荷兰西印度公司和私人奴隶船上对非洲奴隶的医疗待遇（2）

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Phase three: arrival in the New World

Numbers and destinations

The Dutch were not the first Europeans to be involved in the transatlantic slave trade. At

the outset, the Dutch were against slave trade and thought of it as ‘morally wrong’. Theystrongly condemned the Portuguese and the Spanish for being engaged in this kind of

trade, although one could argue that this was merely out of anti-Iberian sentiments

rather than ideological and moral reasons (Table 3).

However, it may come as no surprise that the people in the Dutch Republic rapidly

changed their mind when the Dutch first set foot in the New World in 1609. Especially

after expelling the Portuguese from northeastern Brazil in 1630, it became clear that it

was impossible to cultivate the plantations in these overseas territories without a continuous influx of cheap labour. It was not long before the Dutch were also transporting

slaves across the ocean. Table 4 presents the main colonies to which the Dutch transported slaves over the Atlantic Ocean during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Between 1630 and 1654, Brazil was an important colony to which a fairly large

number of slaves was transported. The Dutch were leading the transatlantic slave

trade between 1655 and 1675. This was not the WIC, however, which was almost

bankrupt. In that period the Dutch slave trade was mainly in the hands of private merchants from Amsterdam.58 After 1654, the Dutch involvement in the slave trade to

Brazil stopped completely, owing to the fact that the Portuguese recaptured this

colony from the Dutch.59Postma argues that between 1662 and 1689 the Republic was the major slave-trading

nation.60 In these years, the Spanish Crown granted the asiento de negros only indirectly

and for a very short time to the Dutch merchant Balthasar Coymans in the 1680s. The

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第三阶段：抵达新大陆

数字和目的地

荷兰人并不是第一批参与跨大西洋奴隶贸易的欧洲人。起初，荷兰人反对奴隶贸易，并认为其“在道德上是错误的”。他们强烈谴责葡萄牙人和西班牙人从事这种贸易，尽管可以说这仅仅是出于对伊比利亚半岛的敌意，而不是意识形态和道德原因（表3）。

然而，当荷兰人于1609年首次踏上新大陆时，荷兰共和国的人民很快改变了想法。特别是在1630年将葡萄牙人从巴西东北部驱逐出去后，很明显，在这些海外领土上，如果没有持续的廉价劳动力流入，是不可能种植种植园的。荷兰人很快也开始将奴隶运送过大西洋。表4列出了17世纪和18世纪荷兰人在大西洋上运输奴隶的主要殖民地。1630年到1654年间，巴西是一个重要的殖民地，其中运输了相当数量的奴隶。在1655年到1675年间，荷兰人领导了跨大西洋奴隶贸易。然而，这并不是由西印度公司主导的，后者几乎破产了。在这个时期，荷兰的奴隶贸易主要由阿姆斯特丹的私人商人掌握。1654年之后，荷兰人对巴西的奴隶贸易完全停止，因为葡萄牙人从荷兰人手中夺回了这个殖民地。Postma认为，1662年到1689年间，荷兰共和国是主要的奴隶贸易国家。在这些年里，西班牙皇冠只间接地并且只在短时间内授予了荷兰商人巴尔塔萨尔·科伊曼斯的奴隶贸易经营权（asiento de negros）。

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Postma argues that between 1662 and 1689 the Republic was the major slave-trading

nation.60 In these years, the Spanish Crown granted the asiento de negros only indirectly

and for a very short time to the Dutch merchant Balthasar Coymans in the 1680s. TheDutch delivered slaves to Curaçao to hand them over to agents of the asentistas. The

Dutch were able to manoeuvre into this position as they could utilise their previously

acquired knowledge and experience in the slave trade. Moreover, they had a very important asset that the Spanish did not have: their settlements in Africa that could provide them

with slaves.

Another development to notice is the explosive increase in the number of slaves being

transported to Suriname in the eighteenth century, primarily in the period 1745–1774.

