Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

Provinces, plus smaller fees of 3% on transferring money and 2% for freight. With this “the
delegates [in the States of Holland] were happy that such a difficult and important question had
finally been resolved.” 123 On April 29, 1638 the States General issued a formal resolution re-
opening the trade to Brazil. 124
It is significant that Maurits, rather than Amsterdam, ultimately convinced the Maas to
switch sides, but the terms of the final agreement itself are equally revealing. Remarkable, first
of all, are the lengths to which the States of Holland, the States General, and the Prince of
Orange were willing to go to try to secure a unanimous decision, and to push for a vote within
the Heren XIX, even after they knew that a majority had come around to support free trade. This
was not ultimately successful: Stellingwerf recorded that the proposal had passed by unanimous
vote in the States of Holland, but it does not appear that unanimity was ever reached in the Heren
XIX itself. All the chambers except Zeeland signed the final minutes of the meeting of the Heren
XIX and on May 12 the States General received an angry letter from the States of Zeeland
protesting “that such an important decision, affecting the charter itself, could have been taken
without agreement of all the provinces.” 125
Despite Zeeland's continuing opposition, however, the proposal that was finally adopted
contains a number of important “sweeteners” evidently included in the resolution in an effort to
sway them and their allies. The most obvious of these were the stipulations that directors could
not be involved in private trade and that private merchants could only trade to Brazil if they
owned shares in the company, and only in proportion to the value of those shares. The latter still
meant that the trade was “open,” in the sense that private merchants could trade whatever goods
123 Ibid. “Hierop gedelibereet sijnde, is de leeden aengenaem geweest dat deese moeyelijke questie in so grooten
zaecke met gemoede was affgemaeckt ende is daeromme ‘tzelve accoort bij de leeden eenparich geaccordeert ende
verstaen dat ter Generaliteyt zal worden innegebracht om aldaer meedegeapprobeert ende gearresteert te worden.”
124 Reglement byde West-Indische Compagnie ... over het Open-Stellen vanden Handel op Brasil, 1638.
125 NA 1.01.03, inv.nr. 4845, entry for May 6, 1645.
208