Culture

Emancipation on Saint Martin: freedom in 1848 and 1863, and Emancipation Day

Slavery ended on the two sides of Saint Martin 15 years apart: on the French side in May 1848 and on the Dutch side on 1 July 1863. The day after French abolition, 26 people escaped from Diamond Estate to freedom across the border. 1 July is Emancipation Day on the Dutch side.

By SXM Daily · October 14, 2026

Last checked: 14 October 2026

Next check: 14 April 2027

Slavery ended on the two sides of Saint Martin 15 years apart. The French side freed enslaved people on 28 May 1848. On the Dutch side, slavery lasted until 1 July 1863, when the Netherlands abolished it in its Caribbean territories and Suriname. In the years between, the border itself became a route to freedom. Today, 1 July is Emancipation Day, a public holiday on the Dutch side.

Photo: Unknown photographer, Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

French side: 28 May 1848

According to UNESCO, the French freed the people they held in slavery on 28 May 1848. The step followed a decision by the government that took power in France after the revolution of 1848.

That is the historical date. The date of today's public commemoration on the French side is a separate matter, covered below.

The Diamond Estate escape: 29 May 1848

The day after French abolition, slavery was still legal on the Dutch side. On 29 May 1848, all 26 enslaved people on Diamond Estate, a plantation on the Dutch side, fled to Mount Fortune, a French plantation. There they were recognised as free men and women.

The Dutch Commander, Johannes Willem van Romondt, wrote to the French Commander, Munier, asking him to send back any runaways. The French reply was that anyone enslaved who reached French territory would be considered free.

That answer meant that, for people held in slavery on the Dutch side, reaching French territory could mean freedom.

Dutch side: 1 July 1863

The Netherlands formally abolished slavery in Suriname and its Caribbean territories, including Sint Maarten, on 1 July 1863, according to the Nationaal Archief, the Dutch national archives.

The law behind it, approved by the Dutch parliament in 1862, paid compensation to the owners, not to the people who had been enslaved. Owners on Sint Maarten received 150 guilders for each person freed. Owners on the other islands received 200 guilders per person, and in Suriname 300. The people who were freed received nothing.

These are 19th-century guilders. We have not converted them to today's money, because a straight conversion to the Caribbean guilder (XCG) would not be meaningful.

The letters in UNESCO's register

The exchange between the two commanders survives. Sint Maarten submitted a set of letters called "Route/Root to Freedom" to UNESCO in 2016, and UNESCO added it to its Memory of the World register in 2017. The correspondence between the Dutch and French commanders runs from French abolition in 1848 until after slavery ended on the Dutch side in 1863.

For residents, the letters show freedom on Saint Martin as one shared story that crosses the border, rather than two separate national histories.

Emancipation Day today

Dutch side. Emancipation Day is a public holiday on 1 July. The Government of Sint Maarten's holiday schedule lists it on 1 July in both 2026 and 2027. The version of the labour ordinance published on overheid.nl adds that when 1 July falls on a Sunday, the holiday moves to the next working day. That online version is marked as no longer current from October 2022, so check the government's holiday schedule for the year you need.

French side. Saint-Martin's public commemoration of abolition falls on 27 or 28 May. As our public holidays guide explains, the exact holiday date is unconfirmed until an official notice from the Préfecture or the Collectivité.

FAQ

Q: When was slavery abolished on the French side of Saint Martin?

A: UNESCO gives 28 May 1848 as the date the French freed enslaved people.

Q: When was slavery abolished on the Dutch side?

A: On 1 July 1863, when the Netherlands abolished slavery in Suriname and its Caribbean territories.

Q: What happened at Diamond Estate?

A: On 29 May 1848, all 26 enslaved people on Diamond Estate fled to the French plantation Mount Fortune, where they were recognised as free.

Q: Were the freed people compensated?

A: No. Under the 1862 Dutch law, owners on Sint Maarten got 150 guilders per freed person. The freed people received nothing.

Q: When is Emancipation Day?

A: 1 July, a public holiday on the Dutch side.

Q: When does the French side commemorate abolition?

A: On 27 or 28 May. The exact public holiday date awaits an official Préfecture or Collectivité notice.

Sources

https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/route/root-freedom-case-study-how-enslaved-africans-gained-their-freedom-dual-national-island-sint
https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/beleven/onderwijs/bronnenbox/afschaffing-slavernij-in-suriname-en-het-caribisch-gebied-1863
https://lokaleregelgeving.overheid.nl/CVDR142704
https://www.sintmaartengov.org/Pages/Public-Holiday-Schedule.aspx

Source: https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/route/root-freedom-case-study-how-enslaved-africans-gained-their-freedom-dual-national-island-sint