Thomas was born in Aruba around 1823, and he lived the majority of his life in slavery.
Our understanding of his life in slavery is limited, but we do know about the events Thomas experienced during October and November of 1858.
On October 21, 1858, Thomas arrived 30 minutes late to the farm field of his owner, -Jan Pieter Croes-, to start with his daily tasks. His late arrival angered Jan Pieter, who confronted Thomas. Thomas did not accept the insults and lashed back, escalating their exchange into a fight where they struck each other with the heads of an agricultural hoe.
After the fight on the farm field, Thomas went to file a complaint at the fort regarding the mistreatment he had endured. Witnesses present at Jan Pieter’s farm field informed Pastor Paulus of the events that transpired that morning.
According to the colonial writer’s account, Thomas did try to file a complaint, but it was dismissed and not taken seriously. The report stated that Thomas had no grounds for complain, claiming that he disrespected his owner and that Jan Pieter was within his rights to act as he did under the law of 1857.
The following day, Jan Pieter filed a complaint against Thomas at the fort. At Jan Pieter’s request, Thomas was removed from his home and thrown into a jail cell. There, Thomas was whipped per his owner’s orders before being sent to Curaçao.
When word of the abuse of Thomas reached Pastor Paulus, he wrote a letter to the King’s attorney in Willemstad, requesting intervention. In this letter, the Pastor related the events in Aruba to the treatment Thomas had received at the hands of his owner and those in power in Aruba.
The letter from Pastor Paulus prompted the Governor of the Colony of Curaçao to send a public servant to Aruba to investigate and create a report on the events. This letter and the official report are the two primary sources detailing the mistreatment Thomas endured.
Through the storymap below, you can follow Thomas’s journey—a narrative that offers a clearer view of slavery in Aruba and sheds light on Thomas’s own experiences, particularly regarding the law of 1857, which was aimed to provide greater protection for enslaved individuals but clearly didn’t offer enough protection.