Inikori and Engerman consider the advent of stable governments and the subsequent

growth of the Surinamese colony as an important reason for this increase. More plantations appeared, requiring substantial numbers of slaves. After they lost most of their contracts with the Spanish American colonies, Suriname became the most important market

for Dutch slave traders.

At first glance one might conclude from the numbers presented above that the Atlantic

region was of major importance to the Dutch colonial activities. Emmer and Klooster,

however, point out that it played a relatively modest role. Already 50 years after their

initial arrival, the influence of the Dutch maritime presence in the Atlantic was declining

and the English, Spanish and Portuguese took over the leading position.

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Postma认为，在1662年至1689年间，荷兰共和国是主要的奴隶贸易国。在这些年份里，西班牙王室间接地把asiento de negros授予了17世纪80年代的荷兰商人Balthasar Coymans，但只有为期很短的时间。荷兰人把奴隶运到库拉索，再交给asentistas的代理商。荷兰人之所以能够摸到这个位置，是因为他们能够利用他们在奴隶贸易中所获得的知识和经验。此外，他们还拥有西班牙人没有的非洲定居点，可以为他们提供奴隶。

还有一个需要注意的发展是在18世纪，特别是1745年至1774年期间，运往苏里南的奴隶数量急剧增加。Inikori和Engerman认为稳定政府的出现以及随之而来的苏里南殖民地的增长是这一增加的重要原因。越来越多的植园出现，需要大量的奴隶。在荷兰失去与西班牙美洲殖民地的大部分合约之后，苏里南成为荷兰奴隶贸易的最重要市场。

初看上去，人们可能会从上述数字中得出结论，大西洋地区对于荷兰殖民活动非常重要。然而，Emmer和Klooster指出它在这方面的地位相对较低。在最初到达50年后，荷兰在大西洋的海上存在的影响力正在减弱，而英国、西班牙和葡萄牙则取得了主导地位。

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Keeping the purpose of this article in mind, some information can be found on the

treatment of slaves in Suriname. As this colony has been the most important Atlantic

overseas territory for the Netherlands for a long period, looking at the life of slaves in

Suriname will provide important insights. Therefore, we try to create a broader context

for the treatment of slaves on plantations in general, based on the case of this single

country – of course knowing that policies could vary between different colonies.

Living and working conditions on the plantations in Suriname

Sickness and health cover a broad range of aspects. Working conditions had an important

influence on the health situation of slaves, since they spent most of their time working – itwas the sole reason their owner had bought them. There may be no doubt that these conditions were poor. Child labour was not uncommon, and slaves had to work at night,

without being compensated for this. Moreover, until the eighteenth century, women

had to continue working even if they were pregnant. Alex van Stipriaan points to quantitative data that suggests that conditions improved during the nineteenth century.61

However, these improvements were not yet introduced in the period discussed in this

paper and thus working conditions would have been severe in those years.

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鉴于本文的目的，可以在苏里南找到有关奴隶待遇的一些信息。由于苏里南是荷兰在大西洋海外领地中最重要的殖民地很长一段时间，研究苏里南奴隶的生活将提供重要的见解。因此，我们试图根据这个单一国家的情况来创建种植园奴隶待遇的更广泛背景，当然要知道政策可能在不同的殖民地之间有所不同。

在苏里南的种植园上的生活和工作条件

生病和健康涵盖了广泛的方面。工作条件对奴隶的健康状况有重要影响，因为他们大部分时间都在工作 - 这是主人购买他们的唯一原因。毫无疑问，这些条件很差。童工并不罕见，奴隶必须在夜间工作，而无偿劳动。此外，直到18世纪，即使怀孕，妇女也必须继续工作。Alex van Stipriaan指出定量数据表明19世纪的条件有所改善。然而，在本文讨论的时期，这些改进尚未引入，因此那些年份的工作条件必然是严峻的。

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Reports in Surinaams Contrast by Alex van Stipriaan shed light on the differences in

working conditions between three plantation sectors (coffee, cotton and sugar).62 These indicate that slaves were treated best on cotton plantations and worst in the sugar sector. This was

caused by a range of factors, including the fact that cotton cultivation did not require much

night work, and the work was physically also relatively light. The difference between sectors

can also be identified by the quality of nutrition, a second key element for the health of slaves.

