Dutch-British treaty authorizes recruitment of Indian workers

About 45,000 people were legally freed. Suriname’s emancipated population remained under state supervision and compulsory labor until 1873. Former owners received compensation; the people whose...

A new regulation created a small elected assembly in Suriname. Voting was restricted by property and tax qualifications, excluding most people, including the newly emancipated majority. The reform...

The Anglo-Dutch Convention exchanged forts and jurisdiction along the Gold Coast. It rearranged European control without treating African polities as sovereign negotiating parties and intensified...

The canal shortened the route between Europe and the Indian Ocean, facilitating colonial trade, troop movements, and administration across Dutch Asia. Built through Egyptian territory and labor, it...

The law provided long-term leases to private companies in the East Indies and accompanied a shift from state cultivation toward private plantation capitalism. It did not restore land sovereignty to...

A convention provided for transfer of Dutch Gold Coast possessions to Britain. Elmina residents and African authorities faced a change in colonial ruler negotiated abroad, not a popular choice about...

Ratification set the legal process for ending Dutch sovereignty on the Gold Coast. The handover was contested locally; African communities faced a change of European colonial administration imposed...

Elmina was formally transferred to Britain. Residents objected to the change and its terms. European accounts that describe a smooth cession obscure local opposition and African political interests.

The ship left Calcutta with 410 people bound for Suriname; 11 died during the voyage. Many entered the system amid poverty and restricted choices. The journey created a diaspora while supplying...

The Dutch government declared war on Aceh, contradicting earlier commitments to respect its independence. Strategic interests drove the invasion. Acehnese leaders and communities resisted for decades,...