Betje Steltman

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...

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...

Two days before their execution, Gerrit Schouten visited Kodjo, Mentor, and Present in custody and drew ink portraits of them. Historian Natalie Zemon Davis notes the portraits show individual...

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...