1642-1794: Merchants from Amsterdam and the northern Netherlands typically organized their slaving voyages from the sheltered anchorage of Texel rather than …

1642-1794: Merchants from Amsterdam and the northern Netherlands typically organized their slaving voyages from the sheltered anchorage of Texel rather than a traditional port. It was at this location that ships received their final instructions and outfitted for the journey to the African coast. Dutch traders primarily sourced their captives from the Gold Coast and the Bight of Benin, distributing them across a wide array of American markets in the mid-seventeenth century. Following 1670, the trade became more specialized, with captives sold principally in the sugar colony of Suriname and the regional re-export hubs of Curaçao and St. Eustatius.