Trials of Slavery

From the earliest Dutch settlement in 1652 to emancipation in the 1830s, enslaved persons provided the backbone of the colonial labor force. Some 60,000 souls were forcibly brought to the Cape from Dutch settlements and ports throughout the Indian Ocean World: the Indonesian archipelago; Bengal and Sri Lanka; Madagascar; Mozambique and the east African coast. Historical sources reflect the perspective of the colonizers, providing little insight into the lives of individuals. The legal documents presented in this website are drawn from 87 criminal cases, all involving enslaved persons. In a few instances, owners are accused and convicted of mistreating the enslaved. All are drawn from the records of the Council of Justice. These documents provide a rich dossier of individual experiences.

As collaborators in this digital republication of the Trials of Slavery we have worked in a spirit of inclusive and reparative scholarship, guided by several principles and beliefs:

• That human costs and undocumented suffering have accompanied enslavement around the globe and throughout history, including the present day;
• That scholarly inquiry opens wounds, old and recent, for descent communities;
• That enslaved ancestry, whether acknowledged as such or not, is often associated with trauma.

We acknowledge these systemic injustices. At the same time we hope that our collective work can help explain the lived consequences of inhumane systems and provide a platform for continued inquiry and dialogue. In a spirit of care and respect, we invite engagement on any of the materials presented on this website.

This website allows you to explore the stories of enslaved individuals. 87 legal cases are presented in chronological order, from 1704 to 1794, each identified by the name of the accused. Each begins with a summary, followed by the trial document(s) in English translation with the Dutch original alongside, and accompanied by a map. Footnotes provide detailed explanation with references, while fuller context is available under the Histories tab. You may find recurrent themes (e.g. ‘arson’, ‘theft’) via the tags attached to individual cases or via the Search tab.

• Grant Parker (Stanford University, California, USA and Stellenbosch University, South Africa)
• Gerald Groenewald (Original editor of Trials)
• Nigel Worden (Original editor of Trials)
• Kerry Ward (Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA)
• Stefania Manfio (PhD candidate, Archaeology, Stanford University)
• Laura J. Mitchell