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Governor Faesch[36]

In July 1740 a German Swiss, Isaac Faesch, was installed as Director of Curaçao, a post he held until his death in October 1758. Unlike many of his predecessors, Faesch proved to be a conciliator, able to effectively mediate between the different commercial interests that were represented on the island. He was also one of the first Directors to call himself Governor, perhaps in an early effort to acknowledge that the interests of the island were distinct from those of the WIC. Faesch was respected by the independent merchant class for his insistence on civility and order: early in his administration, he urged local inhabitants to avoid spreading rumors and libeling others; he also re-instated the Small Claims Court, ordered daily meetings of the Colonial Council, and only allowed sworn-in lawyers to practice law. He also repealed unjust regulations imposed by his predecessor that had required local merchants to trade with the previous Director's daughter's father-in-law.

Faesch's tenure was not as benevolent for the lower classes, however. In the first year of his directorship he imposed regulations restricting the activities and movement of free coloreds and blacks, including a 9 pm curfew, a prohibition on playing the violin, horn or drum, and a ban on serving alcohol to them.[37] In 1745 he reinstated harsh punishment not only for slaves but also for free colored and blacks, that included floggings, branding and even banishment to the backbreaking work at Bonaire's salt pans. He also successfully quashed the 1750 slave uprising at the Hato plantation.

Faesch assumed the directorship at a time when Curaçao was flourishing as a trade center, and attacks by privateers were rampant. He played a key role in allowing continuation of the contraband trade with the Spanish American mainland that was so vital to the island's economy. He himself had direct business interests in this trade, although the Heren X had forbidden all Company employees, including the Director, to engage in private business. In 1743, he refused a petition by sixty-eight local merchants requesting that vessels with ammunition or war equipment not be allowed in the harbor.

Perhaps Faesch's most important legacy was "the fact that for the first time in the island's history the Governor... had been prepared to listen to the citizens and to compromise on their own intentions in order to maintain a harmonious spirit of cooperation which could only be conducive to the well-being of the colony."[38] Although he was considered to be a "faithful servant" of the WIC, Faesch also demonstrated an ability to hear the needs of the local merchant population and not merely to follow WIC directives.

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Curaçao Chamber of Commerce & Industry