[citation needed] However, though he claimed it as a Spanish territory, Columbus never landed there, and Spain made the settlement of the island a low priority.
While the French wanted to colonize the islands between Trinidad and Bermuda, the Dutch found San Martín a convenient halfway point between their colonies in New Amsterdam (present day New York) and Brazil.
With few people inhabiting the island, the Dutch easily founded a settlement there in 1631, erecting Fort Amsterdam as protection from invaders.
Jan Claeszen Van Campen became its first governor, and soon thereafter the Dutch West India Company began their salt mining operations.
Taking note of these successful colonies and wanting to maintain their control of the salt trade, the Spanish now found St. Martin much more appealing.
Since they no longer needed a base in the Caribbean and St. Martin barely turned a profit, the Spanish lost their inclination to continue defending it.
[citation needed] The treaty was signed by the two governors of the island, Robert de Longvilliers for France and Martin Thomas for the States General of the Netherlands.
The Dutch side explains its smaller territory by accusing the Frenchman of cheating by running or taking a shortcut through the northeastern part of the island.
[2][3] In 1651, the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique sold the French part of the island to the Order of Saint John which was sovereign over Malta, at the time a vassal state of the Kingdom of Sicily.
While this decree was respected locally, it was not until 1863 when the Dutch abolished slavery in all of their island colonies that the slaves became legally free.
As of 2016, due to Dutch-side objections to stricter French controls, the treaty has not been implemented; a working group has been meeting to negotiate details.
[5] On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of over 180 mph (290 km/h), devastated the island, leaving severe damage.