Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, thousands of enslaved Afro-Curaçaoans escaped to Tierra Firme, the Spanish Caribbean Mainland. Most arrived in Santa Ana de Coro, also called Coro, Venezuela. The 70-kilometer route between Willemstad and Coro could be traveled by boat in as little as six hours with good winds. Letters from island governors report that enslaved Afro-Curaçaoans frequently raided warehouses and stole canoes and boats from enslavers, colonial officials, or other white residents trying to escape slavery.

In 1767 and 1775, Curaçao’s colonial administration compiled two lists of enslaved people who ran away to Coro or to nearby areas. Based on these lists, two datasets were constructed. These datasets contain information on the names, owners, genders, age groups, occupations, flight years, departure locations, and arrival locations of the enslaved runaways. It should be stressed that the 1775 register provides more comprehensive information than the 1767 one.

Dataset 1: “Runaway Register of 1767”: NL-HaNA, 1.05.01.02, inv. nr. 605, scan 342. Dataset 2: “Runaway Register of 1775”: NL-HaNA, 1.05.01.02, inv. nr. 1166, scan 425.