Serving the chain?

In the nineteenth century, when the principal cultural, political, and financial institutions of the Netherlands were established, slavery was still very much part of the nation’s global imperial structures. Dutch families, institutions, and governments are increasingly interested in the role their predecessors played in this history of colonialism and enslavement. This book is a history of De Nederlandse Bank in which particular attention is paid to its links with slavery, both as a factor in the economy and as a subject of political debate. Because De Nederlandse Bank served the Dutch Ministry of Colonies and consequently followed Dutch trade interests, the bank’s history intersects with the history of slavery. The investigation in this book focuses not only on the DNB’s formal involvement but also on the private involvement of its directors. In addition, it examines whether the bank and its directors played any role in the abolition of slavery.

If you want to know more about the study that lay at the basis of this book, click here.

Karwan Fatah-Black is university lecturer in Social and Economic History at Leiden University.

Lauren Lauret is researcher at University College London and university lecturer in Dutch History at Leiden University.

Joris van den Tol is researcher at Queens’ College, Cambridge and university lecturer Economic History at Radboud University Nijmegen.