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117-770: Some 60 km (37 mi) northwest of the French Guianese capital Cayenne the Kourou River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. At the mouth of this river sits the town of Kourou, which is ringed by four hills: Carapa, Pariacabo, Café and Lombard, with the Singes and Condamine mountains not far behind. There are three lakes within the town's city limits: Lake Bois Diable (where one can take lessons in jetski and other aquatic sports), Lake Marie-Claire (the smallest and calmest), and Lake Bois Chaudat (the biggest of

234-492: A tropical monsoon climate ( Köppen Am ) with a short dry season centered between the months of August and October when the Intertropical Convergence Zone is furthest north. During the remainder of the year rainfall is always heavy. Between November and July a total of 2,396.4 millimetres or 94.35 inches can be expected in nine months, with rain on most days and very cloudy skies. Kourou's economy

351-505: A European tradition observed throughout the carnival. The cake can be frangipane, cream, coconut or guava . After the abolition of slavery in 1848, the economy of French Guiana was devastated, and much of the population lived by working the land in “habitations”. People farmed and knew the value of working together. The tradition of the king cake was born in the Guiana of this period, or more precisely, “rend le bouquet”. One couple organized

468-529: A cathedral. It was consecrated in November 1934 by monseigneur Pierre Gourtay  [ fr ] , the first bishop of Guyana. In 1952, construction workers discovered a lead case containing 21 coins, the oldest of which dated to the Napoleonic period, and 20 seals from the reign of Charles X . Between 1952 and 1954, the ceiling, the windows, and the floors of the tribunal were replaced. The bell tower

585-541: A child, he filed a freedom suit , on the grounds that he could not be held as a slave in Great Britain . In the case of Knight v. Wedderburn (1778), Wedderburn said that Knight owed him "perpetual servitude". The Court of Session of Scotland ruled against him, saying that chattel slavery was not recognized under the law of Scotland , and slaves could seek court protection to leave a master or avoid being forcibly removed from Scotland to be returned to slavery in

702-520: A mayor and a municipal council. The current mayor is Sandra Trochimara, who was 1st deputy mayor under the former mayor Marie-Laure Phinéra-Horth , and succeeded her as mayor of Cayenne in October 2020 after Phinéra-Horth won the local Senate race the month before (under French law, members of the French Senate cannot exercise the mandate of mayor). Marie-Laure Phinéra-Horth, a former member of

819-516: A small village until the arrival of the Expedition. In 1744, La Condamine , in charge of the expedition sent to Peru in 1735 to determine the length of a degree of the meridian arc in the neighbourhood of the equator, passed by and gave his name to one of the mountains behind Kourou. The mission at Kourou being abandoned by the Jesuits, the engineers Mentelle and Tugny designed the layout of

936-641: A strike concerning university funding led to the creation of a separate institution in 2014. In The Hardy Boys #12: Footprints Under the Window , the Hardys' investigations take them to Cayenne. The 1955 film We're No Angels involves three prisoners who escaped from Devil's Island and settled incognito into a family store in Cayenne. Abolitionism in France Abolitionism , or

1053-444: A very short dry season – the dry season covers only August to October, while the wet season covers the remainder of the year. Some precipitation is seen even during the dry season, a trait common in tropical climates. Cayenne averages roughly 3,500 millimetres (140 in) of rain each year. In 1823 Father Nicolas Guiller and Baron Pierre Bernard Milius  [ fr ] , administrator of French Guiana , decided to replace

1170-605: A writ of habeas corpus . As a result, Lord Mansfield , Chief Justice of the Court of the King's Bench , had to judge whether Somersett's abduction was lawful or not under English Common Law . No legislation had ever been passed to establish slavery in England. The case received national attention, and five advocates supported the action on behalf of Somersett. In his judgement of 22 June 1772, Mansfield declared: The state of slavery

1287-481: Is allowed or approved by the law of England; and therefore the black must be discharged. Although the exact legal implications of the judgement are unclear when analysed by lawyers, the judgement was generally taken at the time to have determined that slavery did not exist under English common law and was thus prohibited in England. The decision did not apply to the British overseas territories; by then, for example,

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1404-531: Is in charge of refuse collection, water supply and sewage treatment, urban planning, and public transport for the 5,087 km (1,964 sq mi) of Cayenne and its suburbs. Until 2015, the commune of Cayenne was divided into six cantons , but these were abolished in 2015 when the department and the region of French Guiana were abolished and replaced by the French Guiana Territorial Collectivity. The places of birth of

1521-701: Is largely dominated by the CSG, from which the European Ariane rockets are launched, as well as the Russian Soyuz and the Italian Vega rockets. Kourou is served by Kourou Airport , located 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) at the west of the city. Kourou is the main town on an "administrative district" of French Guiana. Such a district is equivalent to a county in the United States . Kourou

1638-622: Is legal. As the Empire of Japan annexed Asian countries, from the late 19th century onwards, archaic institutions including slavery were abolished in those countries. During the 20th century, the League of Nations founded a number of commissions, Temporary Slavery Commission (1924–1926), Committee of Experts on Slavery (1932) and the Advisory Committee of Experts on Slavery (1934–1939), which conducted international investigations of

1755-416: Is of such a nature that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political, but only by positive law, which preserves its force long after the reasons, occasions, and time itself from whence it was created, is erased from memory. It is so odious, that nothing can be suffered to support it, but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, therefore, may follow from a decision, I cannot say this case

