3.2 Trade all over the world

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2

3.2 trade all over the world

At the start of the 17th century Amsterdam started to grow. The reason was the booming trade. On some houses you can still see how Amsterdam was connected with the trade in the East and West Indies.

Four reasons why the Dutch economy boomed in the 17th century

Four reasons why the Dutch economy boomed in the 17th century

1. Trade ships and goods belonged to independent merchants. 
2. The wet soil in the Republic
3. The fall of Antwerp
4. The Dutch Republic had something that we call ‘freedom of conscience’.

Remember the start of a worldeconomy !?

First multinationals

small Dutch companies started sailing to the East Indies, however they had to compete with a lot of other Dutch companies and the lowered their prices to sell their goods. 

In 1602 the States General decided to join all the small companies into a big one: The Dutch East India Company, the VOC. The VOC had a monopoly in the trade with East India.

Stock exchange

Small part of the company

Small part of the company

Small part of the company

Small part of the company

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The Dutch East India Company would be the only Dutch company that was allowed to trade with the East Indies: it had a monopoly. 

Jan Pieterszoon Coen

To get more profit from the spice trade, the VOC decided to cut out the local merchants by taking over areas overseas. They placed these areas under the direct control of the Dutch Republic, making them colonies of the Republic. In this way, the Republic acquired a monopoly on the trade of spices such as cinnamon, clove, mace and nutmeg. Batavia and Sumatra are examples of these colonies. 

In 1619, Jan Pieterszoon Coen was appointed the Governor-General of the VOC. Coen came up with an idea to make the trade with the East Indies more profitable.

To establish a monopoly on the spices nutmeg and mace, Coen used the VOC's right to wage war to establish control over the Banda Islands. These were the only islands where these spices were grown. This proved to be a black day in the history of the Republic: to gain control over the Banda Islands many men, women and even children were killed. Their villages were burned down to the ground and their ships were destroyed. 

To the West! 

On the other side of the world were other trading opportunities. In 1621, the Dutch West India Company ('West-Indische Compagnie') or WIC was established. The WIC was managed almost similarly to the VOC. It established many trading posts and colonies in North and South America and the Caribbean, like Curacao and Brazil. 

The WIC traded mostly in gold, sugar and slaves. They bought slaves on the west coast of Africa. African tribe leaders would often sell their captured enemies as slaves. These slaves were shipped to a trading post of the WIC, such as Curacao. 

Here the slaves were sold at auctions, mostly to work on plantations in North or South America.

logo of the Geoctroyeerde Westindische Compagnie

WIC ships sailing to America

Dutch slave traders bringing slaves to the slave market

Slaves were crammed together

 and treated miserably on the

WIC ships. Slaves that got sick or died during the journey across the Atlantic and were thrown overboard. 

Besides trade, the WIC was also allowed to capture and destroy Spanish ships that journeyed between the Spanish colonies and Spain. Their goods and silver were taken by the WIC. This was called privateering and caused a big blow for the Spanish economy. The States General supported privateering to stop Spain from waging war against the Republic.

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What do you think? Should the term "golden age" be replaced by the term "17th century"?

• Write down pros and cons 

Time to work.....

• Read par 3.2
• Make par 3.2
• Summarize par 3.2

Watch the following video. 

Write down at least 5 facts that your teacher mentioned during the explanation (or that are in par 3.2)

Let's work...

• Read par 3.2
• make par 3.2

Famous Dutch painters

Who bought art?

• Wealthy citizens and city councils commissioned paintings (for example militia pieces).
• Shopkeepers and craftsmen could afford paintings as well. 

Well-known painters were: Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals and Jan Steen.