11 out of 55 seats. In the July 2006 presidential election, its leader Patrice Trovoada ran as the only major opposition candidate, but he was defeated by Menezes.

Democratic Convergence Party

It was founded on 4 November 1990 by Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP) dissidents, independents, and young professionals. Leonel Mário d'Alva is the party leader. The party won the 1991 parliamentary election and was the ruling party from 1991 to 1994. Since 1994 its power has declined, and it has maintained coalitions with other parties, first the MLSTP and then the Forces for Change Coalition of current President Fradique de Menezes. It was led for several years by Alda Bandeira.

Economic development in the 16th century

São Tomé would only become economically noteworthy with the introduction of a water-powered sugar mill in 1515, which soon led to the mass cultivation of sugar:[18] "The fields are expanding and the sugar mills, too. At this time, only two sugar mills are here and another three are being built, counting the mill of the contractors, which is large. Similarly, the necessary conditions exist, such as streams and timber, to be able to build many more. And the [sugar] canes are the biggest I have ever seen in my life." Sugar plantations were organized with slave labor, and by the mid-16th century, the Portuguese settlers had turned the islands into Africa's foremost exporter of sugar.[19] Slaves in São Tomé were bought from the Slave Coast of West Africa, the Niger Delta, the island of Fernando Po, and later from the Kongo and Angola.[20] In the 16th century, the enslaved were imported from and exported to Portugal, Elmina, the Kingdom of Kongo, Angola, and the Spanish Americas. In 1510, reportedly 10,000 to 12,000 slaves were imported by Portugal.[21] In 1516, São Tomé received 4,072 slaves with the purpose of re-exportation.[21] From 1519 to 1540, the island was the center of the slave trade between Elmina and the Niger Delta.[22] Throughout the early to mid sixteenth century, São Tomé traded in slaves intermittently with Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo.[23] In 1525 São Tomé began trafficking slaves to the Spanish Americas, mainly to the Caribbean and Brazil.[24] From 1532 to 1536, São Tomé sent an annual average of 342 slaves to the Antilles.[25] Prior to 1580, the island accounted for 75 percent of Brazil's imports, mainly slaves.[25] The slave trade remained a cornerstone of São Tomé's economy until after 1600. The power dynamics of São Tomé in the 16th century were surprisingly diverse with the participation of free mulatto[s] and black citizens in governance. Voluntary colonists shunned São Tomé for its disease and food shortages, so the Portuguese crown deported convicts to the island and encouraged interracial relationships to secure the colony. Slavery was also not permanent, as demonstrated through the 1515 royal decree granting the manumission of African wives of white settlers and their mixed-race children.[26] In 1517, another decree freed the male slaves who had originally arrived on the island with the first colonists.[26] After 1520, a royal charter allowed for property-owning, married, free mulattos to hold public offices.[26] This was followed by a decree in 1546 establishing civil equality between these qualified mulattos and the white settlers,[26] allowing free mulattos and black citizens opportunities for upward mobility and participation in local politics and business. Social divisions led to frequent disputes within the colony's town councils and with the governor and bishop,[27] with constant political unstability.

Slave rebellions

The first signs of slave rebellion began in the 1530s, when the maroon gangs organized to attack plantations, some of which were abandoned.[30] A formal complaint was lodged by local Portuguese authorities in 1531 lamenting that too many settlers and black citizens were being killed in the attacks, and that the island would be lost if the problem remained unresolved.[30] In a 1533 'bush war', a 'bush captain' led militia units to suppress the maroons.[30] A significant event in the maroon fight for freedom occurred in 1549, when two men claiming to be free-born were taken in from the macambos by a wealthy mulatto planter named Ana de Chaves.[30] With the support of de Chaves, the two men petitioned the king to be declared free, and the request was approved. The largest population of marroons coincided with the sugar boom of the mid-16th century, as the plantations teemed with slaves.[30] Between 1587 and 1590, many of the runaway slaves were defeated in another bush war.[31] By 1593, the governor declared the maroon forces almost completely extinguished.[32] Nevertheless, maroon populations kept settlers away from the southern and western regions. The greatest slave revolt occurred in July 1595, when the government was weakened by disputes between the bishop and the governor. A native slave named Amador recruited 5000 slaves to raid and destroy plantations, sugar mills, and settler houses.[31] Amador's rebellion made three raids on the town and destroyed 60 of the island's 85 sugar mills, but they were defeated by the militia after three weeks. Two hundred slaves were killed in combat, and Amador and the other rebel leaders were executed, while the rest of the slaves were granted amnesty and returned to their plantations. So ended one of the greatest slave uprisings to that time.[31] Smaller slave rebellions followed in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Arrival of Europeans

