Elisabeth Samson 💪 Fighting for Equality and Respect

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I can't keep count of how often I've said that we can learn from our past and from the people who came before us, whether it's how not to act or quite the opposite, in how to handle ourselves in certain situations. One such a figure is the historical assertive heroine Elisabeth Samson (1715-1771).


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Portrayal of the trial of Ms. Samson against the local Dutch government.


Much has been said, staged and written of Ms. Samson. She was a remarkable woman and yet quite an enigma, especially for her time. She was born a free black woman in the 18th century; when slavery was still in full swing; to Mariana an emancipated former slave. Two of her half siblings had a plantation owner for a father and were freed from slavery after his death per his will. They both ensured the emancipation of their mother and their other siblings. Elisabeth was the only child born a free woman, as she was the youngest and born after her mother had been freed.


Elisabeth grew up in her sister's household and learned to read and write and how to do business from her brother in law. This upbringing seemed vital to her later successes, as she had bought her first property at the age of 19 and accumulated plantations, properties and started various business ventures, which made her the first black millionaire in the Americas according to the research from Cynthia McLeod. Elisabeth went into business with family and her partner, bought properties together and sometimes even bought the shares from the others. She even knew how and in what to invest her money, like commissioning the building of her own ship.


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Plantation Clevia that belonged to Elisabeth.


But what made Elisabeth a remarkable figure, aside from her successful business ventures and the smart decisions she had made regarding her finances, was her assertiveness and knowing what she wanted and doing everything in her power to get it. Even if she was a free woman with money, she was not considered to be "equal" to the white class citizens and they didn't let her forget it. She had to bring the local government to trial two times; the first time for being allowed back into Suriname as she was banished by the local authorities and the second time to be permitted to get married to a white man. Interracial marriage was illegal in the colony. But she won both cases and was eventually granted a license to get married to a white man.


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Cover of the book The free Negress, Elisabeth, by Cynthia McLeod.


What I can take away from her amazing story is to not give up and not be discouraged when people are trying to put me down. I should also not settle for less and that I should fight for what's right.

What have you learned from this remarkable woman? Let me know in the comments below.


Chasse into the backstage! 💃



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11 comments
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this could be said, and I think you'll agree too, she's an example for all women regardless of what color they are... why I said it? I don't think the life of a white woman was easy anyway... women have been subjected to inequality for centuries

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Yes, that's true she is indeed an example for all women. Even to me.
Even this day and age women don't receive the same salaries as men, even though they have the same or more skills, same responsibilities and the same education. What I've read is that this is in part, because most women weren't taught to be assertive and to negotiate what they are worth. So we could learn from Elisabeth to fight for what is ours and not settle for less.

Thank you for your input 😊

!ENGAGE 15

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You are reading some interesting and enlightening books. Or reading about 😂.

@rarej has a politician wifey on his hand... no need to work bro 😆

But seriously her life is some powerful black history. Thanks for sharing.

she had bought her first property at the age of 19 .

My word, and that plantation she owned, that is impressive. What I shall take away from this is fight for what you believe in and don’t back down, get your abd stand up!

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(Edited)

Hahaha history is one of my favorite subjects 😅 and I am indeed opinionated about a lot of topics 🙈

And was my pleasure. We should teach more of our own history, so that we may form our identities with also the positives from those stories.

I know what you mean regarding Elisabeths business wit; like buying your own property at 19... I feel like I'm falling behind hahaha
To think she had more plantations than this one showed in the picture. I could really learn a thing or two from her yes.

!ENGAGE 20

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ʙɪɢ ᴜᴘ ʏᴏᴜʀsᴇʟғ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴏsᴛ ɪs ғᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴏᴜʀ

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A woman with a great example for all humanity that regardless of our skin color we can achieve great things in life. Thank you for sharing @tanjakolader!

By the way, I am @ceparl and I've chosen this post for 100% curation in Hive Cross Culture's curation project.
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(Edited)

Thank you for featuring me 😊
Will definitely check out those other posts. And yes, I've indeed read some good content in those communities.

All the best! 👍

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