1872-498: Is on the estuary of the river Mahury , replacing Larivot and the Îles du Salut . Timber , rosewood essence, rum, and gold are exported in small quantities. In the mid-1960s sugarcane and pineapple were planted around the city, and a pineapple cannery and a shrimp-processing plant were later built. A seafront avenue links Cayenne with the suburbs of Chaton and Montabo, where the French Institute of Tropical America and

1989-517: Is part of the Guianan Creole culture. It was originally a carnival as practiced in Europe. In early colonial times , the settlers held the carnival, but it was forbidden to slaves. Braving the ban, slaves Held clandestine festivals to regain some freedom, celebrate Africans, fertility and harvest, and make fun of the settlers. The fat days close the carnival: Groups disguised according to

2106-473: Is represented in Paris as part of French Guiana's 2nd constituency , which has been held by former Kourou city councilor Davy Rimane since 2022. This Commune is also featured in the 2021 video game Battlefield 2042 as the setting of multiplayer map Orbital. Cayenne Cayenne ( / k eɪ ˈ ɛ n / ; French pronunciation: [kajɛn] ; Guianese Creole French : Kayenn )

2223-687: Is the prefecture of French Guiana , an overseas region and department of France located in South America and its capital city. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's motto is "fert aurum industria", which means "work brings wealth". Cayenne is the largest Francophone city of the South American continent. In the 2021 census, there were 151,103 inhabitants in

2340-518: Is the city's botanical garden . Cayenne is served by the Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport , which is located in the neighbouring commune of Matoury . French Guiana's main seaport is the port of Dégrad des Cannes , located on the estuary of the Mahury River , in the commune of Remire-Montjoly , a south-eastern suburb of Cayenne. Almost all of French Guiana's imports and exports pass through

2457-531: Is the port of departure for those going to the Iles du Salut , of which the most famous is Devil's Island . It is also common for many to go up the river in canoes on weekends to camp in the forest. The Guiana Space Centre , where the European Space Agency starts missions, is located a little behind and outside the town. Part of the town and the islands are closed during rocket launches. In 2010,

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2574-744: The Book of Negroes , to establish which slaves were free after the war. In 1783, an anti-slavery movement began among the British public to end slavery throughout the British Empire. After the formation of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1787, William Wilberforce led the cause of abolition through the parliamentary campaign. Thomas Clarkson became the group's most prominent researcher, gathering vast amounts of data on

2691-552: The quartier Saramaka , along the river. In 2006, a fire rendered 55 people homeless. Guiana in general has a high level of crime compared to the rest of France's départements ; Kourou has an average of two armed robberies a day. A march protesting the high level of insecurity felt by most of the population was held in Kourou on 27 October 2006. Shopkeepers of Chinese descent in particular are often targeted by armed robbers, their cash registers emptied and some products stolen. Kourou

2808-683: The Act Against Slavery of 1793 was passed by the Assembly under the auspices of John Graves Simcoe . It was the first legislation against slavery in the British Empire . Under its provisions no new slaves could be imported, slaves already in the province would remain enslaved until death, and children born to female slaves would be slaves but must be freed at the age of 25. The last slaves in Canada gained their freedom when slavery

2925-581: The American Revolution , there were few significant initiatives in the American colonies that led to the abolitionist movement. Some Quakers were active. Benjamin Kent was the lawyer who took on most of the cases of slaves suing their masters for personal illegal enslavement. He was the first lawyer to successfully establish a slave's freedom. In addition, Brigadier General Samuel Birch created

3042-634: The Amerindian attacks. In 1664, France finally established a permanent settlement at Cayenne. Over the next decade the colony changed hands between the French, Dutch , and English , before being restored to France. It was captured by an Anglo-Portuguese force in 1809 and administered from Brazil until 1814, when it was returned to French control. It was used as a French penal colony from 1854 to 1938. The city's population has grown dramatically over time, owing to high levels of immigration (chiefly from

3159-526: The Bastille . Governor Gaston Gerville-Reache transformed the plaza into an English garden, with artificial hills, masses of flowers and ornamental plants. Because it regularly flooded in the rain, Governor Marc Chanel in 1925 bordered it with a network of cemented canals, still there to this day. A statue of Félix Éboué , an illustrious Guianan, stands at the Merlet fountain. Today it is a lively place where

3276-615: The English Civil Wars of the mid-seventeenth century, sectarian radicals challenged slavery and other threats to personal freedom. Their ideas influenced many antislavery thinkers in the eighteenth century. In addition to English colonists importing slaves to the North American colonies, by the 18th century, traders began to import slaves from Africa, India and East Asia (where they were trading) to London and Edinburgh to work as personal servants. Men who migrated to

3393-606: The French Foreign Legion , whose mission is to protect the CSG, has had a base in the Forget neighbourhood since 1973. They clashed with the Creoles in 1985 and 2006. The places of birth of the 26,221 residents in the commune of Kourou at the 2015 census were the following: These were the countries of birth of the immigrants living in the commune of Kourou at the 2009 census: Like most of French Guiana, Kourou has

