Delft extensively profited from trading in enslaved people: report

The city of Delft also profited extensively from the trade of enslaved people and the work they were forced to do. Some residents became wealthy from this. They used the proceeds to build capital mansions and villas in and around the city. “In a city like Delft, everyone knew or could have known that slavery existed and what it entailed,” historians Nancy Jouwe, Gerrit Verhoeven, and Ingrid van der Vlis reported.

Commissioned by the municipality of Delft, the historians researched the city’s slavery past. The conclusions were presented on Tuesday evening. According to the researchers, thousands of Delft residents traveled to the colonies. Ships went from the city to the colonies and returned with merchandise. There were also people from Delft who owned enslaved people.

Delft did not immediately apologize. “The office of mayor and aldermen will take the time necessary to study the report and issue a response in the second half of this year. We will first talk to the city, and the response will be tailored to that. We will take the time to do this carefully,” the municipality said.

For centuries, Delft was one of the most important cities in the Holland region. Both the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie and the West India Company had offices there. VOC and WIC administrators also played an important role in Delft’s city council. The city also had its own harbor on the Maas. That is now the Rotterdam district of Delfshaven.

Delft is not the first municipality to commission research into that period in the past. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht have apologized for their role in slavery, as have the Cabinet, the province of Zuid-Holland, De Nederlandsche Bank, and ABN Amro.

The municipality of Groningen will present its research on Sunday and then come up with a “balanced statement,” possibly with apologies. The province of Zeeland, Vlissingen, and Middelburg will express their regret for their role in slavery next week Saturday on Keti Koti (Broken Chains). The day marks 160 years since the Netherlands abolished slavery and 150 years since the last enslaved people became free.