This text shows the stages in the population of the Small Antilles throughout this century. Denying the Spaniards, French people travelled through the area by engaging in interesting relations with the Caribbean. These ‘old whites’ gain valuable experience, which was then used when states decided to take formal possession of these distant territories. They were joined by the recruits brought by the new settlers and the majority of the population was European. This pioneering population was joined in 1654 by Dutch people, who brought with them a model of exploitation based on the cultivation of sugar cane grown by slaves brought to Africa. The population was increasingly black at the end of the 17th century and acquired its characteristics: a white minority, a black majority and colour free. Lafleur Gérard. The population of the French Antilles in the 17th century. In: The European population of the Americas (17th century). Acts of the 133th National Congress of Historical and Scientific Societies, ‘Migration, Transfers and Exchanges on both sides of the Atlantic’, Quebec, 2008. Paris: CTHS Editions, 2012 pp. 53-69. (Acts of the National Congress of Historical and Scientific Societies, 133-6)