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Virtual Guide | Slavery | History

History | Slave Trade | Shipment | Surinam
Slavery & Abolition in the USA | Slavery Today

Slavery, where does it come from?

The history of slavery goes back to the ancient times. It played an important role in the civilization of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, North Africa and the lands south of the Sahara desert. The oldest known examples of slavery date back to 3.500 B.C.
There were two kind of slaves: indigenous or native slaves, who had lost their freedom due to crimes or debts, and prisoners of war, who came from a nearby city or region. Indigenous slaves who were condemned to slavery due to debts, regained their freedom after a number of years (3 to 6 years).

The position of a slave was better arranged in one community then in another. In ancient Egypt, slaves were forced to inhumanly hard labour, like constructing the famous pyramids and palaces of the pharaohs. The life of a slave was of little importance. It formed a sharp contrast compared to the magnificence and the splendor they had to construct for the mortal remains of their owners.
Ancient Greeks treated their slaves a lot better. Besides food and accommodation, slaves were paid for their labour, and they could save and use their money to regain their freedom. Especially criminals and prisoners of war were treated harshly by the Romans. Mostly, they were condemned to work in mines un-til they died. Defiance amongst slaves were smothered in blood and those who tried to escape were seve-rely punished. In the eighth century, the institution of slavery reached its high point in Central en Northern Europe. Between the eighth and the tenth century the Germanic imprisoned large numbers of people of the Slavic population. Hence the origin of the word "slave". A few centuries later, in Northern Europe slavery was replaced by a system of serfs or the redials.
Around the Mediterranean Sea slavery still blossomed, also on account of the on-going wars and fights between Christian and Muslim rulers. Both groups raided each others villages and cities along the coast to gain slaves. Also slave traders from Northern Europe brought slaves from the Slavic region to the slave-markets along the Mediterranean Sea. The Vikings brought the prisoners they captured during their raids on the shores of Northern Europe to these markets.

The first organized form of black slave trade occurred during the Arabising of North Africa, together with the propagation of the Islam. During the eighth century, Berbers from North Africa who converted to Islam, traveled across the Western Sahara and arrived at the old kingdom of Ghana. During the following centuries, large groups of trade caravans traveled from Tripoli and Gadames to the oasis of Teffan, Timboektoe and southward beyond Lake Chad. They bartered salt, swords, horses, hauberks and rolls of valuable textiles for black slaves to be employed in the houses in the Arabic palace city Kairouan at the Mediterranean Sea (in present Tunesia). Slaves were also transported to important Islamic cities on the Iberian peninsula, such as Cordoba and Sevilla. Already in 711 A.D. an important part of the Iberian peninsula was conquered by Islamic warriors.

In the second part of the sixth century, Yemen was stricken by a long and terrible drought, causing Arab tribes to march in the direction of North Africa. From North Africa, they extended their influence to the Western Sahara and a part of the Iberian peninsula. Even though the Koran proclaims that freeing a slave is one of the most praiseworthy of acts, Islam is not against slavery. Muslims are not allowed to enslave other Muslims. This and the dissemination tern-per of the religion - in which violence was allowed - led to an Arabisation of the African continent.

To be able to meet with the growing demand for slaves, some African kingdoms extended their territory by waging war with surrounding tribes. The defeated were sold as slaves. Different kingdoms in the Sahel south of the Sahara desert were based on the institution of slavery, thus taking advantage of their own slavery traditions through the trade with the Europeans. Not only black people were popular among Arabs; during the crusades the defeated white soldiers awaited a life as a slave in the Islamitic Empire. Cities like Sevilla, Mallorca, Barcelona, Palermo, Genua and Venice had flourishing slave markets were also Christian slaves were sold. Although the Pope spoke against it and threatened to ban these slave traders, the profitable trade in white slaves continued.

