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Abstract
In several studies it has been argued that with the abolition of slavery it is impossible to calculate fertility and mortality rates of former slaves and their descendants. The freedmen left the plantations and disappeared from quantitative history. Contrary to this widely held opinion this article aims to expand our knowledge about events of life and death of (former) slaves and their direct descendants around 1863 in Suriname. Birth and death rates of sugar slaves in the last decade before the emancipation (1851–1863) are calculated and compared with the period of indentured labour (1864–1873). Mortality rates among freedmen of the sugar estates Breukelerwaard, Fairfield, Cannewapibo and La Jalousie went up after 1863. It is also demonstrated that child mortality was increasing after the abolition of slavery, indicating deteriorated conditions of daily life. There is also broad evidence of higher fertility rates among former female sugar slaves.
☆ Revised version of an article published in Dutch as ‘Demografische ontwikkelingen rond de afschaffing van slavernij in Suriname’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 5 (2008), 3–30.
Notes
☆ Revised version of an article published in Dutch as ‘Demografische ontwikkelingen rond de afschaffing van slavernij in Suriname’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis 5 (2008), 3–30.
1 Slavery was not abolished at the same time everywhere. It was abolished throughout the British Empire in 1834. France and Denmark followed in 1848, and the USA in 1865 with the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution at the end of the Civil War. The abolition of the slave trade from Africa not only took place much earlier, it also spread much more quickly. The British and Americans banned the slave trade in 1807. The Dutch followed in 1814, although for a time Africans continued to be smuggled to the New World. As a consequence, when comparing slave populations just before the abolition of slavery, the percentage of Africans as well as the average age of the slave population can vary enormously.
2 (a) In the birth registers for the districts of Commetewane and Boven-Commewijne, 1864–1884, we searched on the surnames given in the Emancipation Register (1863). We included the birth certificates containing: surname, first name, date of birth, name and occupation of mother and (very occasionally) the name of the father. (b) Registration cards up to 1901. Sorted by surname and first names. The following were also recorded: first names, date of birth, place (district) of birth, parents, date of death, place (district) of death. In a few cases the child's card also notes whether the child had been recognized or legitimized by mother, father or both, as well as whether the parents had married. As regards the registration cards, we also searched on the surnames of male partners who came from outside Breukelerwaard, Fairfield, Cannewapibo and La Jalousie, as, where children were recognized or legitimized, the child would have taken the surname of his or her father.
3 (a) Death certificates for the districts of Commetewane and Boven-Commewijne, 1864–1884 and 1885–1928. Those record: surname, first name, date and place of death, occupation, registration, age, marital status and name of mother. (b) Klappers Overlijden District, 1869–1890, 1891–1900, 1901–1907, 1908–1919, 1920–1929, 1930–1935, 1936–1943, which record: district, surname and first names, year of death plus folio, location (plantation). (c) Klappers Overlijden Paramaribo, 1871–1880, 1881–1892, 1893–1901, 1902–1911, 1913–1923, 1922–1935, 1936–1940, which record: district, surname and first name, year of death plus folio, location (plantation). We have been unable to trace the files for 1863–1870 and 1912 in the Central Bureau Burgerzaken archives in Suriname.