Burdened Colonial Past

The focus of this exhibition was on the Dutch colonial tax system throughout history, with an emphasis on the oppression, exploitation and slavery that went with it hand in hand. Taxes were intertwined with Dutch colonialism from the very beginning. As soon as foreign territory was conquered, the first forms of taxation were introduced to fill the coffers of the Dutch state.

To properly regulate trade and administer the expanding overseas territories, an entire administrative apparatus had to be set up. The first action was often the appointment of tax officials. The administrative system was constantly expanded. With brute force, a whole new landscape – with its own rules and means of payment – was created within existing countries. The aim was to earn a lot of money from the colony and the people who lived there.

Tip: Culture vloggers Jennifer and Bruno from shot of culture visited the exhibition. Visitors could check out their experiences and learn more about the Burdened Colonial Past exhibition.

Cultivation system

The idea behind Dutch colonisation was always to make as much profit as possible from the colonies, through trade and taxes. In the 19th century, this was taken to the extreme with the establishment of the cultivation system in the Dutch East Indies. From roughly 1830 to around 1870, under this system the Indonesian population was forced to use one fifth of their land to grow cash crops. Those who did not own land had to ‘pay’ with 66 days of forced labour every year. In practice, the system was even more severe. For example, often more than one fifth of people’s land was used for cash crops, causing problems for the local food supply. Cuts were also being made to all kinds of necessary expenditures, while more taxes were being demanded from the population. The cultivation system earned the Netherlands a lot of money, which was spent almost exclusively on improving the Dutch state, while life in the colony became increasingly difficult, to say the least.

Slavery

The Netherlands also left deep scars in Suriname and the Caribbean. First, the indigenous Arowaks were enslaved. Later, large groups of people from Africa were enslaved and brought over to work on plantations. In Suriname, more and more enslaved people escaped the oppression and fled into the jungle, from where these Maroons mounted active resistance. Troops were paid from the so-called ‘runaways chest’ to fight the Maroons, with little success to show for the high costs. The mandatory contribution of plantation owners to the runaways chest was especially high. 

Slavery became not only financially unsustainable, but also ethically. Literary publications such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin increasingly opened people’s eyes to the inhumanity of slavery. After the abolition of slavery in 1863, former enslaved people were obliged to do hard labour under state supervision for a further ten years, while plantation owners received compensation for the loss of their free labour.

Research

This exhibition stemmed from the study, conducted in the museum’s depot, into the Netherlands’ burdened colonial past. Taxes, slavery, the colonies and the cultivation system were always inextricably linked. Watch the video in which various objects are used to illustrate stories from the study. Like to learn more about the colonial tax system in the Dutch East Indies and the various aspects of Dutch rule? Then check out the doctoral thesis Promise, Pretence and Pragmatism by Maarten Manse, who was awarded a PhD by Leiden University in 2021 for this work. Manse writes: ‘Taxation was at the core of colonial exercises of governance, state-building and state-society relations. This dissertation analyses taxation in colonial Indonesia between 1870 and 1940.’

Ministry of Finance, Batavia

The painting by Carel Lodewijk Dake Jr. shows the Ministry of Finance on Waterloo Square in Batavia. A white building fronted by palm trees. Four women in colourful sarongs are walking in the foreground. Signed and dated in the bottom-right corner. There was also an album on display with the signatures of the civil servants who presented the painting to C.W. Bodenhausen, Director of Finance in the Dutch East Indies, as a farewell gift on 4 September 1926.

Desa school in Indonesia

This image from the early 20th century depicts a so-called ‘desa school’. A desa is a village or village region in rural Indonesia. Since the announcement of the ‘ethical policy’ in the Speech from the Throne in 1901, providing education to the Indonesian population had become an important goal. The schools were paid for from tax revenues, with which the inhabitants did not entirely agree because the desas had to give up agricultural land to accommodate the schools and children could not work during school hours.

Window artwork for the exhibition

Martinus Papilaja was commissioned to create a special window artwork for this exhibition. The artwork was funded by the Friends of the Museum.