During this period the Dutch had struggled to maintain possession of the colony. Twice at the beginning of the nineteenth century (1800-1803 and 1807-1815), the British captured Curacao, the capital of the Dutch West Indies, and thus gained control of Bonaire as well. They leased the island to Joseph Foulke, a North American ship-owner who exploited Bonaire as a source of lumber. When the islands were returned to the Netherlands by the Treaty of Paris of 1816, the small Fort Oranje was erected to guard against future attacks. It housed the island's commander until 1837, when it became a government depot and then a prison. Later, in 1868, a small lighthouse was built near Fort Oranje.

Although it lacked many of the resources that made other Caribbean colonies prosperous, Bonaire did have one precious commodity in great abundance--salt, which was a necessary ingredient for preserving meat and fish before refrigeration. Although it lacked many of the resources that made other Caribbean colonies prosperous, Bonaire did have one precious commodity in great abundance--salt, which was a necessary ingredient for preserving meat and fish before refrigeration. In the late 1620's, when tensions heightened between Spain and its former principalities in the Netherlands, the Spanish had cut off the supply of this essential mineral to the Dutch. A few years later, when the Dutch captured Curacao, Bonaire, and Aruba, they gained valuable control of Bonaire's salt pans. Over the next two centuries the salt industry on Bonaire expanded, first under the Dutch West India Company and then under direct governmental control. By 1837 Bonaire's salt production had grown so large that four obelisks were built near the Salt Lake to guide ships coming in to load. The obelisks were painted red, white, blue, and orange (the colors of the Dutch flag and the Royal House of Orange), and a flag of one of the four colors would be raised high atop a flagpole to direct ships to the appropriate pan. In the middle of the nineteenth century, however, the salt industry on Bonaire fell into sharp decline, as the abolition of slavery and increased international competition sharply reduced its profitability. In 1870, the island's nine salt pans were purchased from the government by E.B.F. Hellmund. Today, they are operated by the Antilles International Salt Company.With the end of slavery, Bonaire ceased to be a government plantation, and the land was put to public auction. Five plots, rich in lumber and in cattle, were sold in 1867 to J.F. Neuman & Co. and E.B.F. Hellmund (who later purchased the island's salt pans). The partitioning of property left the island's population disenfranchised and facing increasing poverty. Working for low wages, they lost even the sense of communal infrastructure they had possessed during slavery. Many left to take jobs in the copper mines in Venezuela. Shortly after the turn of the century, the discovery of oil in Venezuela led to the development of refineries on Curacao and Aruba bringing new prosperity to the islands. Bonaire benefited as well, and a public works project was begun. The island blacktopped its roads, renewed the harbor, installed electricity and telephone connections, and improved medical conditions. The old lighthouse at Fort Oranje was replaced by a stone beacon in 1932, and an airport was built in 1936. During World War II, the island was an internment camp for captured Germans and Dutch Nazis. Wooden shacks confined 461 inmates between 1940 and 1947.

In 1936, Bonaire males were given the right to vote, and local political parties emerged over the next decade. It wasn't until after the war, however, that the islanders began to press for greater autonomy. Self-rule was granted by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in 1954, although the Antilles remain a Dutch protectorate. Independence brought a greater emphasis on tourism. Bonaire, already a favorite of soldiers and officers, gained in popularity when Queen Juliana visited the island in 1944 with Eleanor Roosevelt. The Nazi internment camps were converted into the Hotel Zeebad, and the wooden shacks were replaced by charming stone bungalows. A second hotel, the Bonaire Beach Hotel, was opened up in 1962 on the Playa de Lechi. The Flamingo Airport, originally constructed in 1955, was expanded in 1972 to support the increase in traffic. Seven years later Bonaire's Marine Park and Washington-Slagbaai Park were established, ensuring the survival of the island's extraordinary natural attractions well into the future.

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