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Slaves For Sale
First Slave Auction (1655)


The Atlantic Creoles were the earliest slaves in New Amsterdam, brought over by the Dutch as early as the 1620s. They spoke many different languages, including Creole. Many of these slaves bore names of the places from which they originally came. Some examples include Anthony Portuguese, Simon Congo, Juan Guinea, Paulo d’Angola and among others. Having experience with the Atlantic, a lot of them were familiar with the legal systems, religion, trading practices of the western world. Because the Dutch West India Company owned them all, the Atlantic Creoles entered into servitude upon their arrival to New Amsterdam. Despite their low social status, slaves were able to assimilate into the New Amsterdam society. Many of them formed families, attended church, and baptized their children. Although the Atlantic Creoles were considered to be slaves, they still received wages from the Dutch company. This was because slavery was not a clearly defined institution yet. Later on, many of these slaves ended up going into the lands near Wall Street, so they could buffer out Native Americans’ attacks.

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