3510-665: The Guianese Socialist Party , daughter of a former president of the General Council of French Guiana , Stéphan Phinéra-Horth, from the Guianese Socialist Party, who governed the department of French Guiana from 1994 to 1998, was supported by various left-wing parties and had been mayor of Cayenne since 2010. As in the rest of France, the small size of the commune of Cayenne does not cover the entire urban area of Cayenne. This has led to

3627-585: The Louisiana Territory to the United States. The French governments initially refused to recognize Haïti. It forced the nation to pay a substantial amount of reparations (which it could ill afford) for losses during the revolution and did not recognize its government until 1825. France was a signatory to the first multilateral treaty for the suppression of the slave trade, the Treaty for

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3744-599: The Pasteur Institute in Paris, located in Cayenne, conducts research on tropical and endemic local diseases and is renowned throughout Latin America . Life expectancy averages about 76 years for men and 83 years for women. The main hospital of the city is the Andrée-Rosemon Hospital which opened in 1992. Cayenne is an important seaport in South America. The major port of Dégrad des Cannes

3861-740: The United Provinces of the River Plate in 1813, Colombia and Venezuela in 1821, but without abolishing slavery completely. While Chile abolished slavery in 1823, Argentina did so with the signing of the Argentine Constitution of 1853 . Peru abolished slavery in 1854. Colombia abolished slavery in 1851. Slavery was abolished in Uruguay during the Guerra Grande , by both the government of Fructuoso Rivera and

3978-511: The United States , Pennsylvania and Vermont were the first states to abolish slavery, Vermont in 1777 and Pennsylvania in 1780 (Vermont did not join the Union until 1791). By 1804, the rest of the northern states had abolished slavery but it remained legal in southern states. By 1808, the United States outlawed the importation of slaves but did not ban slavery —except as a punishment— until 1865. In Eastern Europe, groups organized to abolish

4095-597: The West Indies and Brazil) as well as a high birth rate. Cayenne is located on the estuary of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Ocean. The city occupies part of Cayenne Island. It is 268 kilometres (167 mi) from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and 64 kilometres (40 mi) from Kourou . Distances to some cities: Cayenne is a commune of the French Republic and as such, administered by

4212-453: The abolitionist movement , is the movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies . Under the actions of Toyotomi Hideyoshi , chattel slavery has been abolished across Japan since 1590, though other forms of forced labour were used during World War II . The first and only country to self-liberate from slavery

4329-608: The government in exile of Manuel Oribe . Throughout the growth of slavery in the American South, Nova Scotia became a destination for black refugees leaving Southern Colonies and United States. While many blacks who arrived in Nova Scotia during the American Revolution were free, others were not. Black slaves also arrived in Nova Scotia as the property of White American Loyalists. In 1772, prior to

4446-650: The overseas colonies . Some cases of African slaves freed by setting foot on French soil were recorded such as the example of a Norman slave merchant who tried to sell slaves in Bordeaux in 1571. He was arrested and his slaves were freed according to a declaration of the Parlement of Guyenne which stated that slavery was intolerable in France, although it is a misconception that there were 'no slaves in France'; thousands of African slaves were present in France during

4563-403: The 121,490 residents in the Cayenne metropolitan area at the 2012 census were as follows: These were the countries of birth of the immigrants living in the Cayenne metropolitan area at the 2009 census: Health conditions in Cayenne and French Guiana are generally good. The principal illnesses that cause mortality are circulatory, infectious and parasitic diseases, as well as cancer. A branch of

4680-671: The 18th century. Born into slavery in Saint Domingue , Thomas-Alexandre Dumas became free when his father brought him to France in 1776. As in other New World colonies, the French relied on the Atlantic slave trade for labour for their sugar cane plantations in their Caribbean colonies; the French West Indies . In addition, French colonists in Louisiane in North America held slaves, particularly in

4797-549: The Algarves 1815–1817 [REDACTED]   France 1817–present Ignored by Spanish explorers who found the region too hot and poor to be claimed, the region was not colonized until 1604, when the French founded a settlement. However, it was soon destroyed by the Portuguese , determined to enforce the Treaty of Tordesillas . French colonists returned in 1643 and founded Cayenne, but were forced to leave once more following

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4914-583: The American Revolution, Britain determined that slavery could not exist in the British Isles followed by the Knight v. Wedderburn decision in Scotland in 1778. This decision, in turn, influenced the colony of Nova Scotia. In 1788, abolitionist James Drummond MacGregor from Pictou published the first anti-slavery literature in Canada and began purchasing slaves' freedom and chastising his colleagues in

5031-536: The American colonies had established slavery by positive laws. Somersett's case became a significant part of the common law of slavery in the English-speaking world and it helped launch the movement to abolish slavery. After reading about Somersett's Case, Joseph Knight , an enslaved African who had been purchased by his master John Wedderburn in Jamaica and brought to Scotland, left him. Married and with

5148-541: The British movement to abolish slavery. Though anti-slavery sentiments were widespread by the late 18th century, many colonies and emerging nations continued to use slave labour : Dutch , French , British , Spanish , and Portuguese territories in the West Indies, South America, and the Southern United States. After the American Revolution established the United States, many Loyalists who fled

5265-530: The Catholic faith, implying that Africans were human beings endowed with a soul, a fact French law did not admit until then. It resulted in a far higher percentage of Black people being free in 1830 (13.2% in Louisiana compared to 0.8% in Mississippi ). They were on average exceptionally literate, with a significant number of them owning businesses, properties, and even slaves. Other free people of colour, such as Julien Raimond , spoke out against slavery. The Code Noir also forbade interracial marriages, but it

