Like most Windward islands, Sao Nicolau was discovered in 1461, but the first Guinean slaves did not arrive until the early 16th century. During the 17th century, the island of Sao Nicolau had a green interior with high quality wine production and a good number of donkeys and goats, as well as an abundance of timber. After numerous attacks by French, English and German pirates, in 1818, regrouping most of the population in Ribeira Brava, the fort was built to protect against future plundering. In the middle of the 19th century, the seminary was created and an adjacent school where the same studies were taught as in the schools of Portugal. For the first time, some lucky Cape Verdeans had the opportunity to receive a very good education. At the beginning, the collective consciousness was that Cape Verde was part of Portugal, but as time went by and jumped to a new generation, this idea started to be questioned. Juvenal Cabral, one of the seminary professors who fought for better rights in Cape Verde gave way to the new generation, in which his son Amilcar Cabral would become the leader of the future revolution for the independence of Cape Verde.