The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe were allegedly uninhabited when the Portuguese arrived sometime around 1470. The first Europeans to put ashore were João de Santarém and Pêro Escobar. Portuguese navigators explored the islands and decided that they would be good locations for bases to trade with the mainland. The dates of European arrival are sometimes given as 21 December (St Thomas's Day) 1471, for São Tomé; and 17 January (St Antony's Day) 1472, for Príncipe, though other sources cite different years around that time. Príncipe was initially named Santo Antão ("Saint Anthony"), changing its name in 1502 to Ilha do Príncipe ("Prince's Island"), in reference to the Prince of Portugal to whom duties on the island's sugar crop were paid. The first successful settlement of São Tomé was established in 1493 by Álvaro Caminha, who received the land as a grant from the crown.[12] Príncipe was settled in 1500 under a similar arrangement. Attracting settlers proved difficult, however, and most of the earliest inhabitants were "undesirables" sent from Portugal, mostly Jews.[13] In time, these settlers found the volcanic soil of the region suitable for agriculture, especially the growing of sugar.

Geological history

The two islands that make up what is called São Tomé and Príncipe were formed 30 million years ago during the Oligocene era, due to volcanic activity beneath deep water along the Cameroon Line. The volcanic soils of basalts and phonolites, dating to 3 million years, have been used for plantation crops since colonial times.

Slave Coast of West Africa

a historical name formerly used for that part of coastal West Africa along the Bight of Benin that is located between the Volta River and the Lagos Lagoon.[1][2] The name is derived from the region's history as a major source of African people taken into slavery during the Atlantic slave trade from the early 16th century to the late 19th century.[3][4] Other nearby coastal regions historically known by their prime colonial export are the Gold Coast, the Ivory Coast (or Windward Coast), and the Pepper Coast (or Grain Coast).

In the early 20th century,

an internationally publicized controversy arose over charges that Angolan contract workers were being subjected to forced labour and unsatisfactory working conditions. Sporadic labor unrest and dissatisfaction continued well into the 20th century, culminating in an outbreak of riots in 1953 in which several hundred African laborers were killed in a clash with their Portuguese rulers. The anniversary of this "Batepá Massacre" remains officially observed by the government.

Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919

on Thursday, May 29, 1919. With the duration of totality at maximum eclipse of 6 minutes 50.75 seconds, it was the longest solar eclipse since May 27, 1416. A longer total solar eclipse would later occur on June 8, 1937.[1] As it occurred only 0.8 days after perigee (May 28), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. It was visible throughout most of South America and Africa as a partial eclipse. Totality occurred through a narrow path across southeastern Peru, northern Chile, central Bolivia and Brazil after sunrise, across the Atlantic Ocean and into south central Africa, covering southern Liberia, southern French West Africa (the part now belonging to Ivory Coast), southwestern tip of British Gold Coast (now Ghana), Príncipe Island in Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe, southern Spanish Guinea (now Equatorial Guinea), French Equatorial Africa (the parts now belonging to Gabon and R. Congo, including Libreville), Belgian Congo (now DR Congo), northeastern Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), northern tip of Nyasaland (now Malawi), German East Africa (now belonging to Tanzania) and northeastern Portuguese Mozambique (now Mozambique), ending near sunset in eastern Africa. There was another solar eclipse in 1919, an annular solar eclipse on November 22.

Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe

one of the main political parties in São Tomé and Príncipe. Jorge Bom Jesus is the current president of the party.