5382-417: The Destruction of the Indies , contributed to Spanish passage of colonial legislation known as the New Laws of 1542 , which abolished native slavery for the first time in European colonial history. It ultimately led to the Valladolid debate , the first European debate about the rights of colonized people. During the early 19th century, slavery expanded rapidly in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States, while at

5499-434: The French abolished slavery in most of French West Africa . The French also attempted to abolish Tuareg slavery following the Kaocen Revolt . In the region of the Sahel, slavery has long persisted. Passed on 10 May 2001, the Taubira law officially acknowledges slavery and the Atlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity . 10 May was chosen as the day dedicated to recognition of the crime of slavery. James Oglethorpe

5616-404: The French in the decisive Battle of Vertières finally led to independence and the creation of present Haiti in 1804. The convention, the first elected Assembly of the First Republic (1792–1804), on 4 February 1794, under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre , abolished slavery in law in France and its colonies. Abbé Grégoire and the Society of the Friends of the Blacks were part of

5733-451: The House of Lords. Biographer William Hague considers the unfinished abolition of the slave trade to be Pitt's greatest failure. The Slave Trade Act was passed by the British Parliament on 25 March 1807, making the slave trade illegal throughout the British Empire. Britain used its influence to coerce other countries to agree to treaties to end their slave trade and allow the Royal Navy to seize their slave ships . Britain enforced

5850-407: The Hôtel de Ville (the town hall) built by Jesuits in the 1890s, the Post Office, the Préfecture , residence of French Guiana's Préfect, and the Musée Départmental Franconie. To the west of this area lies Fort Cépérou , built in the 17th century, though now mostly in ruins. To the south lie the Place du Coq and Place Victor Schoelcher (named in honour of the anti-slavery activist) and a market. To

5967-447: The Kourou solar power plant was built near Kourou on Aubanèle Savannah. It is the largest solar power plant in Overseas France . Not much is known of the pre-colonial era. The area was mostly populated by Kalina, or Galibi before the arrival of the French in the late 17th century. Not far from the town at Les Roches Gravées (The Carved Rocks), indigenous art can be seen on the rock walls. Vicente Yáñez Pinzón sailed along most of

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6084-443: The Kourou Prison was finally shut down, while some prisoners were kept in other Guyanese prisons until as late as 1953. After the closing of the prison, most of the prison buildings were demolished to make room for the Hôtel des Roches , but some vestiges of that period remain. One notable remnant of the prison is the Dreyfus Tower, which stands where the river meets the ocean. This tower was used in pre-radio days to communicate with

6201-401: The Laws (1748) and Denis Diderot in the Encyclopédie . In 1788, Jacques Pierre Brissot founded the Society of the Friends of the Blacks ( Société des Amis des Noirs ) to work for the abolition of slavery. After the Revolution, on 4 April 1792, France granted free people of colour full citizenship. The slave revolt, in the largest Caribbean French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1791,

6318-440: The North American colonies often took their East Indian slaves or servants with them, as East Indians have been documented in colonial records. Some of the first freedom suits , court cases in the British Isles to challenge the legality of slavery, took place in Scotland in 1755 and 1769. The cases were Montgomery v. Sheddan (1755) and Spens v. Dalrymple (1769). Each of the slaves had been baptized in Scotland and challenged

6435-403: The Northern United States immigrated to the British province of Quebec, bringing an English majority population as well as many slaves, leading the province to ban the institution in 1793 (see Slavery in Canada ). In the U.S., Northern states, beginning with Pennsylvania in 1780, passed legislation during the next two decades abolishing slavery, sometimes by gradual emancipation . Vermont, which

6552-427: The Pasteur Institute are located. Historic landmarks include the Church of the Holy Saviour and a prefecture on the Place d'Armes. The Félix Eboué International Airport is the only international airport serving Cayenne. Under the Köppen climate classification , Cayenne has a tropical monsoon climate ( Am ) bordering on an equatorial climate ( Af ). Average high and low temperatures are nearly identical throughout

6669-432: The Presbyterian church who owned slaves. In 1790 John Burbidge freed his slaves. Led by Richard John Uniacke , in 1787, 1789 and again on 11 January 1808, the Nova Scotian legislature refused to legalize slavery. Two chief justices, Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange (1790–1796) and Sampson Salter Blowers (1797–1832) were instrumental in freeing slaves from their owners in Nova Scotia. They were held in high regard in

6786-407: The Rights of Man that slavery was abolished. During the French Revolutionary Wars , French slave-owners joined the counter-revolution en masse and, through the Whitehall Accord , they threatened to move the French Caribbean colonies under British control, as Great Britain still allowed slavery. Fearing secession from these islands, successfully lobbied by planters and concerned about revenues from

6903-513: The South around New Orleans , where they established sugarcane plantations. Louis XIV 's Code Noir regulated the slave trade and institution in the colonies. It gave unparalleled rights to slaves. It included the right to marry, gather publicly or take Sundays off. Although the Code Noir authorized and codified cruel corporal punishment against slaves under certain conditions, it forbade slave owners to torture them or to separate families. It also demanded enslaved Africans receive instruction in