The slave and his master

The way the master treated his slaves differed strongly per colony. In this field the Dutch had a bad reputation, followed by the British and the Americans. The slavery system in the sugar colonies was hard, because the production of molasses demanded an intense work organization with strictly enforced discipline that was imposed with force on the slaves. In general it was the same on the plantations where the number of Negro slaves were some ten folds of the number of whites. Compared to the small plantations, like for example on Curacao, slaves wore treated less harshly. Fear that the slaves would turn against their white masters laid at its foundation, especially on the isolated plantations in Surinam, where the reign of terror was terrible.
Some sugar plantations where led by a deputy, because the owner preferred to live in the city or even in his homeland. The deputy received, in exchange for his services, a percentage of the revenues. This sys-tem caused all sorts of abuses, which victimized not only the owner, but also the slaves. Violent resistances by slaves were few and far between, because the authorities could call upon well-armed and organized troops to suppress these revolts heavy-handedly. The slaves quite often took their refuge to resignation, such as wrong interpretation of the orders, pretending ignorance, committing acts of sabotage, petty thefts or running away. On islands and in territories where the interior offered enough possibilities to hide and to survive, villages of escaped slaves arose. Especially in Surinam, where owners and authorities treated slaves inhumanly, defiance happened almost daily, resulting in many slaves escaping to the interior. There the escapees returned to their African roots concerning religion, culture and village structure. The fugitives committed raids on plantations in search of food and other essentials. To stop these raids, punitive expeditions were exercised. Villages were burned to the ground and arable land in the forest destroyed. Slaves caught during a punitive expedition, awaited a terrible punishment, which al-ways resulted in death. In 1730 eleven captured slaves were punished as follows:
The Negro Joosie was hung by his ribs with a meat hook and stayed up there until he died. After his death his head was chopped off and exposed on a stake along the waterside of Paramaribo and his body left as prey for the birds. The Negros Werrie and Manbote tied up on a post and slowly burned alive, while burning they were pinched with glowing tongs. The Negros Lucrotia, Ambira, Aga, Gomba, Marie and Victoria, wore laid on a cross to be broken on the wheel. After the execution their heads were chopped off and exposed on a stake along the waterside. The Negros Diana and Christina were decapitated and their heads exposed on a stake along the waterside.

Some parties say that in general slavery on Curaçao was quite mild; other parties disagree. Both parties can confirm their assertion with examples. The examples are always extremes towards both sides and do not give a clear view of the reality. In general the slaves on the Curacao plantations were better treated than those who worked in the sugar colonies. They had more freedom of movement and did not have to work so hard. This was not caused by a more humane attitude of the Curaçaoan owners, but because the plantations did not deliver export products, which made the productivity of the slave less important. On Curaçao the slave himself was an export product, that - if in good condition - presented a considerable value. The owners gave their slaves a lot of freedom of movement to give them the opportunity to take care of their own food supply. The costs for maintenance of slaves was quite often an inroad on the budget of the planter, who derived a certain status from his plantation ownership, but not much money.

Especially when the corn crop failed, the planter was forced to buy expensive imported corn. The sale of a healthy slave provided him with enough money to feed twenty slaves with corn for about a year.
It happened quite often that slaves did not receive their required ration. In 1795 this lead to a slave revolt under the command of Tula. Shortly after its bloody ending, the colonial director issued instructions with rules concerning the treatment of slaves. The slaves did not have to work on Sundays and on public holidays; the working hours were limited from 5 till 11 and from 1 o'clock till sunset. The ration was fixed to five jugs of corn a week, women received four jugs. In addition, the owner had to provide his slaves with sufficient clothings. The planters were not allowed to force the slaves to buy goods at his plantation. Also intemperate and unreasonable corporal punishments were forbidden, including the custom of punishing all the slaves for a crime committed by only one of them.

In the coming years many more instructions followed that improved the destiny of the slaves. Unfortunately the observance was a distressing situation. Many planters were represented in the colonial council. Still in 1855, Mgr. Niewindt wrote about the poor situation on the plantation Knip, where administrator Abraham do Veer had not supplied the slaves with their rations for a period of eight weeks, while his store house had provisions to feed the slaves for one and a half year. The same situation occurred on the plantation Groot Kwartier, that was property of the same Do Veer. When the slaves asked for food, they got abused by Do Veer. People said that on the plantation St. Jan - which belonged to Jan Schotborg - one of the slaves was beaten to death, but the case was kept silent. The prosecutor did not give a damn about the case. Niewindt wrote that he was a debauchee.

