Artist Gerrit Schouten makes portraits of three condemned men

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...

On 14 August 1832, the colonial record lists the manumission of Adelaide, recorded with the family name Pompenstein. The entry connects her freedom to a legal proceeding involving an estate and its...

On 3 September 1832 a fire began in a Paramaribo dwelling. Suriname Global Group identifies the escaped enslaved men Kodjo, Mentor, and Present as responsible and interprets the arson as resistance to...

The blaze that began the previous night spread through central Paramaribo and destroyed dozens of properties. Colonial accounts made property loss and public order central, while its association...

The Suriname manumission index records Betje’s release on 6 November 1832. Her entry names her mother as well as the estate and people who stood surety. The required guarantee of 400 guilders...

Colonial authorities burned Kodjo, Mentor, and Present alive in a public execution on 26 January 1833 after convicting them in connection with the Paramaribo fire. The punishment made state violence a...

On 3 July 1833, Laurentius Haarlo was manumitted. The National Archives identifies him as the son of Fanny Haarlo and records that he later petitioned to change his surname to Thijm. His record...

The index dates Jan Jacob Dunsborg’s manumission to 30 August 1833 and does not name his mother in the available index. In 1842, with the former owners’ consent, he petitioned to take the surname De...

A colonial record dated 12 November 1833 lists the manumission of Alexander, registered under the later name Alexander Hendrik Overwoud. It names his owner, Alex. Cornelis Schutte, and records a...

The register records the manumission of Winst, entered under the family name Morra, on 11 March 1844. The record notes that the resolution also rendered the name as Morro. This variation warns against...