This article investigates how Moravian missionaries influenced the abolitionist debate in the Netherlands through the imaging they put forth in their periodical Berigten uit de Heidenwereld. The...Show moreThis article investigates how Moravian missionaries influenced the abolitionist debate in the Netherlands through the imaging they put forth in their periodical Berigten uit de Heidenwereld. The author aims to go beyond the strict dichotomy between pro- and antislavery camps, by elaborating on the moderate character of Dutch abolitionism, which led to a large overlap between radical abolitionists, gradualists and obstructionists. By studying the archives of the Moravian Brotherhood, colonial administrators, and published documents, the article reveals that the missionaries contributed to the negative imaging of the slaves, and denied and demonized the slaves’ right to agency and autonomy, and therefore sustained the discourse that justified the continued curbing of physical freedom during the period of Staatstoezicht.Show less
