During the Revolution and in the nineteenth century,  Guyane’s history as a site of punishment stood in contradiction with the internal history of the colony. 

The French Antilles, especially Saint-Domingue, formed an irresistible point of attraction for aspiring European colonists in the 17th and 18th centuries. Migrations relied on various modes of recruitment which underwent significant changes depending on the wishes of the State, on the economic context, and on the upheavals of imperial and revolutionary wars.  However, not all migrants could or wanted to set up permanent residence in the territories and thus contribute to the European settlement of the French Caribbean.