7020-492: The Suppression of the African Slave Trade (1841), but the king, Louis Philippe I , declined to ratify it. On 27 April 1848, under the Second Republic (1848–1852), the decree-law written by Victor Schœlcher abolished slavery in the remaining colonies. The state bought the slaves from the colons (white colonists; Békés in Creole ), and then freed them. At about the same time, France started colonizing Africa and gained possession of much of West Africa by 1900. In 1905,

7137-484: The United States outlawed the international slave trade in 1807, after which Britain led efforts to block slave ships . Britain abolished slavery throughout its empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 (with the notable exception of India ), the French colonies re-abolished it in 1848 and the U.S. abolished slavery in 1865 with the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . The last known form of enforced servitude of adults ( villeinage ) had disappeared in England by

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7254-409: The West Indies, and influenced by the slaveholder family of his wife , Napoleon Bonaparte decided to re-establish slavery after becoming First Consul . He promulgated the law of 20 May 1802 and sent military governors and troops to the colonies to impose it. On 10 May 1802, Colonel Delgrès launched a rebellion in Guadeloupe against Napoleon's representative, General Richepanse . The rebellion

7371-411: The abolition of the trade because the act made trading slaves within British territories illegal. However, the act repealed the Amelioration Act 1798 which attempted to improve conditions for slaves. The end of the slave trade did not end slavery as a whole. Slavery was still a common practice. In the 1820s, the abolitionist movement revived to campaign against the institution of slavery itself. In 1823

7488-409: The abolitionist movement, which had laid important groundwork in building anti-slavery sentiment in the metropole . The first article of the law stated that "Slavery was abolished" in the French colonies, while the second article stated that "slave-owners would be indemnified" with financial compensation for the value of their slaves. The French constitution passed in 1795 included in the declaration of

7605-411: The beginning of the 17th century. In 1569 a court considered the case of Cartwright, who had bought a slave from Russia. The court ruled English law could not recognize slavery, as it was never established officially. This ruling was overshadowed by later developments; It was upheld in 1700 by the Lord Chief Justice John Holt when he ruled that a slave became free as soon as he arrived in England. During

7722-400: The city of Cayenne. It then became Place du Marché in 1842. In 1888, a covered market and a public garden were built there. In 1907 the municipal council led by mayor Eugène Gobert decided to remove the garden and build a new covered market, the one we know today. In 1920 the war memorial of the First World War was inaugurated on the site of the old market, surmounted by a rooster, which gave

7839-405: The colonies. But at the same time, legally mandated, hereditary slavery of Scots persons in Scotland had existed from 1606 and continued until 1799, when colliers and salters were emancipated by an act of the Parliament of Great Britain ( 39 Geo. 3 . c. 56). Skilled workers, they were restricted to a place and could be sold with the works. A prior law enacted in 1775 ( 15 Geo. 3 . c. 28)

7956-441: The colony. By the end of the War of 1812 and the arrival of the Black Refugees, there were few slaves left in Nova Scotia. The Slave Trade Act outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 outlawed slavery altogether. With slaves escaping to New York and New England, legislation for gradual emancipation was passed in Upper Canada (1793) and Lower Canada (1803). In Upper Canada,

8073-411: The course of the year, averaging about 30 °C (86 °F) and 23 °C (73 °F) respectively, although temperatures are somewhat cooler in the wet season than in the dry season. Cayenne sees copious precipitation during the year, with its weather being more strongly affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) than the trade winds . The city experiences a very lengthy wet season and

8190-456: The creation of an intercommunal authority which groups Cayenne and five suburban communes: the communauté d'agglomération du Centre Littoral . The current president of the intercommunal authority of Centre Littoral since November 2020 has been Serge Smock, mayor of Matoury , who ran on a centrist platform affiliated with Emmanuel Macron 's LREM party and defeated Sandra Trochimara, successor of Marie-Laure Phinéra-Horth as mayor of Cayenne, who

8307-434: The enslavement of the Roma in Wallachia and Moldavia between 1843 and 1855, and to emancipate the serfs in Russia in 1861 . The United States would pass the 13th Amendment in December 1865 after having just fought a bloody Civil War , ending slavery "except as a punishment for crime". In 1888, Brazil became the last country in the Americas to outlaw slavery , except for the United States where slavery as punishment

8424-491: The first Anti-Slavery Society was wound up. In 1839, the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was formed by Joseph Sturge , which attempted to outlaw slavery worldwide and also to pressure the government to help enforce the suppression of the slave trade by declaring slave traders to be pirates. The world's oldest international human rights organization, it continues today as Anti-Slavery International . Thomas Clarkson

8541-669: The first Anti-Slavery Society, the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions , was founded. Many of its members had previously campaigned against the slave trade. On 28 August 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act was passed. It purchased the slaves from their masters and paved the way for the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire by 1838, after which

8658-549: The first emancipation proclamation of the modern world (Decree of 16 Pluviôse An II). The Convention sent them to safeguard the allegiance of the population to revolutionary France. The proclamation resulted in crucial military strategy as it gradually brought most of the black troops into the French fold and kept the colony under the French flag for most of the conflict. The connection with France lasted until blacks and free people of colour formed L'armée indigène in 1802 to resist Napoleon 's Expédition de Saint-Domingue . Victory over

