Archives are our collective memory
Archives are kept in archival vaults or archival depots. We do this because archives hold unique documents of immeasurable value, which are needed to research history. Archives are our memory, the memory of society. We need to protect that memory. So we keep the archives in depots.
On this website we save the scans of the documents (written, printed, images) and all assignments that belong with it, in digital depots. For each portion of the voyage a separate digital depot is built:
- Depot 1 for the Outward Voyage
- Depot 2 for the Middle Passage
- Depot 3 for the Return Voyage
To know where you are while you are completing the lessons, the chapters belonging to each depot have a separate header.
Depot 1. The Outward Voyage
This is an image of the Middelburg Commerce Company (MCC) shipyard. Here the ships were built. The ship The Unity was also built here.
Depot 2. The Middle Passage
This is an image of a portion of the western coast of Africa, where the Middelburg Commerce Company ships sailed to purchase gold, ivory and slaves.
Depot 3. The Return Voyage
This is an image of the former Dutch colony Berbice, the present Guyana. People from Africa had to work on the plantations here as slaves.
