History of Suriname (Abolition of slavery)

In the first half of the 18th century, agriculture flourished in Suriname. Most of the work on the plantations was done by African slaves. The treatment of these slaves was bad, and many slaves escaped to the jungle. These Maroons (also known as "Djukas" or "Bush Negroes") sometimes returned to attack the plantations. They formed a sort of buffer zone between the Europeans who settled along the coast and main rivers, and the unconquered Native American tribes of the inland regions.

Suriname was occupied by the British in 1799 after the Netherlands were incorporated by France, and was returned to the Dutch in 1816, after the defeat of Napoleon. The Dutch abolished slavery only in 1863—the last European nation to do so—although the British had already abolished it during their short rule. The slaves were, however, not released until 1873; up to that date they conducted obligatory but paid work at the plantations. In the meantime, many more workers had been imported from the Netherlands East Indies, mostly Chinese inhabitants of that colony. After 1873, many Hindu laborers where imported from India. This emigration was ended by Mohandas Gandhi in 1916. After that date, many laborers were again imported from the Netherlands East Indies, especially Java.

In the 20th century, the natural resources of Suriname, rubber, gold and bauxite were exploited. The US company Alcoa had a claim on a large area in Suriname where bauxite, from which aluminium can be made, was found.

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