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This paper examines the effect of the historical past on the level of contemporary diversification of the former colonies. Following the work of Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson [2001] and Easterly and Levine [2016], this article shows that settler mortality, the settlement rate of settlers in ex-colonies and the percentage of the European population among the indigenous people affect the level of diversification of former colonies. This result is robust while controlling by historical, economic, sociocultural and institutional variables. The results obtained by an analysis in OLS are consolidated through a GETS approach. In the same way, this article exposes two main channels through which history influences diversification: the channel of institutions and human capital.