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
Dit werkstuk kijkt naar hoe de inzet van vrouwelijke abolitionisten werd beoordeeld en afgebeeld in abolitionistische kranten in de antebellum periode.
Women played a vital role during the anti-slavery campaigns in the United States and Great Britain in the nineteenth century. Their involvement pushed the boundaries of the prescribed gender roles...Show moreWomen played a vital role during the anti-slavery campaigns in the United States and Great Britain in the nineteenth century. Their involvement pushed the boundaries of the prescribed gender roles of the time, as women were supposed to remain within the household sphere and abstain from any political involvement. Abolitionist women were also active in the Netherlands, such as the 129 women from Rotterdam who sent a petition to King Willem II in 1842. This thesis outlines how Dutch and American women abolitionists challenged the prescribed gender roles by publicly interfering with abolitionism.Show less