A hard conclusion about the slavery past of Hoorn. The municipal council played the leading role in this, according to research commissioned by the municipality. The consequences of the report remain to be seen. At least there were no apologies today.
Research agency STADenBEDRIJF started the research at the end of January. Because slavery was abolished 150 years ago on Saturday, Hoorn wanted to share the results before then.
The results were not entirely surprising. Hoorn was one of the few cities to be represented in both the West India Company (WIC) and the United East India Company (VOC). Products were made for slave voyages and to maintain slavery in the colonies. Like ships, but also food.
17,000 slaves traded
From Hoorn, 17,000 enslaved Africans were traded by the WIC. No exact figures can be given about the share in the slave trade with the VOC. But it is clear that Hoorn was involved. Through both city-made ships and residents involved. Like Governor General Jan Pieterszoon Coen, whose statue is still standing on the Roode Steen.
Directors of the VOC and the WIC were also the city administrators in Hoorn at the same time. And that is why the researchers also come to the conclusion that the city council played the leading role in the city’s slavery past at that time.
But what does this conclusion mean now? The apologies previously requested by various groups were not forthcoming today. And it is also unclear whether they will come, Mayor Jan Nieuwenburg said.
Talk about possible excuses
“We must first let this sink in and talk about it with each other. But it is impressive what is now on paper. That comes in enormously. What prevails with me is sadness about what has happened.”
The same goes for the future of the JP Coen statue. There has been discussion for some time about what to do with the image. Leave it alone, move it to the Westfries Museum or remove it completely. But also on that subject, reference is made to the conversations that follow.
There will be a dialogue session with those involved on 6 September and the report will also be discussed in the committee of the municipal council on 13 September. The research agency did advise that in-depth follow-up research is necessary ‘to get an answer to the question of how Hoorn’s colonial and slavery past affects today’s society’.