Suriname and the Atlantic World, 1650-1800

Abstract

"Suriname and the Atlantic World" examines the trajectory of European colonisation along the Suriname and Commewijne rivers and the interimperial connections that sustained it. The history of Suriname has long been thought to have been an exclusively Dutch affair. However, those who were colonising the area depended heavily on trade networks and migration circuits that crossed the formal borders of the Dutch Atlantic empire. In the initial phase of colonisation it was primarily the need for experienced colonists and provisions that made the colonial project rely on interimperial connections. Once the colony had established itself, a more regular trade of molasses from Suriname to North America defied the mercantilist plans of the Dutch and provided the plantation owners with a source of extra income. At the end of the eighteenth century the Dutch position in the Atlantic declined rapidly, and North American as well as Caribbean traders began to encroach on every aspect of shipping to and from Suriname. With ship movements as its backbone, this thesis provides inroads to rethink the cultural, social and political history of Suriname in the context of its Atlantic connections