Snak, Claas and Bastiaan’s Struggle for Freedom: Three Curaçaoan Enslaved Men and Their Court Cases About the Free Soil Principle in the Dutch Republic
In the Dutch Republic slavery was not permitted on its soil in Western Europe. Enslaved people obtained their freedom by setting foot on Dutch soil. In 1776, the scope of this free soil principle was limited by a statute of the States General. From this moment onwards only slaves who remained in the Republic for longer than six months would automatically become free. In the literature, it was hitherto assumed that with the establishment of this statute the first debates about the scope of the free soil principle were initiated. This article demonstrates that this assumption is false. Previousl... Mehr ...
Verfasser: | |
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Dokumenttyp: | Artikel |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2021 |
Verlag/Hrsg.: |
Koninklijk Nederlands Historisch Genootschap
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Schlagwörter: | Slavernij / de vrijheid van Patria / het principe van de vrije grond / Hoge Raad van Holland en Zeeland / Staten-Generaal / Rooms-Hollands recht |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27491096 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | https://bmgn-lchr.nl/article/view/6984 |
In the Dutch Republic slavery was not permitted on its soil in Western Europe. Enslaved people obtained their freedom by setting foot on Dutch soil. In 1776, the scope of this free soil principle was limited by a statute of the States General. From this moment onwards only slaves who remained in the Republic for longer than six months would automatically become free. In the literature, it was hitherto assumed that with the establishment of this statute the first debates about the scope of the free soil principle were initiated. This article demonstrates that this assumption is false. Previously, two court cases from 1735 and 1736, between two enslaved men from Curaçao and their masters, had already given rise to discussion. During these court cases, lawyers and judges elaborately debated the boundaries of the free soil principle. Did every enslaved person automatically obtain their freedom, or was, for instance, the permission of the master required to travel to the Dutch Republic? The two court cases give insight into what contemporaries thought about the free soil principle, thus shedding new light on the States General’s statute of 1776. ; In de Nederlandse Republiek bestond het principe dat slavernij op het eigen grondgebied in West-Europa niet was toegestaan. Tot slaaf gemaakte personen werden vrij wanneer zij voet op Nederlandse grond zetten. Dit principe van de vrije grond werd in 1776 beperkt door een plakkaat van de Staten-Generaal. Vanaf dat moment werden alleen nog slaven die langer dan zes maanden in de Republiek verbleven, meteen vrijgemaakt. Tot dusver werd in de literatuur aangenomen dat de totstandkoming van dit plakkaat voor het eerst een discussie teweegbracht over de reikwijdte van het principe van de vrije grond. Dit artikel laat zien dat deze aanname niet klopt, omdat reeds in 1735-1736 twee rechtszaken tussen Curaçaose tot slaaf gemaakten en hun meesters aanleiding gaven tot discussie. Advocaten en rechters debatteerden uitgebreid met elkaar over de grenzen van het principe van de vrije ...