Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

compass”—in the organization of war, the formulation of laws, and the administration of
justice. 33 These pursuits required individuals with a very different outlook and social standing;
qualities without which they could neither hope to exercise appropriate judgment nor instill
confidence in their subordinates. That merchants could be responsible for making war was to
Usselincx manifestly absurd: “I have heard regular soldiers say,” he wrote, “that they would
rather be hanged than travel to the Indies in the service of merchants.” 34 Likewise, only a smaller
group could be trusted to handle the secrets of military plans, especially since “America is only a
short distance in comparison to the East Indies.” 35
Usselincx thus drew a clear distinction between trade, on the one hand, and war and
colonial administration, on the other. He repeatedly referenced Spanish practices and emphasized
what he saw to be important differences between orders in society and their proper roles in the
new company, differences that were emphasized in other contemporary pamphlets as well. 36
Compared to the 1606 draft, Van Oldenbarnevelt’s amended version increased the power of the
States General in important ways, but it left merchants to manage the bulk of the company’s
affairs. By contrast, Usselincx’s draft represented a wholesale revision that would have
centralized authority over colonial affairs in the States General and the Raedt van Indien, and
dramatically enhanced the position of Prince of Orange. These two competing visions would
need to be reconciled—or one rejected—before the charter could be approved.
In 1617 the States General had formed a committee to once again begin the work of
creating a West India Company. This committee consisted of, among others, Jonas Witsen
33 Ibid. “Cooplieden […] die de winste tot Noortsterre ende de begeerlicht voor compas hebben.”
34 Ibid. “Ende het is soo verre van daer dat lieden van grooten aensien onder t' gebiet van de Cooplieden souden
willen wesen, dat Ick selve gemeyne Soldaten hebbe hooren seggen, dat sy haer liever wilden laten hangen als onder
t' gebiet vande Cooplieden na Indien te gaen.”
35 British National Archives, Kew. SP 84/104, fol. 218v.
36 Rees, Geschiedenis der Staathuishoudkunde in Nederland tot het Einde der Achttiende Eeuw, 2:118.
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