Product Description
by Dirk Barreveld (Author)
The United States has 46 million inhabitants descending from African slaves, some 14% of its total population. This number has greatly affected not only the history of the United States, but also the country's situation today. It all started in 1654 when Pieter Stuyvesant, the Dutch Director General of New Netherlands (later the US State of New York) at that time, realized that his colony was fast heading for bankruptcy. He needed a business that would generate extra income. His boss, the Dutch West India Company, owned and exploited some 60 slave stations in West Africa for slaves for Brazil. All archives concerning the early days of the slave trade in America is written in the Old Dutch language as was used in the 17th century. There are very few, if any, American researchers who are familiar enough with this Old Dutch language to do proper research in archives containing original slave-related sources. Another problem is that archives containing these sources are spread all over the world. Only a tiny part of the material in American archives was ever translated into English. The result of this situation is that a substantial part of what is written in the United States about the origin of slavery is incorrect or insufficient. This book is based on these original sources.
