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Fort New Amsterdam was built between 1734 and 1747.
After the French under Cassard directly attacked the plantations instead of Fort Zeelandia and the city of Paramaribo, the Geoctroyeerde Sociëteit van Suriname decided to protect both the plantations and the city by constructing a fort at the strategically important confluence of the Suriname and Commewijne rivers, which lies rather close to the ocean.
The Onafhankelijkheidsplein, English: Independence Square, is a town square in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname.
The square is situated in the historical inner city, near the Suriname River and the presidential palace.
Before the independence of Suriname from the Netherlands in 1975, it was also called the Oranjeplein (Orange Square) and the Gouvernementsplein (Gouvernment Square).