Some Dutch who stayed a couple of years in the West Indian colonies turned out to be anti slavery, such as officer Abbring, Van Paddenburg and M.D. Teenstra. Although Abbring wrote in his memoirs that the house slaves up here were better off than house maids in Holland. Officer Van Goes wrote that Curacaoan slaves where better off than a day labourer at the Meierij (a part of the province Brabant in The Netherlands). In the thirties Teenstra gave the following description of slavery on Curacao:

'Curaçao is a poor island a boosted reef without trade, without agriculture. The poor citizens export young slaves, to be able to buy the indispensable necessities of life. It is a miraculous but also a hurtfld spectacle to see how cheerfid the parents bring their sold children aboard the ships to give them a rousing send-offfor ever, while the children do not feel a different sorrow than that they have to leave their parents and relatives behind on such a barren and ungracious rock'

But in the fifties of the nineteenth century, when a commission was already installed to prepare the emancipation of the slaves, he wrote in a Dutch newspaper about cruelties committed against the slaves. In this period the slaves were treated more cruelly then ever before. l.A. Jesurun, the largest slave holder of Curaçao, had chained his slaves and thus let them break stones on his plantation Parera, and appropriated himself the right to spend the first night with his slave girls. He gave his superior different tasks of torture and once ordered him to strangle a slave. A governor was said to have beaten up a slave boy in the presence of the prosecutor, because the boy was late in bringing the governor to Punda by ship. The boy could not walk anymore. A fourteen year old slave girl made a failed attempt at suicide, because her mistress ill-treated her. Cuffed by hand and feet she jumped out of the second storey window to escape from her tormentor. Most of the Abolitionists though did not consider the Negros as equals.

Teenstra wrote:
'Concerning civilization, the Ethiopian race has made the least progress and is lowest on the ladder of humanity. Among them the Negros, who have been supplied as slaves to Surinam. The Negro has a rougher skin and is morally as well as physically less sensitive than a white man. His hair comes close to the hair of animals. His flat nose with wide nostrils and his swollen lips as well as his skull are corresponding with these of the apes. His mental faculties are obtuse and his satisfaction is only bestial.'

The Curacaoan slaves might be allowed more freedom of movement; often it was made impossible for them to have a normal family life. They were not allowed to marry without the permission of their owners. This because a marriage bond would no longer allow the owner to sell man and wife apart. The plantation owners therefore always resisted against rules that limited them in the possibilities to sell their slaves as they thought fit.
On St. Maarten, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, things looked pretty dismal. The poverty of the slave masters was so extreme, that they could not buy food for their slaves. Thus the slaves were forced to, after the hard labour they had to fulfill for their masters, take care of their own livelihood. They were forced to beg in the streets of Philipsburg. This situation also led to thefts and attempts to escape the island. In this sad period slaves were found dead in the streets of Philipsburg, because of starvation. Slaves in Surinam were fed better than their companions in other Dutch colonies. They got six to seven pints (1/2 liter) of corn or corn flour a week, and sometimes herrings or salted fish. Customary extra food was given to those who worked hard. Nevertheless slaves often preferred the uncertainties of freedom m the tropical rain forest above the 'secure' life on the plantation. The hard work that was expected from them, the cruel treatment and the fact that the forest offered enough possibilities for survival, played an important role. The decision to escape could be inspired by fear, by the hard living conditions, by the cruelty of the master, by ill-treatment by the supervisor or the slave driver, by some injustice that one did not want to accept, or by some other reason, and less from the urge for personal freedom. Once, a slave who had escaped to British Guyana, returned several days later to the plantation in Surinam from which he had fled. He had discovered that, despite his freedom, he had to work in British Guyana also. So work being inevitable, he preferred to labour in his familiar surroundings.

For the slaves of Curacao opportunities to escape were rather limited. Even when hiding themselves in the 'mondi', they had to rely on the frequently controlled wells. Therefore escaped slaves quite often hid themselves among the slaves of a nearby plantation. Every now and again organized groups hold round-ups m the 'mondi' and on the plantations, in search of escaped slaves.

Other slaves tried to reach the South American continent by ship. In 1751/1752 the Spanish crown had decided that escaped slaves who were or would become converted Roman Catholic, would not be extradited, but declared free. The number of escape attempts increased, especially when the weather was clear and the opposite coast was visible. Instructions were given that during the night boats and canoes had to be fastened to prevent attempts to escape.
As strange as it may seem, it rarely happened that a slave who sailed to the other Caribbean islands, took advantage of these chances and escaped. In all probability because on a ship the slave and the free sailors were treated equal. Also some other slaves were not often inclined to escape, despite the offered possibilities. These were the handicraft slaves who had to take care of their own livelihood and were allowed -after a deduction of a fixed amount for the owener - to keep the profits of labour. In practice their position did not differ much from freed slaves. Some of them saved enough to purchase their own freedom. The institution of slavery was accepted among Negros, so that, once they were free, they did not hesitate to become a slave owner Themselves. An old newspaper of around 1850 talks about a freed black slave who married a slave girl that was his own property.