Cotton plantations were often situated near the sea, and slaves were therefore provided with

seafood. This type of food contains high levels of protein, which made for a healthy diet compared with those in other sectors where slaves were deployed.63

Nevertheless, in general, nutrition was often ignored. A study by X.G.J. Mulder, professor of chemistry, in 1846 found that slaves in these years only received around 40% of

what was considered to be the minimum nutritional value that a soldier should get.64 In

general, slaves received food from their owners. However, it was also common for them

to have small pieces of arable land where they could cultivate some crops themselves. Not

only did this enable them to (partially) take care of their own food supply, but it could also

prove beneficial for their self-esteem, as they had some private property and something to

be responsible for.

The supply of food was organised, although it was not available in great quantities.

This relative scarcity also applied to safe water. In addition, the infrastructure for

water was also badly taken care of. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, only a

few plantations had water reservoirs installed, resulting in a limited and often unhealthy

water supply for the rest of the colony. The Societeit van Suriname, a private Dutch

company, was aware of the problems that could arise as a result of food and water scarcity

– in the worst case a revolt could break out – and therefore urged plantation owners to

provide slaves with sufficient food and water.

## 来自ChatAI的消息:

据Alex van Stipriaan在《苏里南对比》一书中的报道揭示了咖啡、棉花和糖三个种植园部门之间工作条件的差异。这些报告表明，在棉花种植园中奴隶受到最好的对待，而在糖业部门中最差。这是由一系列因素造成的，包括棉花种植不需要夜间工作，并且工作量相对较轻。不同部门之间的差异也可以通过营养质量来识别，这是奴隶健康的第二个关键因素。棉花种植园经常位于海边，因此奴隶们得到了海鲜的供应。这种食物含有高比例的蛋白质，与其他部门的奴隶相比，这样的饮食更加健康。尽管如此，总体而言，营养经常被忽视。化学教授X.G.J. Mulder在1846年的一项研究中发现，当时奴隶们只获得了被认为是士兵最低营养价值40%的食物。通常情况下，奴隶们的食物由主人提供。然而，他们也常常拥有小块可耕地，可以自己种植一些农作物。这不仅使他们能够（部分地）照顾自己的食物供应，还可以对他们的自尊心有益，因为他们拥有一些私人财产和责任。食物的供应是有组织的，尽管量不多。这种相对的匮乏也适用于安全水源。此外，水的基础设施也糟糕。在17世纪和18世纪，只有少数种植园安装了水库，导致殖民地其他地区的水供应有限，而且经常不太健康。荷兰私人公司苏里南协会意识到食物和水源匮乏可能导致的问题——在最糟糕的情况下可能爆发暴动——因此敦促种植园主提供奴隶足够的食物和水源。

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In addition to food and water, slaves were often also provided with some additional

items. However, expectations should be low; according to Blom, who wrote about this

topic in 1787, slaves only received a few items and they completely depended on the

plantation owners for the supply.65 In general, the basic goods that were given included

a few pieces of fabric, which slaves had to use for a whole year as clothing and sheets.Plantation slaves only wore clothes that covered small parts of their body and small children walked around naked. It was only after the end of the eighteenth century that the

supply of goods to slaves somewhat improved.

It was not until the nineteenth century that the quality of housing also positively

changed. Before this shift took place, slaves often lived in a small ‘village’ on the plantation, which consisted of simple huts that were built and maintained by the slaves themselves. Primarily because of the wet ground, sleeping in these huts could certainly be

considered unhealthy and the transition to houses of better quality was perceived as a

positive development. Just like the small pieces of arable land mentioned before, the

primitive housing was also valued for the relative degree of freedom and space that it provided. Judging from a sickness and health point of view, living conditions were undoubtedly worse before these housing improvements were carried out.

In addition to the quality of housing, the spatial location of a plantation could also have

contributed to the better health of slaves. In this respect, it may have been favourable to be

situated near the sea, since the relatively dry climate is generally healthier and makes it

difficult for many diseases to thrive. As mentioned before, cotton plantations in Surinam

were often situated near the coast, which might have contributed to the relatively low

mortality rates in this sector.

