Why Noord-Holland 159 years later is in the dust for role in slave trade

The Dutch government has expressed ‘deep regret’ for the slavery past at previous commemorations, but it has never come up with an apology. Also this year the cabinet does not intend to say sorry, so the province is now putting its hand into its own bosom. “We think it’s high time to make an apology. It starts with recognition and it certainly doesn’t end there,” explains Daphne Sijmonsbergen of the Province of North Holland.

The province of Holland was a major player in the slave trade. In the 18th century, about 40 percent of economic growth came from slavery. One in twenty North Hollanders has an enslaved ancestor. “The legacies of the slavery past are still clearly visible in our society. Especially for descendants, the link between slavery and inequality, racism and discrimination is painfully clear.”

In order to make the slavery history of North Holland visible and open to discussion, the provincial government had it investigated to what extent the Provincial House, Pavilion Welgelegen, was financed with proceeds from the slave industry.

Welgelegen has had various functions and has been the provincial house of North Holland since 1930. The monument was built in 1785 as a country house for a wealthy banker: Henry Hope. Later, Lodewijk Napoleon and Wilhelmina van Prussia, the mother of King William I, lived here. A colonial heirloom that is inextricably linked to Dutch slavery. “The provincial house symbolizes the light and dark from our past.”

bad banker

Hope was involved in the slave trade as governor general of the West India Company. He was also a lender to plantation owners in the Caribbean, including Grenada, Tobago, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten. The banker had thirteen loans outstanding, for a total amount of 2.5 million guilders. With his banking house Hope & Co, he was one of the largest lenders in the slave industry.

Text continues below block.

Out the research results it turns out that it is ‘practically impossible’ that Henry Hope did not finance the construction of Pavilion Welgelegen with proceeds related to slavery. It also appears that Hope with his banking house Hope & Co not only obtained a large part of the profits from slavery, but also actively interfered in the management of the plantations. “Because of the past of the building we are in, we as a province feel responsible for the suffering suffered. We carry the past with us, but we carry the future together and that includes recognition.”

North Holland is the first province to say sorry to the black community. A motion from two years ago put the fight against institutional racism and discrimination high on the political agenda.