Underwriting slavery: insurance and slavery in the Dutch Republic (1718–1778)

Karin Lurvink*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This article shows that slavery was more connected to Dutch society and economy than has been previously assumed. It does so by investigating the people involved in Dutch slavery insurance in the period 1718–1734, when the Dutch slave trade was monopolized by the state-chartered West India Company (WIC) and the period 1763–1778, when the private slave trade reached its peak and slavery insurance was more common. This article analyzes a variety of primary sources that have not been studied in this light before. The analysis shows that a large and varied group was involved and that slavery insurance was not a regional institution that only affected the Dutch colonies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)472-493
Number of pages22
JournalSlavery and Abolition
Volume40
Issue number3
Early online date11 Mar 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Funding

This work is part of the Dutch research project Slaves, commodities and logistics, supported by Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) under Grant 360-53-170.

FundersFunder number
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek360-53-170

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