Anglo-Dutch settlement preserves Dutch control of Suriname

An eyewitness account dated 30 June 1772 describes an attack led by Baron’s forces on plantation Poelwijk. The raid formed part of the Aluku struggle against plantation power and the colonial...

On 20 November 1772, colonial forces captured Fort Buku after finding a concealed route through the marsh. The Zwarte Jagers, known as Redi Musu, helped the expedition; they were enslaved men...

A letter dated 22 March 1776 records Colonel Louis Henri Fourgeoud’s assignment to protect the colony against Boni and Baron. Dutch authorities continued costly expeditions after the fall of Buku,...

A colonial meeting record dated 18 January 1786 states that Ndyuka leader Pambu promised not to support the Aluku. The Ndyuka had their own treaty relationship with the Dutch, and colonial officials...

A colonial dispatch dated 3 March 1793 records an expedition in which Boni was killed. The National Archives identifies the report as a record of his death, while another modern account dates the...

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...

A proclamation issued in Suriname on 12 January 1819 prohibited fitting out slave ships, participating in the trade, and importing enslaved people into American Dutch possessions. It restricted...

A proclamation dated 3 November 1819 established the Anglo-Dutch Mixed Commission Court in Paramaribo to hear slave-trading cases. The court gave the anti-trafficking regime a local institution, yet...

On 23 March 1832 colonial authorities adopted a regulation governing manumission, or an enslaver-authorized release from slavery. Freedom remained dependent on enslaver action and government approval,...

The new manumission rules took effect on 1 April 1832. Freedom was processed through enslavers and the colonial state, not recognized as a right held by enslaved people. The rules formalized a pathway...