The King of the Netherlands apologizes for slavery

The king’s apology followed the example of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, after he apologized on behalf of the government in December for his involvement in the slave trade, which lasted from the late sixteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century.

The celebration in Amsterdam marks the 150th anniversary of Kitty Koti, celebrating the time of the “breaking of the shackles” – when slavery was officially abolished – in the former Dutch colony of Suriname.

Making billions

– This is an intense experience for me, both in heart and soul, says Willem-Alexander, whose speech was greeted with cheers from the audience.

His predecessors and predecessors on the throne, in the House of Oranen, made large sums of money from the Dutch trans-Atlantic slave trade. A study published earlier in June showed that the Dutch royal family earned the equivalent of 6.4 billion crowns in today’s currency, in the years 1675-1770, from the country’s slave colonies.

Slavery is a crime against humanity. The kings and rulers of the House of Oranin did not take any steps to oppose this. The king says today I beg forgiveness for not doing a clear deed.

financed the golden age

The Netherlands officially abolished slavery on July 1, 1863, but in fact it lasted until 1873 after a ten-year “transitional period”.

The great power of the Netherlands, the so-called Golden Age, lasted from the end of the sixteenth century to the seventeenth century and was largely funded by the nearly 600,000 slaves brought from Africa by Dutch ships to colonies in South America and the Caribbean.