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Illustration 10. Portrait of Alexander van der Capellen. From the Gedenkschriften van Jonkheer Alexander van der Capellen (Utrecht: J .v. Schoonhoven, 1777). He was an advisor to Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange, and, in 1645, a candidate for President of the High Council in Dutch Brazil.   151
Alexander's name was almost certainly put forward by his older brother over the course of the difficult meetings of the Heren XIX that Hendrik chaired in late 1644 and early 1645. But the former's qualifications were obvious: his father and brother both were investors in the WIC, he had a close relationship with the Prince of Orange, and his knowledge of politics and law would be indispensible to the company's efforts to organize the new government in Brazil. Once again, however, the difficulty was to convince such a man that the position was worthy of his status and efforts. Alexander's response to the proposal—detailed in a series of reflections he composed from the early 1620s to the early 1650s, and which was published as a memoir in the late eighteenth century—reveals his serious reservations about both the company's prospects in general and, perhaps more important, the specific expectations the directors had of the new President and council. In Alexander's estimation, the company was in dire straights: poor management by the directors and the malfeasance of company servants were partly to blame, but the largest troubles resulted from the spiraling costs of defending the company's scattered conquests. At first these had added to the WIC's wealth and prestige, but now they threatened to ruin the investors and drag the company into bankruptcy. For a nobleman Van der Capellen's metrics were perhaps surprisingly businesslike: “stock in the company, which recently was trading above [the face value of] 100 guilders, now lies so low that a capital of 100,000 guilders can be purchased for 30,000 [guilders], the promised distributions or rents have ceased, and all the company's income is absorbed in the heavy costs of war.” There were still good returns to be expected from Brazil, New Netherland, and the coast of Africa, he observed, but these returns now fell into the hands of private traders, “who are favored by the directors of the company.” 57 As a result, the company                                                          57 Ibid., vol. 2, 111. “Synde d'Actien, die over de hondert plechten te gelden , nu so laegh geloopen, dat een Capitael van hondert dusent gulden gekost konde worden voor dertigh dusent guldens, ende komende de beloofde   152
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GOVERNING THE FREE SEA: THE DUTCH W
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Abstract This dissertation takes a
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IV. “In the Service of Merchants
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for making the archive such an enjo
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Institute for International and Reg
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List of Tables 1. Delegates to the
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Illustration 1. Het West-Indische H
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eported to have said; any money sen
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nexus of commerce and power for whi
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Europe the Dutch Republic is emblem
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Although the VOC frequently used vi
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Van Dillen argued that over time th
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the Western Hemisphere.” 46 Far f
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anxieties it generated, and what pl
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capital from Zeeland in the south a
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number of document series within th
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character of Dutch political instit
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Illustration 2. Vergaderzaal van he
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ecords must be traced backwards—a
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of note.” 93 But it is clear that
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formative periods in the company’
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enhance the role of central authori
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trade in which the company had only
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5. A Note on Sources This dissertat
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1645. 110 The manuscript is found i
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period 1620-1636. 115 For the remai
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at São Salvador da Bahia de Todos
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the revolt pushed the colony’s fa
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Amsterdam newspapers did publish st
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year by the Hoge ende Secrete Raad
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the Portuguese, had crossed the Rio
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ead aloud, two resolutions were pas
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On Wednesday, the same day the ship
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with subtle differences of fact and
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The group consisted of Henderick Sc
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XIX. Each chamber selected delegate
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Inden naeme den heeren amen Saturn.
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Middelburg’s decidedly incestuous
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Illustration 6. Portrait of Johanne
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crucial role that he played in its
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When the meeting resumed on Monday
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and to steer the discussion towards
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were chosen from among the ranks of
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emphasized the considerable sums in
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4. Johannes de Laet as “Informati
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devote myself to my books.” 129 A
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interests were adequately represent
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De Laet's substantive work in the A
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that, even at the beginning, De Lae
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De Laet’s presence at the meeting
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confessions under interrogation and
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Brazil this meant the Heren XIX, wh
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Illustration 7. Portrait of Willem
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peaceful settlement along the fring
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By analyzing the successive changes
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Page 113 and 114: This formulation, which must previo
Page 115 and 116: Amsterdam or Middelburg. 29 In this
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Page 121 and 122: That these two provisions remained
Page 123 and 124: provinces. The creation of the WIC
Page 125 and 126: The result was that the delegates f
Page 127 and 128: to the original charter gave the ch
Page 129 and 130: thus shows the political—as oppos
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Page 133 and 134: taken place. Once the draft letter
Page 135 and 136: Table 5. Seating for the delegation
Page 137 and 138: phase of the company’s Groot Dess
Page 139 and 140: to be understood the sending over o
Page 141 and 142: But by far the most important trans
Page 143 and 144: Illustration 8. Map of Mauritstad a
Page 145 and 146: geographers whose works remain a tr
Page 147 and 148: important military, administrative,
Page 149 and 150: noblemen played in overseas adminis
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Page 153 and 154: the council's size and authority, d
Page 155 and 156: servants. These individuals may not
Page 157 and 158: At this point the election was comp
Page 159 and 160: (Receiver General) of the United Pr
Page 161: Why did these candidates all refuse
Page 165 and 166: None of the remaining records indic
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Page 169 and 170: Haecxs thanked them for the honor t
Page 171 and 172: On June 22, 1645—just a week befo
Page 173 and 174: 5. Wolter Schonenborch and the Ritu
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Page 177 and 178: Haecx recorded in his diary that on
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Page 183 and 184: 1. Introduction Chapter Five Free T
Page 185 and 186: left relatively open. 6 Where monop
Page 187 and 188: community saw greater profits in pr
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Page 197 and 198: With the verhoging stalled, and ani
Page 199 and 200: e handled without gloves.” 55 In
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Page 203 and 204: While the resolution as a whole sho
Page 205 and 206: along with the two powerful Amsterd
Page 207 and 208: Cornelis Melijn, of a patroonschap
Page 209 and 210: this measure, he said, “no one in
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colony, overestimated the number of
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And Maurits offered another argumen
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Stellingwerf, who sat in the States
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Provinces, plus smaller fees of 3%
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exclude private merchants from the
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clamoring for slaves. 136 The probl
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expedition's success, along with de
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trading locations on the Gold Coast
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directly from New Netherland, and s
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over trade was simply the projectio
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the area in which the company was b
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had not yet been renewed. 4 As the
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to the Dutch state, and that this d
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ookkeeping from late-fifteenth cent
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ambitions. 21 Although neither Spec
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expenses at each of the company's c
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included. 34 In Specx’s estimatio
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calculations yielded a profit of 41
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notes on these documents, suggest t
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It was, of course, a fiction. With
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to hang from the body [...] This sh
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van West-Indien (New World, or a De
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title page of the revised edition a
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It occurred to me that these miracu
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third in the Kort Verhael. This rep
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This extraordinary conclusion might
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enemy” and the positive effects o
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appeared in the late 1630s in the c
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versus settlement. He was also more
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An exceptionally cold winter delaye
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failure of Dutch imperialism from t
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that focuses on political and imper
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support to the WIC, but they also i
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Maurits predicted and which was not
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British Library Additional Manuscri
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Burke, Peter. A Social History of K
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Goffman, Erving. Frame Analysis: An
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Jonge, J. K. J. De Oorsprong van Ne
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Noorlander, Danny L. “Serving God
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Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Na
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1624-1654, edited by Marianne L. Wi
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