Would you be banished in the Early Modern Dutch Empire? Read to find out!

 

    This week in Amsterdam I got to learn more about how sex and gender were seen and controlled in the early modern Dutch empire. I learned that like most of the world at the time, the Dutch empire also had harsh conservative views on marriage and sex, and harsh punishments for those who did not follow them. The VOC (Dutch East India Company) and WIC (Dutch West India Company) had a lot of power and influence during the modern Dutch empire. To maintain this control the trading companies also wanted population control, therefore they created and enforced laws on marriage and sex. The trading companies wanted to restrict intergroup marriage as much as possible, as it was easier to obtain loyalty by white Christians. To help enforce this control, adultery, sex before marriage, and interracial sex were illegal and heavily punished, especially when it was a married woman cheating or a white woman having sex with a person of color. People who broke these laws could be flogged, imprisoned, or even banished (Rose, Heijmans, 2020).

    Throughout the reading it was made obvious that women were punished much more harshly than men for breaking the law and were even punished if they were sexually assaulted. Sexual assault was not recognized as what it was at the time, and whatever parties were involved would be labeled sinful and treated the same as two consensual people who chose to have sexual relations. Women who came forward with sexual assault were also often prosecuted and the lack of consent was rarely acknowledged (Rose, Heijmans, 2020).

    There were two narratives based on the crime committed, the narrative of impropriety and the narrative of betrayal. The narrative of impropriety included homosexual relations, "fatherless children", etc. while the narrative of betrayal included adultery. There were many intersections that were taken into account when prosecuting or choosing to prosecute such as, gender, slavery, property and class, race/ethnicity, religion, and even company affiliation. It was surprising to learn that white men marrying women of color was not as uncommon and usually had no punishment as it was normalized as long as the woman converted to Christianity. White women did not have this option, as even when men of color converted to Christianity or promised to, they were not allowed to marry or have sexual relations (Rose, Heijmans, 2020).

    The reading gives a specific example of this with a Malay Christian woman and a Chinese man who wished to get married. They confessed to have had intercourse, and the case was brought to the VOC. Even though the man claimed he planned to marry her and convert, he was sentenced to death and the woman faced twenty-five years of forced labor (Rose, Heijmans, 2020). White men having relations with women of color was more likely to be let go and normalized. 

    Overall, I was surprised by the similarities in early history between the Netherlands and America when it comes to the views on sex and marriage. I did not know how conservative the Netherlands started out, but it was fascinating to learn about, especially the effects and influences the trade companies had on the culture and law. 

Word Count: 519

Honor Code: I have acted with honesty and integrity in producing this work and am unaware of anyone who has not. 

References

Rose, S., & Heijmans, E. (2021). From impropriety to betrayal: Policing non-marital sex in the Early Modern Dutch Empire. Journal of Social History, 55(2), 315-344.