In August 1664, the WIC ship Gideon arrived in New Amsterdam with 290 enslaved Africans, doubling the colony’s enslaved population. Though the voyage was momentous, almost nothing is known about those forced aboard or the ordeal they endured to reach the city.

In 1684 Schenectady, constable and enslaver Jacob Sanders sued Frenchman Matthys Boffie for threatening to poison and kill Pey, an enslaved woman. Boffie claimed a relationship and children with her, offered to buy her, was refused, and allegedly threatened murder-suicide.

In recent years, the enslavement of Indigenous people by Europeans across the Americas has received renewed attention from scholars. However, when it comes to the Dutch colonies, only in studies of the Guiana region does Dutch Indigenous slavery appear as a significant factor.

In October 1657 a meeting of specially-appointed commissioners was held in New Amsterdam, likely in the City Hall. The commissioners were appointed by Director-General Peter Stuyvesant to hear a complaint by a Spanish merchant against Stuyvesant and the council of New Netherland.

In the Dutch Atlantic world, the world order and groups within it were visualized hierarchically. This started with the foundation of the colonial trading companies in the early 17th century, and continued until well after the abolition of slavery in 1863.

Enslaved in New York, Pieter Christiaan built a family, challenged authority, and disrupted village life, leaving a rare and vivid record of power, conflict, and resilience.

A closer look at Dutch life in St. Thomas reveals surprising parallels in language, religion, and daily life, offering new insight into the enslaved community of New Netherland.