Stedelijke controle in de Cariben

Een ruimtelijke analyse van insluiting, uitsluiting en mobiliteit in vroegmodern Willemstad

Samenvatting

In trying to control both the majority free and enslaved Afro-Curaçaoan population, the local colonial authorities of early modern Willemstad used the urban environment to regulate their mobility. However, at the same time, due to its maritime commercial nature, the port city depended on the labour of relatively mobile Afro-Curaçaoan people. Analysing both city maps and local legislation, this article examines the interaction between the spatial and social structure of early modern Willemstad. The authorities used the urban space in various ways: to include and exclude population groups, to confirm their own identity, and as an instrument for social control. Yet, oftentimes the authorities failed to control and curtail the mobility of Afro-Curaçaoan inhabitants. As the largest group living and working in Willemstad, they shaped the spatial structure of the city by making use of the urban environment in their own manner.