📅 27 February 1816
A contemporary colonial record dates the Dutch takeover to 27 February 1816, following British rule. This transition restored Dutch colonial administration but did not emancipate people held in...
📅 25 October 1858
A proposal to abolish slavery in Suriname was presented to the Dutch parliament on 25 October 1858. Its title linked emancipation to ensuring an adequate supply of immigrant contract workers. This...
📅 1 July 1862
Parliamentary records identify 1–6 July 1862 as the opening stretch of deliberations. The government tied abolition to slaveholder compensation, recruitment of contract labor, and ten years of state...
📅 8 August 1862
The Dutch emancipation law was promulgated on 8 August 1862, setting 1 July 1863 as the date slavery would formally end. In Suriname, the statute compensated enslavers while freed people received no...