White Lies and Black Markets: Evading Metropolitan Authority in Colonial Suriname, 1650-1800 (Atlantic World: Europe, Africa and the Americas, 1500-1830, 31)

In White Lies And Black Markets, Fatah-black Offers A New Account Of The Colonization Of Suriname--one Of The Major European Plantation Colonies On The Guiana Coast--in The Period Between 1650-1800. While Commonly Portrayed As An Isolated Tropical Outpost, This Study Places The Colony In The Context Of Its Connections To The Rest Of The Atlantic World. These Economic And Migratory Links Assured The Colony's Survival, But Also Created Many Incentives To Evade The Mercantilistically Inclined Metropolitan Authorities. By Combining The Available Data On Dutch And North American Shipping With Accounts Of Major Political And Economic Developments, The Author Uncovers A Hitherto Hidden World Of Illicit Dealings, And Convincingly Argues That These Illegal Practices Were Essential To The Development And Survival Of The Colony, And Woven Into The Fabric Of The Colonial Project Itself--provided By Publisher. Origins Of Dutch And European Colonization In Suriname -- To These Lands And To Nowhere Else? -- The Ascent Of The Surinamer, 1690s-1730s -- Local Supplies Of Labor And Provisions -- Controlling The Slave Trade -- Trade With The Heartland Of Independence -- Consulted Archives. By Karwan Fatah-black. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 List of Tables 11 List of Graphs 12 List of Figures 13 List of Abbreviations 14 Timeline 1650–1800 15 Governors of Suriname, 1683–1802 16 Chapter 1 Introduction 18 Chapter 2 Origins of Dutch and European Colonization in Suriname 33 Precarious Settlement 44 Non-Dutch Migration 49 Chapter 3 To These Lands and to Nowhere Else? 58 Persistent Regional Networks 63 Legalizing the Trade 68 Tax Evasion: Dutch and British 71 Chapter 4 The Ascent of the Surinamer, 1690s–1730s 80 Changing Vision 81 From Nassy to Neale 93 Controlling Plantation Managers 110 Chapter 5 Local Supplies of Labor and Provisions 125 Wood Production and Distribution 127 Imports and Local Production of Drink 136 Between Ship and Plantation 143 Peddlers and the Development of Paramaribo’s Street Markets 152 Chapter 6 Controlling the Slave Trade 161 Private Interest and Company Trade 163 Commissioners and Governors Caught between Planters and Directors 168 Contracted Sales 175 Saving Suriname’s Slavery 180 Chapter 7 Trade with the Heartland of Independence 184 American Captains and Middlemen in Suriname 188 Surinamese Merchants and Middlemen 196 The North American Slave Trade in Suriname 202 Chapter 8 Conclusion 215 Bibliography 224 Consulted Archives 232 Index 233 In White Lies and Black Markets , Fatah-Black offers a new account of the colonization of Suriname one of the major European plantation colonies on the Guiana Coast in the period between 1650-1800. While commonly portrayed as an isolated tropical outpost, this study places the colony in the context of its connections to the rest of the Atlantic world. These economic and migratory links assured the colony s survival, but also created many incentives to evade the mercantilistically inclined metropolitan authorities. By combining the available data on Dutch and North American shipping with accounts of major political and economic developments, the author uncovers a hitherto hidden world of illicit dealings, and convincingly argues that these illegal practices were essential to the development and survival of the colony, and woven into the fabric of the colonial project itself."