We Slaves of Suriname

by de Kom, Anton; McKay, David

• ISBN13: 9781509549023
• ISBN10: 1509549021
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2022-03-22
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

Anton de Kom’s We Slaves of Suriname is a literary masterpiece as well as a fierce indictment of racism and colonialism. In this classic book, published here in English for the first time, the Surinamese writer and resistance leader recounts the history of his homeland, from the first settlements by Europeans in search of gold through the era of the slave trade and the period of Dutch colonial rule, when the old slave mentality persisted, long after slavery had been formally abolished.

159 years after the abolition of slavery in Suriname and 88 years after its initial publication, We Slaves of Suriname has lost none of its brilliance and power.

Author Biography

Anton de Kom was one of the most important fighters for the independence of Suriname from Dutch colonial rule.  Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, on 22 February 1898, he died in Neuengamme, the German concentration camp, on 24 April 1945.  In June 2020, Anton de Kom entered the Dutch Canon, the 50 most important events and persons in Dutch history which are taught in schools in The Netherlands.

Table of Contents

Translator’s Note


Introductions

Frimangron by Tessa Leuwsha

The Breath of Freedom by Duco van Oostrum

Why Anton de Kom Still Inspires Generation after Generation by Mitchell Esajas


Foreword by Judith de Kom


We Slaves of Suriname


“Sranan,” our fatherland

The era of slavery

The arrival of the whites

El Dorado

The first settlements

The Dutch regime

The slave trade

The market

Enslaved

The slave woman

The masters

The punishments

The History of Our Nation

Van Aerssen van Sommelsdyck (1683–1688)

The brutes

The forest expeditions

Johan Jacob Mauricius (1742–1751)

Governor Crommelin (1752–1768)

Governor Nepveu (1770–1779)

Buku (decayed into dust)

The final chapter for the resistance

Suriname under British rule

The great fire

The fate of the ethical

White settlement

Fighting the current

Governors on parade

The abolition of slavery

Freedom?

The great sellout

The era of freedom

How we live

The essence of autonomy

Fin de siècle

Indentured labor

Free labor

In search of gold

The major crops

What becomes of those millions?

Results

Reunion and farewell

Notes


Glossary of Surinamese terms

Index