Banishment, penal labor, and the quest for order in the early Dutch Atlantic world

Abstract

ABSTRACT Banishment and criminal transportation were common legal practices in early modern Europe. With roots in the classical and medieval periods, banishment was a convenient tool for dealing with the troublesome members of the community by sending them to overseas colonies, where people were scarce and labor was expensive. And most colonies used banishment for their own criminal and rebel populations. Strong employment in the Netherlands, effective social and regulatory institutions in the towns there, and the lack of any powerful, centralized state all kept the Dutch from adopting transatlantic criminal transportation. But that particular difference between them and their competitors has obscured the fact that the Dutch used banishment and penal labor at the local and regional levels. Studying these traditions allows a better picture of the Dutch underclass and a better understanding of how colonial rulers established their authority and fostered an atmosphere of stability and order.