Bolama question

The Bolama question was a military and diplomatic conflict between Portugal and the United Kingdom. It lasted from 1834 to 1870 and was about who had control over Bolama Island and a small nearby area.António dos Mártires Lopes, A questão de Bolama: pendência entre Portugal e Inglaterra. Agência-Geral do Ultramar, Lisbon, 1970.

 History 
The conflict began in 1792 when a group of British settlers tried to create a colony on Bolama Island.Philip Beaver, African Memoranda Relative to an Attempt to establish a British Settlement on the Island of Bolama in the year 1792. London, 1805. The colony did not last, but starting in 1834, the United Kingdom claimed the island again while working to stop the Atlantic slave trade.

The conflict was decided in 1870 by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, who ruled in favor of Portugal. This decision made Bolama officially part of Portuguese Guinea, now Guinea-Bissau. Avelino Teixeira da Mota, Guiné Portuguesa (2 volumes). Agência Geral do Ultramar, Lisbon, 1954. Documentos relativos á questão dos direitos de Portugal á soberania da Ilha de Bolama e outros pontos da Guiné resolvida pelo Presidente dos Estados Unidos da America por sentença arbitral de 21 de avril de 1870: segunda collecçao: impressa por ordem do Ministerio dos Negocios Estrangeiros. Imprensa Nacional, Lisbon, 1870.

After the decision, the British government agreed to accept the outcome. The Portuguese governor of Cape Verde, Caetano Alexandre de Almeida e Albuquerque, went to Bolama to officially take possession of the island. In a ceremony, the British flag was lowered, and the Portuguese flag was raised.The current green and red flag was adopted during the First Portuguese Republic, in the early 20th century.

 Related pages 
 Cape Verde
 Colonialism
 Guinea Bissau
 Kingdom of Portugal
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

 References 

Category:History of the United Kingdom
Category:Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
Category:History of Portugal