We Slaves of Suriname

Anton de Kom was a leading advocate of Surinamese independence from Dutch colonial rule. Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, on February 22, 1898, he was banished by the colonial authorities in 1933; he wrote We Slaves of Suriname from exile in the Netherlands, where it was first published in 1934. When World War II broke out, De Kom joined the Dutch resistance; he was arrested by the Germans in 1944 and deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp, where he died on April 24, 1945. In June 2020, Anton de Kom was added to the Dutch national core curriculum for history education (the Canon of the Netherlands) because of his central role in opposing racism and colonialism.

Anton de Kom's We Slaves of Suriname is a literary masterpiece as well as a fierce indictment of racism and colonialism. In this classic book, published here in English for the first time, the Surinamese writer and resistance leader recounts the history of his homeland, from the first settlements by Europeans in search of gold through the era of the slave trade and the period of Dutch colonial rule, when the old slave mentality persisted, long after slavery had been formally abolished.
 
159 years after the abolition of slavery in Suriname and 88 years after its initial publication, We Slaves of Suriname has lost none of its brilliance and power.

Translator's Note
 
Introductions
 
Frimangron by Tessa Leuwsha
 
The Breath of Freedom by Duco van Oostrum
 
Why Anton de Kom Still Inspires Generation after Generation by Mitchell Esajas
 
Foreword by Judith de Kom
 
We Slaves of Suriname
 
"Sranan," our fatherland
 
The era of slavery
 
The arrival of the whites
 
El Dorado
 
The first settlements
 
The Dutch regime
 
The slave trade
 
The market
 
Enslaved
 
The slave woman
 
The masters
 
The punishments
 
The History of Our Nation
 
Van Aerssen van Sommelsdyck (1683-1688)
 
The brutes
 
The forest expeditions
 
Johan Jacob Mauricius (1742-1751)
 
Governor Crommelin (1752-1768)
 
Governor Nepveu (1770-1779)
 
Buku (decayed into dust)
 
The final chapter for the resistance
 
Suriname under British rule
 
The great fire
 
The fate of the ethical
 
White settlement
 
Fighting the current
 
Governors on parade
 
The abolition of slavery
 
Freedom?
 
The great sellout
 
The era of freedom
 
How we live
 
The essence of autonomy
 
Fin de siècle
 
Indentured labor
 
Free labor
 
In search of gold
 
The major crops
 
What becomes of those millions?
 
Results
 
Reunion and farewell
 
Notes
 
Glossary of Surinamese terms
 
Index