Emancipation law is promulgated in the Netherlands

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...

On 13 November 1858, Johannis was manumitted and entered as Johannis Marius Mehciz. The record identifies him as a tailor and as the son of Leentje. It associates the petition with his owner, the...

A record dated 12 May 1862 lists Doris, registered as Theodorus Stam, as manumitted from the government-owned plantation Catharina Sophia. Born in 1808, he had lived most of his life under slavery...

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...

The manumission index records Alida Philippina, formerly Alyda Philippina, as freed on 19 July 1862. Born in 1792, she was about seventy. The archive says W. Huisen requested her freedom and was...

A resolution dated 11 September 1862 records the manumission of Harry Joseph (enslaved name Henry, born 1861) and his brother Philip Albert (born 1859). Both were identified as sons of Johanna...

The law was announced in Paramaribo on 3 October 1862, with a governor’s proclamation addressed to enslaved people. A contemporary chronicle records people sharing and reading the announcement in...

Carel Albert Elshot was recorded as manumitted on 31 October 1862, the year of his birth. The archive identifies Charlotte as his mother and notes that he had a brother, Fredericus Wilhelmus. A...

Gustaaf Theodorus Prener, born in 1861, was manumitted on 12 December 1862. The entry records Anna as his mother. This release came only months before general emancipation, but it did not make the...

The archive records George Frits Prix, born in 1841 and the son of Louisa, as manumitted on 9 April 1863. J.H. Kruse acted “for freedom,” and the record lists George as a house servant. This...