Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University
Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University
selected for the powerful position of griffier (clerk) to the States General in October 1623. 97 In his absence, Feyt and Schaffer joined Van der Meer at the meetings of the Heren XIX, but none of these men succeeded in establishing themselves as a consistent, senior presence. Only in the 1630s was such a presence established by Gerard van Arnhem, and in the 1640s by Hendrick van der Capellen, each of whom attended more than a half dozen meetings of the Heren XIX. 98 5. Conclusion This chapter has advanced three central arguments. First, it suggests that Usselincx's arguments for central control over colonial affairs, and in particular his proposal for a council of noblemen to oversee matters of war, law, and settlement, powerfully influenced the creation of the Heren XIX. There is no question that Usselincx himself was deeply distressed by the final agreement, but in missing this compromise altogether historians have underestimated his political legacy. More important, and quite separate from his personal success or failure, the inclusion in the final charter of language empowering the States General and its representatives demonstrates a strong desire among some drafters for stronger central authority and a corresponding anxiety about turning over the management of military and colonial affairs to merchants. That a similar anxiety was largely absent from the negotiations to establish the VOC indicates that contemporaries viewed the regions as distinct and different. As Usselincx himself argued, In the East Indies there are great and powerful Kingdoms, in which since olden times a great trade has been driven, which the VOC encountered on its arrival; so that the whole work consists of trade and maritime warfare. But in America the trade must be built [from scratch]. And therein is 97 Knevel, Het Haagse Bureau, 59. 98 For Gerard van Arnhem, see NA 1.10.69 inv.nr. 542, along with the WIC liassen, NA 1.01.04. For Van der Capellen, see NA 1.01.05, inv.nr. 9411 and NA 1.01.07 inv.nr. 12564.17. 127
to be understood the sending over of people, the building of colonies and new Republics, the building of Cities, Conquests, and Lands, their distribution [among citizens], war on land as well as at sea, the digging of Mines, the appointment of Governors, Officials, and courts of Justice […]. 99 Infiltrating Spanish America was not the same as establishing trade in Asia. It required different tools and different orders of society to manage them. Of course, the States of Holland's opposition to a Raedt van Indien and their efforts to reduce the influence of noblemen, while simultaneously pushing for a policy of conquest, makes clear that this view was not universally shared. But the company’s history, and the role within it of the Heren XIX, cannot be understood without recognizing this basic conflict. Second, the chapter has argued that the company’s board of directors was a highly political, rather than a strictly commercial body, and that to function at all it needed to resolve, however tentatively, underlying regional and inter-urban tensions. As with the States General itself, the Heren XIX had an integrative role to play. This may help to resolve a paradox pointed out by the economist and economic historian Eli Heckscher in the early 1930s. In his estimation, The Dutch trading companies were, besides the English, the most famous undertakings of the mercantilist period. It is curious that the influence of the state upon their form was even more pronounced than was the case with the English companies, in spite of the fact that England was, politically, infinitely more unified. 100 99 NA. 1.01.05, inv.nr. 9409, Corte aenwysinge van de voor meeste verschillen tusschen t' Concept van Octroy op Westindien dat by de ho: mo: heeren, Myn heeren de Staten Generael inde Maent van februario anno 1619... "Maer in America moet den handel noch gemaect worden ende t'sal daer meest bestaen in t' becomen ende overvoeren van de meenicht van volck, d'oprechten van Colonias ende nieuwe Republycquen, t'bouwen van Steden, Conquesten van Landen, ende ytdeelinge derselver, in d'oorloge soo te water als te Lande, de lantbouwinge t'Arbeyden inde Mynen, t'stellen van Gouverneurs, Amptlieden ende hoven van Justitie [...]" 100 Eli F. Heckscher, Mercantilism, ed. E. F. Soderlund, trans. Mendel Shapiro, 2nd ed. (London: Allen & Unwin, 1955), 356. 128
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selected for the powerful position of griffier (clerk) to the St<strong>at</strong>es General in October 1623. 97 In<br />
his absence, Feyt and Schaffer joined Van der Meer <strong>at</strong> the meetings of the Heren XIX, but none<br />
of these men succeeded in establishing themselves as a consistent, senior presence. Only in the<br />
1630s was such a presence established by Gerard van Arnhem, and in the 1640s by Hendrick van<br />
der Capellen, each of whom <strong>at</strong>tended more than a half dozen meetings of the Heren XIX. 98<br />
5. Conclusion<br />
This chapter has advanced three central arguments. First, it suggests th<strong>at</strong> Usselincx's arguments<br />
for central control over colonial affairs, and in particular his proposal for a council of noblemen<br />
to oversee m<strong>at</strong>ters of war, law, and settlement, powerfully influenced the cre<strong>at</strong>ion of the Heren<br />
XIX. There is no question th<strong>at</strong> Usselincx himself was deeply distressed by the final agreement,<br />
but in missing this compromise altogether historians have underestim<strong>at</strong>ed his political legacy.<br />
More important, and quite separ<strong>at</strong>e from his personal success or failure, the inclusion in the final<br />
charter of language empowering the St<strong>at</strong>es General and its represent<strong>at</strong>ives demonstr<strong>at</strong>es a strong<br />
desire among some drafters for stronger central authority and a corresponding anxiety about<br />
turning over the management of military and colonial affairs to merchants. Th<strong>at</strong> a similar anxiety<br />
was largely absent from the negoti<strong>at</strong>ions to establish the VOC indic<strong>at</strong>es th<strong>at</strong> contemporaries<br />
viewed the regions as distinct and different. As Usselincx himself argued,<br />
In the East Indies there are gre<strong>at</strong> and powerful Kingdoms, in which since olden times a gre<strong>at</strong> trade<br />
has been driven, which the VOC encountered on its arrival; so th<strong>at</strong> the whole work consists of<br />
trade and maritime warfare. But in America the trade must be built [from scr<strong>at</strong>ch]. And therein is<br />
<br />
97 Knevel, Het Haagse Bureau, 59.<br />
98 For Gerard van Arnhem, see NA 1.10.69 inv.nr. 542, along with the WIC liassen, NA 1.01.04. For Van der<br />
Capellen, see NA 1.01.05, inv.nr. 9411 and NA 1.01.07 inv.nr. 1<strong>25</strong>64.17.<br />
127
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