The Dutch Central Bank (DNB) has contributed to the perpetuation of slavery. This is the conclusion of a historical study into the role of the central bank. The first DNB administrators were more personally, administratively and politically involved in colonial slavery than their contemporaries.
Central bank president Klaas Knot reacted with shock to the findings of the in-depth investigation. No direct apologies came. “We opt for a careful approach and that takes some time,” Knot said in an explanation.
At the request of DNB, an independent research team led by historian Karwan Fatah-Black of Leiden University investigated the involvement of the bank in the early years and its then presidents and directors in slavery.
The researchers presented their findings today. They discovered that there is a link on several fronts. “DNB made money from it, but did not pursue a policy,” emphasized researcher and slavery expert Fatah-Black in an explanation. The researchers found a clear connection with the initial capital, with which the bank was founded in 1814. That money partly came from entrepreneurs with direct interests in plantation slavery.
The investigation also shows that after it was founded, DNB was indirectly associated with Dutch colonial slavery and slavery in areas that were not under Dutch rule, such as British Guiana. This was done through the provision of services to trading houses and governments.
DNB made no distinction between customers who were or were not involved in slavery. There was no legal prohibition on slavery at that time. The bank also supported the Ministry of Colonies in its day-to-day payment transactions, which was important for Dutch colonial and trading activities. This resulted in DNB playing an important role in paying the compensation for the slave owners after the abolition of slavery in 1863.
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Plantations
It also appears that there was still a direct link with slavery among people and companies that had personal and/or business relationships with DNB. In addition to share ownership, some DNB directors were directly involved in the management of plantations.
For example, the researchers point out that board member Joan Huydecoper decided in meetings which enslaved persons could receive ‘the treasure of freedom’ and that Jan Hodshon signed a deed stating the value of individual enslaved persons.
A number of prominent DNB officials also appear to be involved in the drafting of the legislation that abolished slavery. This legislation was beneficial to the slave owners, partly due to the contribution of prominent DNB members. “This was not by virtue of their function of DNB, but privately,” emphasized researcher and slavery expert Fatah-Black in an explanation.
Of the six DNB directors in 1863 (four directors, a secretary and the president), three (Johannes Hermanus Insinger, Ferdinand Rendorp, and Johannes Molkenboer) received an allowance for the abolition of Dutch slavery.
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No Policy
The researchers note that DNB was not yet a major central bank, slavery had not yet been banned by law and the relationship between parliament and the head of state was not as it is now. “Views about improper forms of conflict of interest also differ from what we are used to now”, they write in the report ‘Service to the chain? DNB and the last decades of slavery 1814-1863’.
Klaas Knot just received the report. In a response, he said he was deeply shocked. “DNB administrators had more eye for their own interests than for the fate of the enslaved. Those facts from the investigation, and the deeply racist ideas behind them, touch us deeply. De Nederlandsche Bank in 2022 is not separate from its past. The suffering enslaved by the enslaved during that period is indescribable.”
The Dutch Central Bank therefore promises to take a number of steps. The first step is to reveal the report and acknowledge what happened. “We cannot undo the suffering that has been caused. But we as DNB can try to contribute to the processing of the suffering by making this history visible and recognizing the facts and the suffering,” said Knot.
DNB also wants to talk to employees and representatives of civil society organizations in the near future. There were no direct apologies. “We are opting for a careful approach and that will take some time,” he said in a statement.
The Bank of England previously also had research carried out into its own slavery history. Founded in 1694, the central bank was not directly involved in the slave trade, but former bank executives were. The Bank of England apologized and said it was aware of former governors and executives’ “incomparable connections” to slavery. It has also removed paintings and busts of former governors and directors associated with the slave trade in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
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