Important archives about slavery, including the role of the Dutch in the slave trade and enslaved people in Dutch colonies, have been digitized over the past years. 1.9 million scans have now become available from institutions in the Netherlands, England, Guyana, and Suriname.
The sources can be accessed from a new page at the website of the National Archives of the Netherlands.
Enslaved people working at a Suriname plantation, 1850. Credits: Th. Bray, Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
The National Archives has digitized the following record groups relating to slavery:
- Dutch Series Guyana
- Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea
- Society of Berbice
- Society of Suriname
- Old Dutch West India Company
- New Dutch West India Company
- High Court of Admiralty: Prize Papers
- Archives transferred to Suriname and available online
- Archives about Suriname (overview)
Indexes of records relating to enslaved people in Dutch colonies include:
- Curacao: Slave register and emancipation registers, 1839-1863
- Curacao: Manumission records, 1722-1863
- East Indies: Protocols of slavery, 1822-1868
- East Indies: Reports on slavery, 1869-1900
- Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles: Emancipation of enslaved persons, 1863
- Suriname: Slave registers, 1830-1863
- Suriname: Manumitted slaves and their owners, 1832-1863
Slavery collections from other institutions:
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