Search

While contemporary observers judged Suriname's legal system to be extremely cruel, arbitrary, and above all outrageously biased, the written record reveals that its criminal court closely adhered to procedure, weighed slave testimony and did not cast judgement outright. This article asks what place slave punishment and legal procedure had in the Suriname system of slavery, and how and why this changed over time. The Suriname legal system offers an almost continuous record of criminal trials held before its main colonial court as well as a record of its locally passed regulations. Research indicates that the court turned away from severe physical mutilation and capital punishments over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The decline of plantocratic dominance and its overbearing use of force suggests a gradual embedding of the court system, making it a predictable institution promoting (an unequal) social cohesion. This leads us to suggest that the amelioration policies of the nineteenth century were not a transformation in the legal system resulting solely from a metropolitan intervention, but were partly a continuation of a trend in the colony itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suriname was one of the most emblematic slave societies of the Atlantic world and saw a court system in which a Governing Council functioned simultaneously as political council to the governor, as a criminal court and also elected the Civil Court. Studies of the practice of the Governing Council have been limited to a small number of spectacularly brutal cases canonised by abolitionist campaigners. This article reconstructs how various forums for arbitration related to the Governing Council, and how this relationship changed by comparing its practices across the long eighteenth century. I conclude that the Governing Council interacted withseveral forums, both formally recognised as well as informal, in the colony. Over time, adjudication became increasingly dependent on the authority of the Governing Council. The combination of the political and legal roles contributed to the process of colonial state formation in Suriname. Studies of the practices of similar courts will clarify how the Dutch Empire successfully governed its diverse populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impacts of The article discusses the impacts of slave trade on the Dutch economy dealing withe the profits earned by slave trading companies such as Middelburg Trading Company. Topics include industrialization of the Netherlands, Abolition of slavery in 1863, and association between slave trade and economic growth. Also mentioned is the research done on Atlantic slavery and history if slavery in Netherlands during the 18th century.

Copyright of Werkstatt Geschichte (Klartext Verlag) is the property of Klartext Verlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)