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除了食物和水之外，奴隶通常还会得到一些额外的物品。然而，期望值应该很低；根据Blom在1787年对此进行的研究，奴隶只能得到一些物品，完全依赖于种植园主提供的供给。总的来说，奴隶得到的基本物品包括一些布料，他们必须将其用作一整年的衣物和床单。种植园奴隶只穿着遮盖身体少部分部位的衣物，小孩子们赤身裸体地四处跑。直到18世纪末期，奴隶的物品供应稍微有所改善。

直到19世纪，住房质量也才得到积极改变。在这个转变发生之前，奴隶经常住在种植园上的一个小“村子”里，这个村子由奴隶自己建造和维护，简单的小屋构成。由于湿地的原因，住在这些小屋里的睡眠肯定是不健康的，而转向更好质量的房屋被认为是一个积极的发展。与之前提到的小块可耕地一样，原始的住房也因为提供了相对自由和空间而受到重视。从疾病和健康的角度来看，居住条件在进行这些住房改进之前无疑更差。

除了住房质量外，种植园的空间位置也可能对奴隶的健康有所帮助。在这方面，靠近海洋可能是有利的，因为相对干燥的气候通常更健康，也更难让许多疾病滋生。如前所述，苏里南的棉花种植园常常位于海岸附近，这可能有助于在这个行业中相对较低的死亡率。

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The previous paragraphs all describe situations in which preventive care was used to

influence sickness and health amongst the slaves. However, people did get sick, and thus

required medical treatment. This so-called curative care was available in the colonies, but

it was often of bad quality. In the eighteenth century, many plantations did not have their

own clinic and professional treatment could not be given. Furthermore, even if a clinic

was present, these were likely to be unhygienic – and according to some reports even

bad for one’s health.66

When a slave got sick, they were first handed to another slave who was responsible for

medical issues. Only if their sickness lasted for a few days were they were redirected to a

‘professional’ doctor – whose abilities were often also questionable. However, since the

plantation owner needed all slaves to work on the plantations, he would not always

acknowledge a slave to be sick. As a result, not all slaves received the medical care

that they required, worsening the situation for some.

Owing to the differences in working conditions in different sectors (e.g. sugar, coffee,

cotton), mortality rates could vary across plantations. When all resulting values are combined, one finds that the average annual mortality in the period 1780–1862 ranges

between 35 and 50 deaths per 1,000 slaves.

Even prominent Dutch representatives in Suriname recognised that the poor treatment

of slaves negatively influenced mortality rates amongst them. Although commissionergeneral of the Dutch East Indies Johannes van den Bosch (1780–1844) stated that the

slaves’ way of living was a major cause of the many deaths, he also acknowledged

that demanding working conditions and malnutrition were detrimental to the growth ofthe total slave population, and in his Nederlandsche bezittingen (1818) he urged the

drawing up of policy on this subject.67

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上述段落描述了预防保健在影响奴隶的疾病和健康方面的应用情况。然而，人们还是会生病，因此需要医疗治疗。所谓的治疗性护理在殖民地是可得到的，但通常质量较差。在18世纪，许多种植园没有自己的诊所，无法提供专业治疗。此外，即使有诊所存在，它们很可能不卫生，根据一些报告甚至对健康有害。

当奴隶生病时，首先交给另一个负责医疗问题的奴隶。只有当他们的病情持续数天时，才会转向“专业”医生，而这些医生的能力常常也值得怀疑。然而，由于种植园主需要所有奴隶在种植园工作，他并不总是承认奴隶病情。因此，并非所有奴隶都得到了他们需要的医疗护理，使得情况变得更糟。

由于不同领域（例如糖、咖啡、棉花）的工作条件不同，各种植园的死亡率可能有所不同。当将所有结果值结合起来时，发现1780年至1862年期间的平均年死亡率在每1,000名奴隶中为35到50人之间。

