Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire
| Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire | |
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| Dependent Territories of Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire | |
| Aruba, Curacau, en Bonaire | |
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 Location of Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire |
The Dependent Territories of Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire (Amerikaans: Dependentieën van Aruba, Curacau, en Bonaire; Dutch: Afhankelijkheden van Aruba, Curacau, en Bonaire), also known as the ACB islands, is composed of the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. It was a former colony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, until it was purchased by the New Netherland in 1861.
History
Early History
The ACB Islands were first explored by one of Christopher Columbus' captains, Alonso de Ojeda, who landed on Curaçao in 1499. The Spanish were the first to establish a government on the islands in 1527, but the islands were taken by the Dutch during the Eighty Years War. Since then, the islands had been administered by the Dutch West India Company. During the French Revolution, although the Dutch Republic was subjugated by France in 1795, the Dutch West India Company still held firm control over the islands. Great Britain had tried to take the islands in the midst of the Dutch Republic's absence, but the company was able to repel these attacks.
In 1815, after the formation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Dissolution of the Dutch West India Company, the ACB islands fell under the new kingdom's direct rule.
During the 2nd Dutch-Spanish War in 1850, Spain launched multiple raids and briefly occupied the islands. Despite Spanish victory in the war, the islands were returned to the kingdom in the resulting treaty. The colony was in poor condition after the war, and as Dutch influence waned over the Caribbean, the Dutch had little interest in maintaining these islands.
Purchase by New Netherland (1861)
In 1859, an independentist uprising had occurred in the Dutch colony of Tussenland. Landlocked from all sides of the Atlantic after their defeat in the 2nd Dutch-Spanish War, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was at a disadvantage.