8775-568: The future town. This resulted in the neighbourhood called the Bourg, around the Church of Saint Catherine and next to the port on the river. That same year, 1763, as agreed in the Treaty of Paris , Great Britain took control of New France . Having lost their largest and richest colony, the French decided to send a large expedition to Guiana, commanded by Choiseul . Around 10,000 to 12,000 people, mostly Frenchmen, tempted by stories of an El Dorado on

8892-893: The institution of slavery and created international treaties, such as the 1926 Slavery Convention , to eradicate the institution worldwide. After centuries of struggle, slavery was eventually declared illegal at the global level in 1948 under the United Nations ' Universal Declaration of Human Rights . By this time, the Arab world was the only region in the world where chattel slavery was still legal. Slavery in Saudi Arabia , slavery in Yemen and slavery in Dubai were abolished in 1962–1963, with slavery in Oman following in 1970. Mauritania

9009-585: The islands via Semaphore . Other prison ruins that remain are the prison bakery — now on private property, but still visible from a cul-de-sac — and an old prison fountain near the moucaya palm trees. In 1965, the Guiana Space Centre was founded a little behind the town by the CNES . With the launch facility being used by the European Space Agency since 1975, the urbanisation of Kourou began in earnest. The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment of

9126-568: The king, her son Chlothar III , was only five years old. At some unknown date during her rule, she abolished the trade of slaves, although not slavery. Moreover, her (and contemporaneous Saint Eligius ') favorite charity was to buy and free slaves, especially children. Slavery started to dwindle and would be superseded by serfdom . In 1315, Louis X , king of France, published a decree proclaiming that "France signifies freedom" and that any slave setting foot on French soil should be freed. This prompted subsequent governments to circumscribe slavery in

9243-548: The legality of slavery. They set the precedent of legal procedure in British courts that would later lead to successful outcomes for the plaintiffs. In these cases, deaths of the plaintiff and defendant, respectively, brought an end before court decisions. African slaves were not bought or sold in London but were brought by masters from other areas. Together with people from other nations, especially non-Christian, Africans were considered foreigners, not able to be English subjects. At

9360-596: The meal and celebration, and at its end designated the couple who would organize the following gathering by handing them the bouquet. Cayenne centres on its main commercial street, the Avenue Général de Gaulle. At the east end of the avenue near the coast is the Place des Palmistes and the Place de Grenoble (also known as the Place Léopold Héder). Most of the official buildings are located in this area:

9477-517: The metropolitan area of Cayenne (as defined by INSEE ), 63,468 of whom lived in the city ( commune ) of Cayenne proper. [REDACTED] French colonial empire 1643–1658 [REDACTED] Dutch Empire 1658–1664 [REDACTED] French colonial empire 1664–1676 [REDACTED] English Empire 1667 [REDACTED] Dutch Empire 1676 [REDACTED] French colonial empire 1676–1809 [REDACTED] Portuguese Empire 1809–1815 [REDACTED] United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and

9594-415: The name, "Salvation Islands." Previously they had been known as the îles du Diable ("Devil's Islands"), and one of the islands retains the name to this day. The failure of the Expedition only served to discourage settling in Guiana. The colony earned the nickname Enfer Vert ("Green Hell"), which it is still trying to shake. No other project of mass colonisation was undertaken, and the population of Whites

9711-541: The natives. Las Casas for 20 years worked to get African slaves imported to replace natives; African slavery was everywhere and no one talked of ridding the New World of it, though France had abolished slavery in France itself and there was talk in other countries about doing the same. However, Las Casas had a late change of heart, and became an advocate for the Africans in the colonies. His book, A Short Account of

9828-508: The north coast of South America and passed by the current location of Kourou in 1500. The Jesuits Lombard and Creuilly baptised a few Galibis at the church of Saint Nicholas in Cayenne in December 1710 and returned with them soon after to farm the land at Guatémala, across the river from Kourou. The Society of Jesus was disbanded (in Guiana) in 1762, however, and Kourou was nothing more than

9945-399: The old church of Saint Nicolas on the current Place Léopold-Héder  [ fr ] . Work began in 1825 and ended in 1833. The church was inaugurated in 1861 and is registered as a French monument historique . The high altar, the pulpit, and the confessional of the penitentiary chapel on the Îlet la Mère were transferred to the cathedral in 1876. In 1933, the church was declared

10062-399: The other side of the ocean, settled in Kourou. The small town, surrounded by marshes and rainforest, was unprepared for such a massive influx of people, and around 6,000 of the pioneers died within the year due to fevers and other illnesses. Those remaining fled to the îles du Salut , free of mosquitoes due to constant winds, to recover before being repatriated to Metropolitan France . Hence

10179-433: The parade as well. Nightclubs, called "universities" in this context, organize masked balls in which men come to dance with Touloulous at soirées held on Friday and Saturday nights. This tradition is peculiar to French Guiana, and does not exist anywhere else. The carnival dances are the polka , mazurka , biguine and piké djouk . The Touloulou invite the men to dance, and the men cannot refuse. Only Touloulous have

10296-662: The place its current name. The village chionois ( Chinese Village ) in Cayenne is located on the edge of the city's center along the Cayenne River. Colloquially known as la Crique or Chikago , the neighborhood is reportedly a top destination for internal migration from elsewhere in French Guiana. The carnival is one of the major events of the capital. It takes place between Epiphany in early January and Ash Wednesday in February or March. This festival

