PARIS:--- Some people wondered how the proclamation of the abolition of slavery issued somewhat urgently by the Governor of Guadeloupe, would have reached the dependency of Saint-Martin at 250 kilometres further up north-west on that same Saturday 27th May 1848 ?
Paradoxically, it is the Archives of the Dutch side kept in Philipsburg (Sint Maarten) that have released the exact date; nothing has been found for the time being at the Departmental Archives of Guadeloupe and the National Overseas Archives of Aix-en-Provence are yet reserving their answer… It is with the help of Mr Alfonso Blyden, the archivist, that Mrs. Daniella Jeffry [1963, A Landmark Year in Saint-Martin (2003) … The status scandal on the island of Saint-Martin (2006)] has recently shed full light on these documents.
The subject is known; in his thesis "Vrije slaven" [Free Slaves] published in 1993, Dr. A.F. Paula recalled the situation of the slaves of the Dutch side after the abolition was proclaimed on the French side. He especially quoted a letter dated 30 May 1848, kept in the stock "Ministry of Colonies" of the National Archives of The Hague, where the Governor of the Dutch side asked the Commander of the French side to return the Dutch slaves who had fled "to the other side" for a better destiny; to which the latter answered negatively. But Mr. Paula inferred the 27th of May as the date of the abolition on the French side, without any more precision … thus referring to the decree signed by Governor Layrle in Guadeloupe.
The two excerpts brought forward by Mrs. Jeffry are more precise:
From a letter sent by the Commander of the Dutch Side of St. Martin to the Special Commander of the French side:
"N° 11/31 Philipsburg, on 31th May 1848
Mister Commander !
Mr. Percival owner of the Dutch side came to inform me that on the 29th of this month, the day after the day when the abolition of slavery was proclaimed on the French side, Twenty-Six Negroes left his plantation and took refuge, mainly on the mont fortune plantation belonging to Mr. de Durat, bordering on the Dutch side. (…)"
From a letter dated 30th May 1848 sent on the Dutch side by the Commander to the Commanding Officer [translated from Dutch]:
"I have the honour to inform you that the Commander of the French side has informed us of the emancipation of the slave population by proclamation of the Governor of Guadeloupe and dependencies dated 27th May 1848 on the French side last Sunday, and seeing that this proclamation was made without compensation to the owners for the loss of their property, we are fearing that the slaves of the Dutch side are trying to flee to the French side, and over there they will be treated as free. (…)
This would put the Dutch side in a precarious situation (…)"
And Mrs Jeffry to conclude: "we can declare with certainty in view of these letters that the official date of proclamation of the emancipation of the slaves in Saint-Martin is Sunday 28th May 1848. However, according to our oral history, I have a feeling that this abolition was not effective immediately on account of the upcoming picking of salt in the Great Salt Pond which had to take place within 10 to 12 days after this proclamation. Economic reasons could have delayed the implementation of this abolition…"
ANDREW STEINMETZ COMITÉ DE LIAISON ET D'APPLICATION DES SOURCES HISTORIQUES.
