In 1635 French settlers appeared in Martinique and Guadeloupe. The French originally tried to with the Caribbean citizens but wanted them to work on French farms which the Caribbean didn’t agree with. The two became hostile to each other and in the 17th century the French kicked the Caribbean off of the islands. The French took over the islands since they wanted the territory and the sugar cane crops but had no one to work the crops. Since they needed people to work the crops they took in slaves and the slave trade became huge in the Caribbean. In 1635-1789 700,000 slaves were brought in and in 1745 65,000/80,000 people on the island were slaves. The islands were also occupied by the British in 1759-1802 but French regained power in 1848. Josephine wife of Napoleon failed to bear him a heir , he divorced her, then remarried in 1810 to a new women who had a heir for him. In summer of 2020 when Black Lives Matter protests were happening Martinique citizens tore down Josephine’s statue with sledgehammers, while drummers made a beat, citizens tore down the statue and jumped , stomped, and danced on it