1499-1667 1795-1815







Suriname between 1667 and 1795



Between 1665 and 1667 the SECOND ANGLO-DUTCH WAR was fought; a considerable part of the action took place in the Americas. While an English fleet, sailing in the name of the Duke of York, took Nieuw Amsterdam (a possession of the Dutch W.I.C.) and renamed it New York, a Dutch fleet under Admiral ABRAHAM CRIJNSSEN appeared off the coast of Suriname; Fort Willoughby surrendered February 26th 1667. In the following negotiations, the English offered to return New York for Suriname; the Dutch side politely rejected. The TREATY OF BREDA thus left New York in the hands of the English, Suriname in the hands of the Dutch - that is to say, of the province of Zeeland, which had financed the fleet Admiral Crijnssen had commanded.
Governor Willoughby of Barbados rejected the Treaty of Breda and, after peace had been concluded, dispatched a force which succeeded in expelling the Dutch; when he was told to habd the colony over to the Dutch (1668), he had many installations dismantled and many of the settlers and slaves had left.
With the economy of Suriname in shambles, the Estates of Zeeland in 1682 sold the colony to the W.I.C., who found the administration too costly; in 1683 the GEOCTROYEERDE SOCIETEIT VAN SURINAME was founded, owned to a third each by the W.I.C., the city of Amsterdam and the family VAN SOMMELSDIJCK. As first governor, CORNELIS VAN AERSSEN VAN SOMMELSDIJCK was appointed; he found a resident population of 1200 freemen and 2000 slaves. He concluded peace treaties with neighbouring native American tribes (Caribs, Arawaks); the number of sugar plantations quickly grew from 50 to 200. He encouraged immigration; among the immigrants were French Huguenots. The governor was assassinated in 1688. Fort Willoughby was renamed FORT ZEELANDIA. In 1685, two forts were constructed, Fort Houttuyn and Fort Sommelsdijck, used until 1740 resp. 1748.
While allied England and the Dutch Republic were at war with France 1688-1697 (WAR OF THE GRAND ALLIANCE), French Admirals DE CASSE (1689) and DE GENNIS (1696) in vain attempted to conquer the colony.
New plantation products (tobacco, indigo) were introduced.
During the WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION (1701-1713), England and the Dutch Republic, still allied, again faced the French menace. In 1712 French Captain CASSARD ravaged the colony, ending with this act only after he was paid 750,000 guilders. The peace treaties of Rijswijk (1697) and of Utrecht (1713) left Suriname in Dutch possession. In 1734-1747 FORT NIEUW AMSTERDAM was constructed at the junction of the Suriname and Commewijne Rivers.
After the disaster of 1712 colonial Suriname faced another problem - runaway slaves, numbered 16,000. The plantation economy depended on slave labour, imported from Africa; the runaway slaves formed MAROON communities in the hinterland, hostile to the colonists.
From 1713 onward, Suriname lived through decades of outside peace. New plantation products, such as coffee (1724), cocoa (1733) and cotton (1735), added to the profits; the colony continued to depend on an ever-growing slave population. In 1775, Suriname was visited by 73 ships, which sailed off carrying 16,200,000 pound of sugar, 13,300,000 pound of coffee, 144,430 pound of cotton, 733,000 pound of cocoa. Because of lack of hard currency, until 1761 a "SUGAR CURRENCY" was used, i.e. payments were made in bags of sugar. An attempt to introduce a copper currency, the parrot pennies, failed (1678-1679). In 1761 a paper currency, the so-called PLAYING CARD CURRENCY, was introduced (valid until 1828, when a regular currency was introduced).
When the Maroon communities were regarded a threat to the colony's economy, in 1770 Governor Nepveu established a Korps Vrije Negers (Corps Free Negroes), recruited from runaway slaves willing to fight for the colony in return for amnesty, freedom for themselves and their families, and a modest salary. Another Corps, the Zwarte Jagers (Black Hunters) was recruited in 1772 from negro slaves purchased for that purpose by the government. In 1770-1778 and, on a lower scale, later, campaigns against the Cottica Negroes were undertaken, the latter lead by BONNI, BARON and JOLI COEUR. Bonni and his men established themselves on the French side of the border Marowijne River; French diplomatic pressure caused the colonial administration to pass some reforms, among which was to permit the activity of Catholic priests in the colony (1786), for the first time in a century.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		The History of Suriname, by Erik Tjong Kim Sang
Biography of Abraham Crijnssen, by M. Bruyneel
Geldzaken (Monetary History), from suriname.nu, in Dutch
Forten en Verdedigingswerken (Forts and Defense Installations), from suriname.nu, in Dutch
Feestelijke viering Verdrag van 10 oktober 1760 in voorbereiding (Celebration of Treaty of Oct. 10 1760 in preparation), from De Ware Tijd
Resolutie betreffende de huwelijken van de Joodse bevolking in Suriname 1703 (Resolution concerning Marriages among the Jewish Population in Suriname, 1703), from Regelgeving in de Nederlanden (Herman de Wit), in Dutch
DOCUMENTS Alle Gouverneurs (all governors), from suriname.nu, in Dutch
Old Suriname Maps, posted by suriname.nu, comment in Dutch
List of Treaties between the Suriname government and various tribes, 1749-1809, posted by ndyukaliba
Treaty of Oct. 10 1760, paraphrased in Dutch, posted by ndyukaliba
REFERENCE Fr. Engelbert Verrijt, De Surinaamse Geschiedenis voor de hoogste klas van de Katholieke Scholen (Suriname history for the highest class of Catholic schools), Paramaribo (1952) 2nd edition 1957, 202 pp., in Dutch



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on November 5th 2004

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