page_title: History of Gabon
section_title: French colonial period
hierarchical_section_title: History of Gabon / French colonial period
caption_attribution_description: Congo Français [postcard]&#160;: Congo Français - Indigènes Gabonais Contained in: Postcard Collection, 1898-[ongoing] Phy. Description: postcard&#160;: b&amp;w&#160;; 9 x 14 cm. Produced: [ca. 1905] Summary: Translated caption reads: French Congo. Natives from Gabon. Man, holding a straw hat, standing in the group. Sitted women on his both sides, holding umbrellas. Young boy on the far left holding a stick. Congo Français. Photograph by J. Audema General Note: Title source: Postcard caption. Image indexed by negative number. Culture: Portraits Subject - Geographical: Congo (Brazzaville) Repository Loc: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African Art, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, 950 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20560-0708 Local Number: EEPA 1985-140034
context_page_description: Little is known of the history of Gabon prior to European contact. Bantu migrants settled the area beginning in the 14th century. Portuguese explorers and traders arrived in the area in the late 15th century. The coast subsequently became a center of the slave trade with Dutch, English, and French traders arriving in the 16th century. In 1839 and 1841, France established a protectorate over the coast.
  In 1849, captives released from a captured slave ship found in Libreville. In 1862–1887, France expanded its control including the interior of the state, and took full sovereignty.
  In 1910 Gabon became part of French Equatorial Africa and in 1960, Gabon became independent.
  At the time of Gabon's independence, two principal political parties existed: the Gabonese Democratic Bloc, led by Léon M'Ba, and the Gabonese Democratic and Social Union, led by Jean-Hilaire Aubame. In the first post-independence election, held under a parliamentary system, neither party was able to win a majority; the leaders subsequently agreed against a two-party system and ran with a single list of candidates.
context_section_description: In 1838 and 1841, France established a protectorate over the coastal regions of Gabon by treaties with Gabonese coastal chiefs.
  American missionaries from New England established a mission  at the mouth of the Komo River in 1842. In 1849, the French authorities captured an illegal slave ship and freed the captives on board. The captives were released near the mission station, where they founded a settlement which was called Libreville (French for "free town")
  French explorers penetrated Gabon's dense jungles between 1862 and 1887. The most famous, Savorgnan de Brazza, used Gabonese bearers and guides in his search for the headwaters of the Congo river. France occupied Gabon in 1885, but did not administer it until 1903. Gabon's first political party, the Jeunesse Gabonais, was founded around 1922.
  In 1910 Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa. On 15 July 1960 France agreed to Gabon becoming fully independent. On 17 August 1960 Gabon became an independent country.
caption: "French Congo. Natives from Gabon": Colonial postcard c.1905
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