ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to set the predominantly British-based discussion of subsequent contributions in a broader context by examining, albeit briefly and from documentary sources alone, the West Indian component of both France and the Netherlands. The Amerindian period apart, the West Indies emerged politically, economically and even culturally as an extension of Europe – part of the legacy of the so-called ‘Age of Discovery’. West Indian migration to Europe must first be placed in the context of total emigration from the Caribbean. West Indian migration to metropolitan France comes primarily from Guadeloupe and Martinique, both, since 1946, Overseas Departments of France. Unlike the French West Indian migration to the metropole, where the contributing components – Guadeloupe and Martinique – are extremely comparable, that of the Dutch West Indians has been something of a dichotomy as between Surinam and the Antilles. The legacy of West Indian slavery is indeed an enduring and divisive one for black and white alike.