The abolition of slavery

After the successful fight against the slave trade, the abolitionists pointed themselves to the total abolition of slavery. In 1821 the Anti-Slave Society was founded in England. A long-term campaign against slavery finally led to an emancipation of the slaves in the entire British Empire in 1833. After the emancipation there would be an intervening period of four to six years, to prepare the ox-slaves for their new freedom and responsibilities. During this period they were forced to work three quarters of their time for their previous owners without getting anything in exchange, except board and lodging. The execution of punishment by supervisors was banned. This system led to dissatisfaction and misunderstanding by both parties, so in 1838 this regulation was totally abolished and the ox-slaves in the British Empire regained total freedom. On July 28, 1847 the Danish King declared that slavery would be abolished gradually within a twelve year period. Rumours about an approaching emancipation in the French colonies, led in July 1848 to a tremendous slave revolt on the Danish island St. Croix. The slaves demanded their emancipation. The situation was so threatening, that the governor-general on the island, by his own authority, proclaimed the emancipation of the slaves. The Danish government could only ratificate this proclamation.

In many colonies the proclamation of emancipation was proceeded by laws and regulations that improved the position of the slaves with the aim to prepare them for their freedom. Between 1832 and 1845 different measures in the French territories wore proclaimed. The first French politician that presented a bill for the abolition of slavery was Hippolyte Passy in 1838. The costs for the French State would be low, but his proposal would lead to a long period before the entire emancipation process would be completed. Two years later a committee was appointed to examine all aspects of abolition and come with proposals. The report would be discussed for many years. Shortly after the foundation of the second French Republic, a committee was installed on March 4, 1848 that had to prepare, in a short period, legislation for the complete emancipation. This news quickly reached the overseas colonies, which led to mass irregularities in Martinique and Guadeloupe.
Before the arrival of the official decree, that was signed on April 27 by the members of the temporary government, the governor of Martinique proclaimed on his own initiative the abolition of slavery, as of May 22, 1848 at 6p.m. The governor of Guadeloupe followed his example. On May 27 the French slaves regained their freedom.

The emancipation in the Dutch Colonies

After the abolition of slavery, France honored in its territories the principle of "Le sol do la France afranchit l'esclave qui le touche", of "the French soil delivers the slave the moment he sets foot on it". On the Dutch part of St. Martin, the slaves wont on strike and roamed around the streets, claiming their freedom. Many slaves deserted to the French part. The white citizens feared for their safety. Planters and slaveholders convened on June, 1 of the same year a general assembly and proclaimed afterwards a number of measures, that implied that slaves should be treated as free workers with whom justified employment contracts had to be made. The director of Dutch St. Martin was asked to withdraw all measures applicable to the slave population and to declare that all penal statutes valid for the free population, also should apply for the slaves.

This news also reached the slaves on St. Eustatius. Six free men incited the slave population with the announcement that the king had announced the emancipation but that the director of the island refused to proclaim this measure. The director of Statia did not succeed in convincing the rebellious slaves of the contrary. Soldiers and members of the militia wore forced to make a drastic end to the revolt. This resulted in many wounded and the death of a dozen revolting slaves. The six incisors wore banished from the island. The revolt caused the distinguished planters - for fear of a possible repeat - to decide in future to offer their slaves a salary.

The legal abolition of slavery could only be proclaimed by the motherland, not by local authorities or the slave owners. Both in Surinam and in Holland they feared commotion under the slave population if only partial emancipation of the slaves at one of the colonies was taken into consideration. In the past several times rumours about proclaiming the freedom had triggered serious irregularities among the slaves. Many slave revolts in the Caribbean area broke out after hearing rumours about a possible emancipation. With these revolutions the slaves tried to realize an active declaration of freedom. The slaves desired their freedom as long as they could live their free life in their own familiar surroundings. An individual was only prepared to give up his familiar surroundings by escaping to an area whore he would be automatically declared a free man.