10413-584: The port of Dégrad des Cannes. Built in 1974, it replaced the old harbour of Cayenne which was congested and could not cope with modern traffic. Cayenne is connected to Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni via the Route nationale 1 , and to Saint-Georges via the Route nationale 2 . Cayenne is home to the University of French Guiana , formerly a campus of the University of the French West Indies until

10530-657: The principalities emancipated all of the 250,000 enslaved Roma people. Bartolomé de las Casas was a 16th-century Spanish Dominican priest, the first resident Bishop of Chiapas (Central America, today Mexico). As a settler in the New World he witnessed and opposed the poor treatment and virtual slavery of the Native Americans by the Spanish colonists, under the encomienda system. He advocated before King Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor on behalf of rights for

10647-461: The residents meet. In the evening, food carts sell French fries, sandwiches, local juices and other street food, and bami and lassi (Javanese delicacies brought in by way of Suriname ). In 1786, Louis XVI had a garden that served as a storehouse and nursery for various plants and trees from various locations. Louis Claude Richard , director of the garden, brought from India nutmeg trees, rattan, cardamom and black pepper vines. At this period, it

10764-468: The right to dance, and if a undisguised woman tries to dance, the orchestra stops playing. Since the 1990s, tololo parties have been held where men disguise themselves and play the role of the Touloulous, inviting undisguised women to dance. These evenings are more and more popular and take place several times during the carnival. The family carnival Families gather every week to eat king cake ,

10881-705: The same time the new republics of mainland Spanish America became committed to the gradual abolition of slavery. During the Spanish American wars for independence (1810–1826), slavery was abolished in most of Latin America, though it continued until 1873 in Puerto Rico , 1886 in Cuba, and 1888 in Brazil (where it was abolished by the Lei Áurea , the "Golden Law"). Chile declared freedom of wombs in 1811, followed by

10998-619: The south of this compact region is the Village Chinois (known as Chicago), separated from the rest of Cayenne by the Canal Laussat. It has a reputation for being a dangerous area. Other buildings in the city include Cayenne Cathedral , municipal library, the municipal museum and a museum of French Guianese Culture (Musée des Cultures Guyanaise) and a scientific research institute (IRD or Institut de recherche pour le développement, formerly Orstom). The Jardin botanique de Cayenne

11115-580: The start of 1803. However, Denmark would not abolish slavery in the Danish West Indies until 1848. Haiti (then Saint-Domingue) formally declared independence from France in 1804 and became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to permanently eliminate slavery in the modern era, following the 1804 Haitian revolution . The northern states in the U.S. all abolished slavery by 1804. The United Kingdom (then including Ireland) and

11232-504: The theme of the year march to the rhythm of drums and brass in a parade around decorated floats. These groups prepare for months for to parade in front of thousands of spectators massed on the sidewalks and the stands erected for the occasion. The best-known groups are: Brazilian bands just like to those at the Rio Carnival are also appreciated for their alluring rhythms and costumes, and Asian community of Cayenne brings dragons to

11349-430: The three; also open to sport lovers, especially canoers and kayakers). Long white sand beaches and some rocky outcrops line the town's ocean coast, the riverbank and all points inland consisting mostly of mangrove and dense tropical rainforest. The town had a population of 24,805 inhabitants at the 2020 census. Its inhabitants can be classified into three ethnic groups of roughly equal size: The Saramaka mostly settled in

11466-444: The time, England had no naturalization procedure. The African slaves' legal status was unclear until 1772 and Somersett's Case , when the fugitive slave James Somersett forced a decision by the courts. Somersett had escaped, and his master, Charles Steuart, had him captured and imprisoned on board a ship, intending to ship him to Jamaica to be resold into slavery. While in London, Somersett had been baptized ; three godparents issued

11583-481: The trade. One aspect of abolitionism during this period was the effective use of images such as the famous Josiah Wedgwood " Am I Not A Man and a Brother? " anti-slavery medallion of 1787. Clarkson described the medallion as "promoting the cause of justice, humanity and freedom". The 1792 Slave Trade Bill passed the House of Commons mangled and mutilated by the modifications and amendments of Pitt , it lay for years, in

11700-501: The union (see Missouri compromise ). In 1787, the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed in London. Revolutionary France abolished slavery throughout its empire through the Law of 4 February 1794 , but Napoleon restored it in 1802 as part of a program to ensure sovereignty over its colonies. On March 16, 1792, Denmark became the first country to issue a decree to abolish their transatlantic slave trade from

11817-529: Was a former French colony, Haiti , as a result of the Revolution of 1791–1804 . The British abolitionist movement began in the late 18th century, and the 1772 Somersett case established that slavery did not exist in English law. In 1807, the slave trade was made illegal throughout the British Empire, though existing slaves in British colonies were not liberated until the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833 . In

11934-468: Was a plaza to aerate the city after the demolition of the city walls in 1810. It was named Place de la Savane ("Savanna Square") after the grasses that grew there. Later some royal palms from the area of Guisanbourg were planted there, and the plaza was renamed Place des Palmistes ("Royal Palms' Square"). In 1880, a bronze column was erected bearing the bust of the Marianne , commemorating the seizure of

12051-619: Was abolished in the entire British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. In his book The Struggle For Equality , historian James M. McPherson defines an abolitionist "as one who before the Civil War had agitated for the immediate, unconditional, and total abolition of slavery in the United States". He does not include antislavery activists such as Abraham Lincoln or the Republican Party, which called for

