CaribSeek Books | Curaçao as a Slave Depot | Roots of our Future by Linda M. Rupert

Curaçao as a Slave Depot:

As early as 1639 the Zeeland Chamber of the WIC entered into an agreement with a planter on St. Kitts to deliver the slaves his privateers captured to Curaçao; already by the 1640s and 50s the Company was using the island to regularly transship large numbers of enslaved Africans to the Dutch colony in Brazil and to the Spanish American mainland, in direct violation of the Treaty of Munster. As this smuggling became more reckless Dutch vessels openly transported goods as well as slaves to the mainland. At a December, 1674 meeting, even as the first WIC was being disbanded and the second was being formed, the Heren acknowledged that Curaçao would be most useful to the Company if foreigners and their ships were allowed unfettered access to the island to purchase and transport slaves and other commodities. The island was declared a free port in 1675 and it quickly "became a significant entrepot for the human traffic."[51] By 1675 the WIC was probably importing over 3000 enslaved Africans to Curaçao annually on about a dozen vessels;[52] a decade later this figure reached 20,000.[53] Most of the trade was in the hands of powerful Dutch merchants who worked directly with the WIC.

The majority of Curaçao's population is descended from enslaved slaves. The majority of Africans who were brought to the island, however, were sold to large plantations throughout the Americas and the Caribbean (CHA).

Slaving ships probably transported an average of 280 captives each, crammed into the middle deck, on a voyage that took seventy to eighty days.[54] Human losses were high, although reports differ widely and the WIC was conscious that proper treatment of its live cargo was essential to profit; sometimes a doctor accompanied the voyage. According to one report from the era, of 664 Africans who were loaded on board 205 died en route to Curaçao.[55] Estimate for the average mortality rate of slaves on the ships bound for Curaçao range from 15% to 18%.[56] However, some historians point out that overall death rates among the slaving ship crews were probably even higher than those of the slaves. Because there were fewer crew than slaves, just a few deaths among the former would translate into significantly higher percentages. Moreover, crew were at sea for up to three times as

long as the slaves, usually traveling the entire trade circuit from Europe to Africa to the Americas and back to Europe, under circumstances that were only marginally better than those of the captives. Finally, while loss of a slave meant loss of income, a high crew turnover could actually be profitable for shipowners: sailors were only paid at the end of the voyage (families of the dead were not compensated), and each port of call had a ready pool of unemployed seamen who were willing to sign on for the next leg of the voyage, and to be paid correspondingly less.

Upon arrival in Curaçao the captives were closely examined by a WIC representative to see how they had weathered the passage, and classified according to age and physical condition. Most recent arrivals recuperated from their difficult trans-Atlantic voyage at the large slave camp at the Zuurzak plantation east of Willemstad, which was walled in both to prevent escapes and to protect it from attack by British and French privateers. Another smaller camp at the Groot St. Joris plantation handled overflow.

As a trade center, Curaçao was first and foremost a slave market, not a plantation economy that required large numbers of slaves. "The African captives not only facilitated production by their labor, but exchange by their very being,"[57] and it was the value of this exchange that interested the Curaçaoan merchants more than the slaves' productive capacity. The WIC developed a basic infrastructure on Curaçao for protecting its investment; already in 1642 there were two hospitals for slaves (with separate quarantine quarters for smallpox victims), as compared to only one for poor whites; several years later a medical doctor was appointed exclusively to deal with the captives. The island's small plantations, most of which were also in WIC hands, produced food to feed them.

The strongest and fittest slaves were sold at regular public auctions at a market on the Schottegat Bay about a fortnight after they arrived on the island. Those who were not sold were kept to work the local plantations; however international demand often so outstripped supply that only the sickly were available for local purchase. The local price for a slave was relatively low, about 250 guilders, as compared to 400 guilders in Suriname.[58]

Deliveries to the mainland coast[59] were usually on credit; the Amsterdam financiers often had considerable sums outstanding. Frequently, long over due bills were settled with in kind payments of agricultural commodities. The same WIC vessels were used to transport humans from Africa to the Caribbean, agricultural products to Europe and manufactured goods back to Africa and the Americas; Curaçao was now a vital part of the triangular trade. The ships required a thorough cleaning in Curaçao after hauling so many human beings for so many weeks in such cramped quarters. The slave trade also helped open up markets on the mainland that would fuel the emerging contraband trade.

The agent who received the slaves could use them to work in the interval between their arrival from Africa and their sale. The WIC could also sell them to third parties if they were not collected on time by the asiento, although the WIC prohibited sale of slaves to asiento employees. Captains of the slave ships were prohibited from calling at any other West Indian port besides Curaçao, to insure that the entire cargo arrived. These and other regulations were introduced in 1668 to protect the WIC's monopoly. "Profits were very high, sometimes as much as 300 percent, but turnover was slow, losses were large, and enterprises risky."[60]

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Curaçao Chamber of Commerce & Industry