Land of hope and dreams: slavery and abolition in the Dutch Leeward islands, 1825–1865

Worlds apart: Island identities and colonial configurations in the Dutch Caribbean

“…This sort of movement was one of the integral aspects of the Leeward's system. For example, after the British abolished slavery in 1834, enslaved people from the neighboring islands where slavery was still in force (until 1848 for the Swedish, Danish, and French islands, 1863 for the Dutch territories) were quick to board small boats and escape to British colonies a few kilometers away (Roitman, 2016b). Depending on the year, anywhere from ten to more than 100 people attempted to leave their lives of enslavement and reach freedom.…”

“…Once on British soil, they would not be sent back to slavery due to so-called 'free soil' principles that dictated that no person reaching free soil could be returned to a life of servitude. The fact that everyone on the islands spoke Creole English no doubt made the decision to board leaky old fishing boats and make an attempt at freedom easier, as did the long-standing family connections which transcended island and imperial boundaries (Roitman, 2016b). The proximity of the islands was key in facilitating escapes, but also helped to foster and facilitate these family connections among both the enslaved and free peoples of the islands.…”

“…They were situated in a geographical space in which maintaining slavery after British emancipation in 1834 was next to impossible. Yet, the interests of the metropole and its representatives in the colonies to preserve slavery in Suriname where it was still profitable prevailed over the needs of the owners of enslaved people on the Leeward islands (Roitman, 2016b). When slavery was finally abolished, the financial settlement for slave owners, especially for St. Maarten, where slavery had been abolished de facto, if not de jure, in 1848, was not beneficial (Paula, 1993;Roitman, 2016a).…”