Gids Kerk & Slavernijverleden (Guide Church & Slavery)

(This book is only available in Dutch)

The interest in slavery as part of Dutch colonial history has been rapidly increasing in recent decades. Institutions, companies, banks and the Royal Family are commissioning research into their historical confirmation of the slave trade and slavery. Surprisingly enough, in these recent studies the role of church and religion remained entirely undiscussed. The church was part of the parallel trade chains of the West India and the Dutch East India Company.

Churches survived after these companies were dissolved and after the slave trade and slavery were outlawed. Little is said or written about the relationship between Church and Company and the slavery past. This guide aims to stimulate a new discussion about. The violence of the history of slavery in the Netherlands did remain unmentioned for a long time and therefore remained unprocessed. Many plantation owners were churchgoers, but there were also opponents of slavery in the churches. The anti-slavery movement was often inspired by Christianity. Post-colonial black and white churches emerge in the Netherlands. Traces of the slavery past can be found everywhere in the Netherlands and in all areas that were once part of the Dutch colonial empire. Not only of church buildings and graves, but also of people. Some black men, women and children who came to the Netherlands were baptized, married and buried in Dutch churches. Their lives deserve more attention.