Many of the island's residents are descendants of slaves who were forced into servitude by Dutch (and Spanish) land owners and although slavery was abolished on Curacao in 1863, there are still many remnants of this dark chapter of local history. The old plantation houses, or landhuizen in Dutch, are scattered all over the island. You'll also notice statues of freedom fighters here and there such as slave rebellion leader Tula and European Luis Brion, who beat the British several times at sea to keep Curacao a part of the Netherlands.