More than two hundred years after his death, the government restored the hero of the Tula slave resistance (unknown – 1795). Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced this in a speech to the National Archives in The Hague on Monday.
In this, Rutte offered apologies for the actions of the Dutch state in the past of slavery. Resistance heroes from other areas also received posthumous rehabilitation.
“Today I respectfully honor the names of Tula in Curaçao, Jolicoeur, Boni and Baron in Suriname, One-Tété-Lohkay in Sint Maarten and we remember all those unnamed men and women who have heroically sought freedom over the centuries and have been often punished in the most horrific way,” Rutte said.
The prime minister replied to the report on behalf of his cabinet Chains of the past of the history of slavery of the dialogue group of the advisory board. In addition to reparations for Tula, that 2021 report advised the cabinet to, among other things, apologize for its history of slavery on behalf of the state.
The state also had to recognize that the past consequences of Dutch slavery can also be felt in the present. Rutte recognized this in his speech. The premier spoke of a “historic responsibility” of the state for the suffering of many.
“Today, on behalf of the Dutch government, I apologize for the actions of the Dutch state in the past: I posthumously to all enslaved people worldwide who have suffered as a result of such actions, to their daughters and sons and to all their descendants up until to here and now.”
Tula led the largest slave revolt in the Caribbean Netherlands
Interest groups in the Netherlands and in the Caribbean part of the kingdom have been working for years to restore honor to Tula. The Dutch Caribbean Consultative Body (OCAN) is one such organisation.
“The rehabilitation of Tula is the first step towards recognizing all those other enslaved people who resisted their rulers in Curaçao,” OCAN director Lionel Martijn told NU.nl.
Tula worked for years as a slave on the Kenepa plantation west of Curaçao. On August 17, 1795, he stopped doing it in protest against slave life, along with about forty other slaves.
Led by Tula, among others, the uprising grew to around two thousand people, who demanded their freedom. It was the largest revolt of enslaved people in the Caribbean part of the Dutch kingdom.
Colonial rulers put down the slave revolt with brute force. Tula managed to escape, but she was still betrayed and captured.
Those in power killed Tula after a mock trial
The colonial rulers tortured Tula in a mock trial. Finally, he made a coerced confession. He got the death penalty.
The authorities brutally murdered Tula. The resistance hero died on October 3, 1795 after a public execution.
Tula was declared a national hero in Curaçao in 2010. He was later rehabilitated on the island as well.
Volg dit onderwerp
Follow the colonial history
