Flag of the Dutch West India Company
At a time when most European countries were ruled, wholly or partially, by monarchies, the Dutch people of The Netherlands (Holland and its colonies) began experimenting with democracy. The United Provinces of the Netherlands was a republic created from 7 provinces that had seceded from The Spanish Empire’s northern region. One of its strongest sources of wealth was the Dutch East India Company, a private company created to conduct trade throughout eastern lands, famously in Indonesian spices. Like the British East India Company, it had the power to conduct wars on foreign soil and enjoyed monopolies on trade in certain areas or of certain commodities.
The Dutch West India Company was a separate corporation created to conduct similar colonial projects in the Atlantic. It established colonies and outposts on the coasts of Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean Islands, and North America. Like their colonial competitors, the Dutch West India Company used their infrastructure to circulate numerous commodities, as well as enslaved laborers, mostly from Western and Central Africa.
On the island of Mannahatin (Delaware/Lenape language) the Dutch established the colony of New Amsterdam in 1624. Further up the Hudson River near modern-day Albany they established Fort Orange. These northern parts of New Netherland, struggled to compete with more populous English colonies to the east, and attacks from Native peoples to their west. Additionally, the Dutch colonists’ resistance to feudal land policies designed to fund the colony made it a far less successful property in the West India Company’s portfolio than its Caribbean and African counterparts.
The English and Dutch Empires came into frequent conflict through their various naval assets. Several years after the first Anglo Dutch War (1652-54) a small fleet of English ships surrounded New Amsterdam. Director-General Peter Stuyvesant decided there was little point in resistance. He negotiated recognition of the inhabitants property rights and surrendered to the English without a fight in 1664.
The Second Anglo-Dutch War began soon after (1665-67). Like the first, it consisted primarily of naval battles in Europe. FIve years later the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-1674) erupted. In 1673 the Dutch sent their ships to surround the renamed New York. It was renamed again, this time New Orange and remained under Dutch control for almost a year until it was returned to the English at the close of the war.
This was codified on February 9, 1674 in the Treaty of Westminster (The Second Peace of Westminster). Whether governed by the English or the Dutch, New York retained a strong Dutch influence and distinct colonial population, even as it brought together disparate peoples from around the world, many against their will.
Sources:
The Rise and Fall of New Netherland- National Parks Service
Anglo-Dutch Wars- Encyclopedia Britannica
New Amsterdam- Dutch Port Cities Project, NYU
New Netherlands- NBC News Learn, Youtube
The Dutch West India Company- PBS