Abstract
The presence of a relatively large number of persons of different nationalities in a small group of colonists could not but exercise a certain influence on the character of this group. This fact has not escaped the attention of keen observers like Mauricius and Nepveu. Mauricius, in one of his letters to the Directors of the Society, wrote:
“As far as the mutual goodwill, harmony, and so on, and the peace and quiet of the Colony in general are concerned, may it please Your Excellencies to recall my words regarding the nature of the country in paragraph 2 of the third despatch in answer to the petition; and it should always be borne in mind that the majority of the inhabitants of the Colony consists of a conglomeration of various nationalities, this having four logical consequences. Firstly, many having been born under a monarchy, now hearing that they are living under a free government go from one extreme to the other, imagining that freedom is synonymous with libertinage and anarchy. Secondly, the greater majority being foreigners, they do not identify themselves, as they do not regard the Netherlands as their mother country. Thirdly, one can hardly expect the same harmonious relations between members of different nations as one normally finds between members of the same nation, as in the French and British colonies. Fourthly, they will always retain a certain animum revertendi and hence have no attachment for a country which they do not regard as a home for themselves and their children, but merely as a country in which they are foreigners in transit. To this could be added a number of observations springing from the same source, in particular that many of them are either uneducated persons, or were good-for-nothings in their own country and as a result have hardly no notion at all, or a very distorted one, of religion and justice, and especially of what is universally understood under discipline, decency and propriety. Such people are prone to quarrelling, while even the most insignificant dispute turns into a bitter and uncompromising feud. However, I should do the residents of this country this much justice — as long as their station remains humble, they are peace-loving and compliant, and no matter how much provoked or incited, they have at all times shown an aversion to rebellion; but when they rise from their humble state to riches and honour, it turns their head”.65
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References
Wolbers, op. cit,pp. 233, 261, 301 and 311. A. Blom, Verhandeling over de Landbouw in de Colonie Suriname Haarlem, 1785, pp. 195 ff.
A. von Sack, Reize naar Surinamen,Haarlem, 1821, I, p. 148.
W. H. Lans, Bijdrage tot de kennis der kolonie Suriname The Hague, 1842, p. 38. The ratio between owners living out of the country and owners living in Surinam from 1824 to 1861 was as follows: Although the number of foreign proprietors decreased proportionately, the greater majority of the estates in Surinam nevertheless remained in foreign hands and, moreover, foreign-owned estates were larger in area than Surinam-owned ones. In 1861 the number of slaves employed on the 89 European-owned estates was 16,700, whereas the number employed on the 53 Surinam-owned estates came to only 7,700. We also see a steady increase in the number of Surinam-born managers (including a large number of mulattos). In each of the above three years there were a number of vacancies for managers. Cf. B C. van den Ende, Oud en Nieuw over Suriname’s Verteden en Toekomst Kampen, 1875, pp. 10/11.
Wolbers, op. cit,p. 312. Concerning the administrateurs cf. also Essai Historique I,pp. 164 and 169, and Teenstra, De Negerslaven,p. 12. Teenstra speaks of the disgraceful malpractices on the part of administrateurs,who cheated their employers.
Teenstra, Negerslaven,p. 25. F. Oudschans Dentz, Geschiedkundige aanteekeningen over Suriname en Paramaribo Paramaribo, 1912, p. 47.
Revised in the years 1695, 1725, 1760, 1761, 1781 (Cf. Plakkaten etc.).
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van Lier, R.A.J. (1971). The White Masters. In: Frontier Society. Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-0647-2_3
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