12168-402: Was also high, and people are less productive when not allowed to choose the type of work they prefer, are illiterate, and are forced to live and work in miserable and unhealthy conditions. The free labour markets and international free trade that Smith preferred would also result in different prices and allocations that Smith believed would be more efficient and productive for consumers. Prior to

12285-633: Was also trying to succeed her as president of the intercommunal authority with the support of an array of Left-wing parties. It is the first time since 2001 that the intercommunal authority is not presided by the mayor of Cayenne. Marie-Laure Phinéra-Horthwas was president of the intercommunal authority of Centre Littoral from 2014 to 2020, and did not run for reelection due to her election to the French Senate in September 2020. The intercommunal authority of Centre Littoral, which levies its own taxes,

12402-437: Was always drastically lower than that of the slaves. The population of the colony, of all races, did not rise above 20,000 until the gold rush (starting in 1855), the second abolition of slavery in 1848 and the founding of the prisons. Kourou was formerly the home of the "Kourou Prison" which was one of the main prisons in French Guiana, and which was also a part of the notorious Devil's Island Prison System . The Kourou Prison

12519-701: Was among the first to articulate the Enlightenment case against slavery, banning it in the Province of Georgia on humanitarian grounds, and arguing against it in Parliament. Soon after Oglethorpe's death in 1785, Sharp and More united with William Wilberforce and others in forming the Clapham Sect . The Somersett case in 1772, in which a fugitive slave was freed with the judgement that slavery did not exist under English common law , helped launch

12636-469: Was called King's Garden. In 1821 a house was built for the botanist. In 1879, the park changed its name and became the Botanical Garden, a floral park in the city center. It covers an area of three hectares. A statue of Gaston Monnerville stands in the garden's center. These two adjoining buildings are located near the old port of Cayenne. As early as 1703, a Place du Port appears on a map of

12753-493: Was dedicated mostly to agriculture. In 1852 the three main islands off of Kourou's coast, the Salut island group (which included Devil's Island) also became prisons. These island prisons held mostly political prisoners, as well as some of France's toughest criminals. The first prisoners arrived in 1862. In 1938, a law was passed prohibiting the transport of any new prisoners from France to French Guiana. In 1946 eight years later,

12870-463: Was excluded from the thirteen colonies, existed as an independent state from 1777 to 1791. Vermont abolished adult slavery in 1777. In other states, such as Virginia, similar declarations of rights were interpreted by the courts as not applicable to Africans and African Americans. During the following decades, the abolitionist movement grew in northern states, and Congress heavily regulated the expansion of Slave or Free States in new territories admitted to

12987-540: Was intended to end what the act referred to as "a state of slavery and bondage", but that was ineffective, necessitating the 1799 act. In the 1776 book The Wealth of Nations , Adam Smith argued for the abolition of slavery on economic grounds. Smith pointed out that slavery incurred security, housing, and food costs that the use of free labour would not, and opined that free workers would be more productive because they would have personal economic incentives to work harder. The death rate (and thus repurchase cost) of slaves

13104-510: Was often ignored in French colonial society and the mulattoes became an intermediate caste between whites and blacks, while in the British colonies mulattoes and blacks were considered equal and discriminated against equally. During the Age of Enlightenment , many philosophers wrote pamphlets against slavery and its moral and economical justifications, including Montesquieu in The Spirit of

13221-538: Was renovated in 2000–01. Fort Cépérou, originally known as Fort Saint-Michel, is a 17th-century fortification on Mount Cépérou, named for the Amerindian chief who in 1643 sold the rock on which it stands to the Frenchman Charles Poncet de Brétigny , governor of Cayenne in 1644–1645. In recent years the city has renovated a number of historic Creole houses in the city center. Initially it

13338-560: Was repressed, and slavery was re-established. The news of the Law of 4 February 1794 that abolished slavery in France and its colonies and the revolution led by Colonel Delgrès sparked another wave of rebellion in Saint-Domingue. From 1802 Napoleon sent more than 20,000 troops to the island, two-thirds died, mostly from yellow fever. Seeing the failure of the Saint-Domingue expedition , in 1803 Napoleon decided to sell

13455-555: Was the beginning of what became the Haitian Revolution led by formerly enslaved people like Georges Biassou , Toussaint L'Ouverture , and Jean-Jacques Dessalines . The rebellion swept through the north of the colony, and with it came freedom to thousands of enslaved blacks, but also violence and death. In 1793, French Civil Commissioners in St. Domingue and abolitionists, Léger-Félicité Sonthonax and Étienne Polverel , issued

13572-567: Was the key speaker at the World Anti-Slavery Convention it held in London in 1840. In the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia , the government held slavery of the Roma (often referred to as Gypsies) as legal at the beginning of the 19th century. The progressive pro-European and anti-Ottoman movement, which gradually gained power in the two principalities, also worked to abolish that slavery. Between 1843 and 1855,

13689-492: Was the last country to officially abolish slavery, with a presidential decree in 1981. Today, child and adult slavery and forced labour are illegal in almost all countries, as well as being against international law , but human trafficking for labour and for sexual bondage continues to affect tens of millions of adults and children. Balthild of Chelles , herself a former slave, queen consort of Neustria and Burgundy by marriage to Clovis II , became regent in 657 since

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