Former officials describe the danger of the Tempati revolt

On 31 July 1667, the Treaty of Breda ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War and confirmed that Suriname would remain under Dutch control. The agreement transferred a colony whose plantation economy...

In a letter dated 14 February 1754, Governor Wigbold Crommelin acknowledged that colonial forces could not defeat the Maroons and argued that peace was necessary to prevent the colony’s collapse....

On 22 February 1757, enslaved people at the La Paix timber plantation on the Tempati River rose in revolt. The uprising spread across plantations in the region, with cooperation between people who...

A report dated 1 April 1757 described the Tempati uprising and warned that news sent to the Netherlands should not needlessly alarm investors. The colony’s rulers faced a contradiction: the revolt...

In a letter dated 11 September 1759, Governor Crommelin again argued that peace with the Ndyuka was necessary to save the colony. The campaign to force Maroon communities back under plantation...

At a negotiation recorded on 6 January 1760, an unnamed Ndyuka spokesperson defended Maroon attacks on plantations. The surviving colonial record gives the date but not the speaker’s name. The...

A record dated 20 February 1760 documents Boston Band’s role in negotiations with Dutch colonial representatives. Boston, a formerly enslaved man who had become a leader among the Ndyuka, advocated...

On 10 October 1760, Ndyuka leaders and Dutch colonial authorities signed a treaty recognizing Ndyuka freedom and autonomy. The agreement promised supplies, but also required Ndyuka to ally with the...

A colonial record dated 20 October 1760 describes celebrations in Paramaribo following the peace treaty with the Ndyuka. The celebration reflected the colonial government’s relief after years of...