What was the first Dutch colony to emancipate its slaves?

Shiningstar7

The first American movement to abolish slavery came in the spring of 1688 when German and Dutch Quakers of Mennonite descent in Germantown, Pennsylvania (now part of Philadelphia) wrote a two-page condemnation of the practice and sent it to the governing bodies of their Quaker church, the Society of Friends. Though the Quaker establishment took no immediate action, the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery, was an unusually early, clear and forceful argument against slavery and initiated the process that finally led to the banning of slavery in the Society of Friends (1776) and in the state of Pennsylvania(1780). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolitionism#France May 25 11, 2:33 AM

author

I don't think this answer is fully correct, as Pennsylvania was not a Dutch colony in 1780. I am looking for a part of the former Dutch empire. Slavery was illegal inside the Netherlands but flourished in the Dutch empire. May 25 11, 9:11 AM

Shiningstar7

Suriname was occupied by the British in 1799, after the Netherlands were incorporated by France, and was returned to the Dutch in 1816, after the defeat of Napoleon. The Dutch abolished slavery only in 1863; although the British had already abolished it during their short rule. The slaves were, however, not released until 1873; up to that date they conducted obligatory but paid work at the plantations. In the meantime, many more workers had been imported from the Dutch East Indies, mostly Chinese inhabitants of that colony. After 1873, many Hindu laborers where imported from India. This emigration was ended by Mohandas Gandhi in 1916. After that date, many laborers were again imported from the Dutch East Indies, especially Java. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Suriname May 28 11, 10:52 PM

author

According to this timeline slavery was abolished in all Dutch colonies in 1863. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolition_of_slavery_timeline#1700.E2.80.931800 Jun 09 11, 6:31 AM