Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

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or supplemental investment) to help recapitalize the WIC. The latter episode has received almost no notice from historians. 22 Reporting on the spring 1635 meetings of the Heren XIX, where they had represented the States General, Gerard van Arnhem and Frans Herberts wrote that, “Through God's grace the conquests in Brazil have been brought so far that the trade is now on a good foot.” 23 However, there had been a discussion of “whether it would be best to leave the trade open or to reserve it for the company and investors.” Van Arnhem and Herberts reported that, “the majority were of the opinion that it should remain open,” but that the directors of the Zeeland chamber, as well as hoofdparticipanten from both Zeeland and Amsterdam, disagreed. They protested that private trade contravened the company's charter and that profits were flowing disproportionately to the free traders, rather than to the investors who had assumed the considerable risks of seizing and defending the colony. The matter was left unresolved, but Van Arnhem and Herberts evidently sensed that a serious conflict was brewing: at the end of their report they indicated that “your Excellencies [the States General] should consider whether it might not be advisable to establish a permanent college” at The Hague to attend to this and other important matters confronting the company in Brazil. 24 From the perspective of the States General, the problem was not simply that investors were not receiving the profits they believed they deserved, but that the company was having                                                          22 The verhoging features briefly in two accounts devoted to the history of individual chambers or cities. See J. Acquoy, Deventer’s Participatie in de West-Indische Compagnie (Deventer: Oud-Archief van Deventer, 1922); Winter, De Westindische Compagnie ter Kamer Stad en Lande. 23 NA 1.01.04, inv.nr. 5754, fol. 59. Rapport van de Heeren Arnhem ende Herberts van eenige poincten voorgevallen op de vergadering van de XIX... in Mario ende Aprilis 1635 binnen Amsterdam geholden, exhibited in the States General on May 14, 1635. “By occasie dat door Godes Genaedigen seegen, de conquesten in Brasil soo verre syn gebracht dat de trafycq ende handel aldaer schynt een goeden voet te sullen neemen, en is in deliberatie gelegt off deselve trafycq aen een ieder op sekere conditien daer toe te beramen diende open gestelt dan off die aen de Comp. offe participanten alleen diende gehouden te werden. De meeste leaden van de vergadering waeren van opinie dat den handel voor een ieder behorde open te syn.” 24 Ibid. "U. Hog Mog in bedencken off niet diende gebesoineert om een vast en. permanent collegie van Westindische Comp. te hebben, waer doorcan vasten en. ordre soude werden gehouden in de saechen van de voors. Comp."   179
trouble paying its bills, especially for the defense of Brazil. 25 Financial problems plagued the WIC throughout its early history. Although the company was able to raise more than seven million guilders in private capital between 1622-1626, attacks on Salvador da Bahia, Loanda, and Elmina in 1625 badly depleted the company's coffers. Were it not for Piet Heyn's celebrated capture of a Spanish silver fleet off Matanzas in 1628—which brought home booty worth a staggering 11.5 million guilders—the company might have quietly fallen into obscurity. Rather than being used to replenish the capital stock, however, these funds were distributed amongst the Prince of Orange (in his capacity as Admiral General), sailors and soldiers who participated in the mission, and the company's directors and shareholders, all of whom clamored for part of the spoils. Investors received dividends of 25% in 1628 and a further 50% in 1629. 26 The remaining funds were devoted to preparations for the assault on Pernambuco. The mission was successful, but expenditures on men and provisions dramatically exceeded the income from looted sugar and other goods. To compound the problem, beginning in 1633 several provinces, including Holland, fell into arrears on promised subsidies. Delegations sent to lobby them and the States General for the most part came home empty-handed, leaving the company on the verge of bankruptcy once more, at precisely the moment that its most promising colony was beginning to bear fruit. 27 This was especially problematic in 1636, when plans were being made to appoint a new colonial government and to dispatch additional soldiers in Brazil. 28 Without access to either adequate income or reliable public subsidies, the company's directors determined that their best option for maintaining a steady supply of provisions and men to the colony was to raise additional private capital. This idea was floated in April of 1636 and                                                          25 Cornelis Goslinga attributed the debate over free trade to the “sheer private greed and cupidity” of the company's directors. See Goslinga, The Dutch in the Caribbean and on the Wild Coast 1580-1680, 292. 26 Den Heijer, De Geschiedenis van de WIC. 27 Den Heijer, De Geoctrooieerde Compagnie, 58-63. 28 NA 1.01.04, inv.nr. 5754, fol. 199. Beschrijving Poincten [...], May 22, 1622.   180
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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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convene in Amsterdam; the following
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This formulation, which must previo
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Amsterdam or Middelburg. 29 In this
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(1566-1626), later burgemeester of
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placed next to his description of t
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That these two provisions remained
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provinces. The creation of the WIC
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The result was that the delegates f
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to the original charter gave the ch
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thus shows the political—as oppos
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1/10 of the equipagie and two direc
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taken place. Once the draft letter
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Table 5. Seating for the delegation
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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
Page 151 and 152: good order, police and justice, and
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 and 162: Why did these candidates all refuse
Page 163 and 164: Alexander's name was almost certain
Page 165 and 166: None of the remaining records indic
Page 167 and 168: would be profitable and that their
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
Page 175 and 176: with the WIC presumably did not go
Page 177 and 178: Haecx recorded in his diary that on
Page 179 and 180: wavered, for De Laet, who was many
Page 181 and 182: privately to Brazil, legally or ill
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 193 and 194: means to capitalize the company wit
Page 195 and 196: director than his trade to Brazil,
Page 197 and 198: With the verhoging stalled, and ani
Page 199 and 200: e handled without gloves.” 55 In
Page 201 and 202: “walking the land half-naked” f
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
Page 211 and 212: maintaining the company's solvency,
Page 213 and 214: colony, overestimated the number of
Page 215 and 216: And Maurits offered another argumen
Page 217 and 218: Stellingwerf, who sat in the States
Page 219 and 220: Provinces, plus smaller fees of 3%
Page 221 and 222: exclude private merchants from the
Page 223 and 224: clamoring for slaves. 136 The probl
Page 225 and 226: expedition's success, along with de
Page 227 and 228: trading locations on the Gold Coast
Page 229 and 230: directly from New Netherland, and s
Page 231 and 232: over trade was simply the projectio
Page 233 and 234: the area in which the company was b
Page 235 and 236: had not yet been renewed. 4 As the
Page 237 and 238: to the Dutch state, and that this d
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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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