For fear that abolition of slavery would lead to destruction of the plantation economy of Surinam, the Dutch government was quite slow to undertake action. It took until 1840 before a company for the promotion of abolition of slavery was founded. The abolition of slavery in French and British Guyana made it clear to the Dutch politicians that on a long term the institution of slavery could not be maintained much longer. Nevertheless they waited till 1851 before the first proposal reached the Dutch Lower House. The proposal was rejected because no one had paid attention to the financial compensation for the slave owners. Many years of discussions followed, concerning arrangements about reports and recommendations. One of the most important problems was the payment of full damages to the owners. Not the question whether it should be granted, but where to find the money for the compensation. In the proposals it was assumed that the slaves should be liable for the refunding.

In 1850 the payment for manumission letters was abolished. This compensation was introduced to prevent slaveholders from getting manumission letters for older and infirmed slaves, just to got rid of the maintenance costs of these unproductive slaves. At its emancipation the slave received a last name, often a corruption of the owner's name or the plantation. Names such as Ascencion, Daflaar, Jeruzun, Montroche, St. Jago, etc.
News about the installation in the motherland of the committee that had to prepare the coming emancipation, led to agitation within the community of Curaçao. Fear for a revolution among the slave population, as had happened in other colonies after news about the coming emancipation, made the owners and the governor behave cruelly against the slaves. The colonial secretary and some planters ordered heavy iron chains and collars with heavy locks from Liverpool that had to servo as torture instruments. The cruel treatment pushed some slaves into suicide attempts. Also the number of escape attempts increased drastically. But also many slaveholders did not wait for the general emancipation and gained manumission letters for their slaves. During the last ton years before the emancipation, it were mostly craftsmen that fled to the opposite coast. Despite the abolition of slavery being announced, it was obvious that the actual proclamation would take many more years. Young, strong and skilled slaves did not feel much like waiting that long and ran off to Venezuela.

In 1856 the report of the special commission of state about the abolition of slavery was finally introduced. The members of the commission concluded that the prescribed rules concerning rations wore not observed. Many planters did not supply enough clothings to their slaves. This report resulted one year later in the last slave statute before the emancipation, which issued prescriptions for improvement of the diet, clothings, housing and care of the slaves. The slave masters wore no longer allowed to whip the slaves but had to bring them to Fort Amsterdam. They had to pay specially appointed people to do this for them. The punishment imposed on misbehaving slaves was far from mild. To suppress the growing impertinence of the slaves, punishments like forced labour in chains was used.

How sensitive the matter of the emancipation was, is proved by the fact that between 1857 and 1860, the minister of Colonies presented three different bills, which all three were rejected. Finally a new minister introduced a bill on July 9, 1862 that was accepted by the majority of the parliament on August 8. On September 30, the emancipation deed was road on Curaçao and distributed in three languages (Dutch, English and Papiamentu). The police force was enlarged to be prepared in case of irregularities. Mgr. Kistenmaker summoned the slaves to behave in a dignified way. The emancipation that was effected on July 1, 1863 passed orderly and festive.
The slaves of Surinam were put under state control for a period often years, to guarantee the agricultural production. The ox-slave was allowed to decide where ho wanted to work.
Sate control did not apply for the ox-slaves of Curaçao. They did not work much in the year following the emancipation. Many of them left the island, only to return after a few weeks. Housewives suddenly wore faced with housekeepers who didn't show up and were forced to search for a maid that they had to ask if she wanted to come to work. In the absence of enough workers not much corn was planted and salt stayed in the saltpans. But as time passed, people got used to the changed situation.

The Black Holocaust

The trade of captured and enslaved Africans outside their home country began around the year 652 AD by the Arabs, followed by the Chinese under the Tang dynasty (618-960). Europeans entered the trade in 1442. The export of African captives to the Americas ended between 1860- 1875.
The Slave Trade ended officially with the Arab-Nubian Slave Treaty of 1890. Only on 31 December 1911. With a further treaty between Arab Slave traders and the British colonial rulers of Zanzibar, the trade came to a near complete halt.
Slavery in Africa itself was officially abolished only on 5 July 1980, when Mauritania signed the International Abolition Treaty. However, in today's Mauritania, Mali and Sudan, African Slave trade is estimated at 200,000 captures per year. The members of the Bella tribe are still slaves of the Tuareg. Slavery, as well as slave trade, continues in Africa, on a 'voluntary' basis.