甚至荷兰在苏里南的知名代表也认识到对奴隶的不良待遇会对他们的死亡率产生负面影响。虽然荷兰东印度的总督约翰内斯·范登·博斯（1780年-1844年）表示奴隶的生活方式是死亡人数众多的主要原因，但他也承认苛刻的工作条件和营养不良对整个奴隶人口的增长有害，并在他的《Nederlandsche bezittingen》（1818）中敦促就这个问题制定政策。

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It has often been recognised that the treatment of slaves, at least to some extent, caused

high mortality rates. However, no continuous, synchronous decline in mortality rates

could be observed once living conditions improved. Therefore, other factors could

have influenced mortality rates too; Van Stipriaan identifies two of these elements – creolisation and epidemics.68

Firstly, the process of creolisation could have decreased mortality rates. Creolisation

can be described as the mixing of different cultures, which in Suriname created a mixture

of people from African and European descent. Evidence suggests that this process, combined with the end of the influx of African slaves in 1827, resulted in a significantly lower

proportion of Africans in the total Surinamese population. Since Africans were most susceptible to diseases and performed most heavy tasks, creolisation may have had an effect

on the decreasing mortality rates.

Secondly, and probably more influential, epidemics have caused periods of high mortality. The inhabitants of Suriname regularly faced these epidemics, of which pokken

(smallpox) has been reported most often. Table 5 provides an overview of outbreaks

of different diseases in Suriname between 1764 and 1857, often resulting in many

deaths. In the nineteenth century however, doctors began experimenting withvariolation’, a treatment of pokken that could be considered the predecessor of what is

currently known as vaccination. Although the adoption of variolation was slow since

people were initially reluctant to adhere to this unknown method, the efforts eventually

paid off.

In general, it can be concluded that slaves’ living conditions improved over time,

reaching their highest levels towards the end of slavery. In the last period (1840–1863)

before the abolition, the percentage of slaves dying a natural death was 43% (which

was already a 9% increase in comparison with the period between 1815 and 1839).70

The fact that other death causes were predominant earlier suggests that living conditions

were poor enough for sickness to thrive.

## 来自ChatAI的消息:

众所周知，奴隶的待遇在一定程度上导致死亡率居高不下。然而，一旦生活条件改善，就无法观察到死亡率的持续同步下降。因此，其他因素也可能影响死亡率；范斯蒂普里安(Van Stipriaan)确定了其中的两个因素，即克里奥利化和流行病。首先，克里奥利化的过程可能降低了死亡率。克里奥利化可描述为不同文化的融合，而在苏里南，这导致了非洲和欧洲血统的人群混合。有证据表明，这一过程与1827年非洲奴隶流入的结束相结合，导致苏里南总人口中非洲人比例显著降低。由于非洲人最容易感染疾病并从事最重的工作，克里奥利化可能对降低死亡率产生了影响。其次，而且可能更具影响力的是，流行病导致了高死亡率的时期。苏里南居民经常面临这些流行病，其中天花被报道得最多。表5概述了1764年至1857年间苏里南不同疾病爆发的情况，往往导致许多人死亡。然而，在19世纪，医生开始尝试“痘苗接种”，这可以被认为是目前所称的疫苗的前身。尽管最初人们对这种未知的方法持怀疑态度，但接种痘苗的努力最终取得了成果。总的来说，可以得出结论，奴隶的生活条件随着时间的推移得到改善，并在奴隶制结束之前达到顶峰。在奴隶制废止之前的最后一个时期（1840年至1863年），死于自然原因的奴隶占43%（与1815年至1839年的时期相比，已经增加了9%）。而早期主导死亡原因的事实表明，生活条件不佳，使疾病盛行。

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Conclusion

This article deals with the treatment of slaves during the time of the Dutch West India

Company’s existence. This treatment was approached in a twofold manner – with a

focus on both moral and medical grounds. Moreover, it provides an analysis of the

medical treatment of slaves before, during and after their transport from Africa to the

New World and the Caribbean on board Dutch West India Company ships in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There seems to have been significant changes in attitude

amongst the slavers regarding their interest in the slaves’ health whilst still residing in

Africa as opposed to crossing the Atlantic.

