The Anglo-Dutch Slave Trade Treaty ( Dutch: ''Brits-Nederlands verdrag ter wering van de slavenhandel'') was a treaty signed between the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

signed on 4 May 1818, aimed at preventing

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

carried out through Dutch vessels. The treaty allowed both parties to search vessels of the other for on-board slaves. Among other things, the treaty established two

Mixed Commission Court A Mixed Commission Court was a joint court set up by the British government with Dutch, Spanish or Portuguese representation following treaties agreed in 1817 and 1818. By 1820 there were 6 courts: This occurred during a period often referred to as ...

s, one with a seat in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational an ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and another in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, which had the power to sentence slavers. The treaty was amended and provided with additional articles by treaties concluded on 31 December 1822, 25 January 1823, 7 February 1837 and 31 August 1848.

Background

In June 1814,

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who w ...

, who had been proclaimed Sovereign Prince of the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...

in 1813 and would become King of the Netherlands on 16 March 1815, forbade Dutch participation in the slave trade by sovereign decree. That was endorsed by the Final Act of the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

on 9 June 1815. It is often argued that William I forbade the slave trade under British pressure, as his return to the Netherlands had not been possible without British support. By abolishing slave trade, William I hoped to regain the Dutch colonies now under British control. That objective was, for the most part, achieved with the

Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 (also known as the Convention of London; nl, Verdrag van Londen) was signed by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in London on 13 August 1814. The treaty restored most of the territories in Java that B ...

. In May 1818, a comprehensive treaty was concluded between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, which allowed the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

and the Royal Netherlands Navy to inspect vessels they suspected of carrying slaves. If slaves were indeed found on board, both navies were allowed to detain the crew and bring them before one of the Mixed Courts of Justice.

Mixed Commission Courts

The Mixed Commission Court in Freetown sentenced in total 22 Dutch vessels during its existence between 1819 and 1862. The Mixed Commission Court in Paramaribo sentenced only one vessel during its existence between 1819 and 1845, namely, the ''Nueve of Snauw'' in 1823.

Notes

References

* * {{cite book , last=Postma , first=Johannes M. , title=The Dutch in the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1600-1815 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , year=1990 , location=Cambridge , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGoyvMF7xw8C , isbn = 0-521-36585-6 1818 in the United Kingdom 1818 in the Netherlands Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922) Netherlands–United Kingdom treaties 19th century in the Netherlands 1818 treaties Treaties of the Netherlands 1818 in British law May 1818 events