Consolidation of French Colonization in the Antilles (1650s)

Timeline

1. 1650–1651Martinique · Windward IslandsIn 1650 Jacques du Parquet purchased colonial rights to Martinique, Grenada, and Saint Lucia; in 1651 the Compagnie des Isles d'Amérique was formally dissolved and colonial rights on each island were sold to private proprietors, marking the entry of French Caribbean colonization into a phase of private proprietor self-rule.
2. 1651–1656Guadeloupe · Windward IslandsUnder private proprietors, the French settler population of Martinique and Guadeloupe grew; tobacco was the main cash crop, and some plantations began adopting sugarcane cultivation techniques brought by the Dutch, starting a shift toward sugar. African slaves were increasingly imported to meet labor needs.
3. 1656–1659French Antilles · Lesser AntillesIn the later 1650s sugarcane output in the French Antilles began to rise and the royal government deepened its understanding of the region's commercial value. After du Parquet's death (1658), inheritance disputes prompted stronger royal intervention, laying the groundwork for Colbert's 1664 founding of the French West India Company and formal royal administration.