We have discussed the abominable living conditions the slaves were subjected to prior

to their departure. Although it seems fair to state that these conditions did not improve

while sailing westward, preventive and curative medical measures were taken by

ships’ surgeons – and to a lesser extent by ziekentroosters (comforters of the sick) in

attempts to ensure that the major part of the armazoen (the cargo) would make it alive

to the plantations in America and the Caribbean. Assessing the results of the surgeons’

attempts we need to keep in mind that it has been acknowledged by contemporary

doctors that those responsible for the slaves’ physical (and to a certain extent also

mental) health more often than not were facing diseases unknown to them. In times of

high demand, ziekentroosters were assigned but not particularly well-educated by the

Dutch Reformed Church before entering the service of the Dutch West India

Company. Surgeons moved between moral dogmata and state of the art research and publications by renowned doctors like David Henri Gallandat. Gallandat, although arriving

on the scene at a rather late stage (1769), is quite remarkable in that he published some

sort of medical guide for surgeons who faced the challenges of coping with diseases

amongst the slaves unbeknown to the western medical profession. He seemed to have

cared for black lives, albeit operating within the parameters of what – at least according

to the standards used in early modern times – was morally and medically acceptable. As

such, he stands out as one of few champions for those many hundreds of thousands who

were forced to traverse the Atlantic Ocean among others under the flags of the Dutch

West India Company

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结论

本文介绍了荷兰西印度公司存在期间对待奴隶的方式。这种对待是从道德和医学两个方面来考虑的。此外，它还分析了奴隶在从非洲到新世界和加勒比地区搭乘荷兰西印度公司船只的途中和途中的医疗治疗情况。在贩奴者在非洲时与越过大西洋时在奴隶的健康问题上的态度似乎发生了显著变化。

我们已经讨论了奴隶在启航前所经受的可怕生活条件。尽管可以说这些条件在向西航行时没有改善，但船医和部分ziekentroosters（病人安慰员）采取了防治医疗措施，以确保大部分的armazoen（货物）活着到达美国和加勒比的种植园。评估这些船医措施的结果时，我们需要记住，当代医生承认，那些负责奴隶身体（在某种程度上也包括心理）健康的人往往面临着他们不熟悉的疾病。在需求旺盛的时期，荷兰改革宗教会让ziekentroosters进入荷兰西印度公司服务，但他们的教育程度并不高。船医们在道德观念和当代著名医生（如大卫·亨利·加朗达）的最新研究和出版物之间徘徊。加朗达虽然出现得很晚（1769年），但他发布了一本针对那些面对西方医学界所不熟悉的奴隶疾病挑战的医学指南。他似乎关心黑人的生命，尽管他的行为仅限于在早期现代的道德和医学可接受的参数内。因此，他成为为成千上万被迫在荷兰西印度公司的旗帜下穿越大西洋的人中的少数奋斗者之一。

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Declaration of conflicting interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or

publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this

article.

ORCID iD

Leon van den Broeke https:orcid.org/0000-0003-1384-5099

Author biographies

Joost Schokkenbroek is professor emeritus at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Director of the

Hong Kong Maritime Museum.

Leon van den Broeke is Associate Professor Religion, Law and Society/Church Polity, and Chair of

the Centre for Religion and Law at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Extraordinary Professor

Church Polity at the Theological University Kampen, the Netherlands.

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冲突利益声明

作者声明在此文章的研究、作者身份和/或发布方面不存在潜在的冲突利益。

资助

作者在此文章的研究、作者身份和/或发布方面未获得任何财务支持。

ORCID iD

Leon van den Broeke https:orcid.org/0000-0003-1384-5099

作者简介

Joost Schokkenbroek是阿姆斯特丹自由大学的名誉教授，也是香港海事博物馆的馆长。

Leon van den Broeke是阿姆斯特丹自由大学宗教、法律与社会/教会政体的副教授，也是荷兰坎彭神学大学的特聘教授教会政体研究中心主任。