Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

director than his trade to Brazil, refused to take the oath and stepped down several weeks later. 41
In effect, the Zeeland directors had reached an agreement independent of both the other
chambers and the States General not to compete with one another in the trade to Brazil. Having
forfeited the right to profit personally, outside the framework of the company's monopoly, it is
not surprising that they would become so frustrated with Amsterdam, where directors'
involvement in private trade to Brazil was believed to be widespread. 42
In any case, the agreement succeeded in stimulating new subscriptions, but hardly
enough to encourage confidence. By the end of November Middelburg's books still registered
only 150,000 guilders, a sizeable sum but well short of the 290,000 guilders that would be
expected based on the city's initial investment of 879,475 guilders. 43 In Vlissingen and Veere the
situation was much the same, and the problem extended to other regions, as well. In September
Johannes de Laet reported to the Amsterdam chamber that shareholders in Leiden were hesitant
to subscribe new money. 44 Several weeks later a committee in Amsterdam met to discuss similar
problems in Vriesland, Arnhem, and Zutphen. 45
In Amsterdam itself, where investment could help procure a coveted seat as one of the
chamber's directors—and thus access to secret information that would be invaluable to private
merchants trading to Brazil—there was considerably more enthusiasm for the verhoging. Even in
Amsterdam, though, there was disagreement. While a majority of the chamber's directors were
committed to a policy of free trade, the hoofdparticipanten were concerned that private traders
were reaping all of the benefits of trade. In a remonstrance to the States General, submitted in
41
Ibid. and entry for December 3, 1636.
42
Van Dillen, “De West-Indische Compagnie, het Calvinism en de Politiek”; Goslinga, The Dutch in the Caribbean
and on the Wild Coast 1580-1680, 292.
43
NA 1.05.01.01, inv.nr. 77. Roos, Zeeuwen en de Westindische Compagnie (1621-1674), 21.
44
NA 1.05.01.01, inv.nr. 14, entry for September 11, 1636.
45 Ibid., entry for December 25, 1636.
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