Manumissie in koloniaal Suriname

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Samenvatting

Manumission, setting enslaved free, was not a rare phenomenon in Surinam. Between 1832 and 1863 several slaves became free. There were various reasons to give freedom to a slave: manumission could be given as a reward to loyal servants, but also to concubines with their children, or slaves that bought themselves freedom. However, this article adds two more groups which aren’t listed yet by authors but seem to be of added value. In the end, manumission was always a decision of the slaveholder although there was a new regulation introduced in 1832, which gave the government more power concerning manumissions.