Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

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early modern science. 109 Just as in Petty’s case, the problems to which these methods were applied first became visible in a colonial context, where the primary challenge was to organize the spoils of conquest and to represent them in a meaningful way to central organs of the state. 110 De Laet and Specx used mathematics to quantify and divide the Atlantic, much as Petty would do in the wake of Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland, and they presented their findings in a synthetic form designed for consumption by the States of Holland and the States General. However, whereas Petty both contributed to, and was able to ride, England’s growing power and influence, Specx and De Laet’s work was overtaken by events. The collapse of the company and its empire effectively relegated their work to the dustbin of history. 111 Despite their similarities, there were also important differences between De Laet and Specx. A merchant by training, and a veteran of the VOC, the whole organization of Specx’s calculations reflected his experience in Asia: rather than focusing on piracy or settlement, he emphasized the potential for peacetime profits from trade and the circulation of goods between the United Provinces and a stable set of conquests. This was a vision broadly shared by Amsterdam’s merchant community, many of whom opposed the WIC’s monopolies in Brazil and Angola, preferred that the Atlantic be opened entirely to private trade, and supported a policy of peace with Spain. By contrast, De Laet was more deeply invested (literally as well as metaphorically) in the WIC and its early ideological debates over the relative merits of conquest                                                          109 See, for example, Ian Hacking, The Emergence of Probability: A Philosophical Study of Early Ideas about Probability, Induction and Statistical Inference, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006). See also Harold J. Cook, Matters of Exchange: Commerce, Medicine, and Science in the Dutch Golden Age (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007). 110 McCormick, William Petty and the Ambitions of Political Arithmetic. 111 There is no record of Specx’s effort other than the document itself. De Laet’s Iaerlyck Verhael was displayed in the States of Holland and there are scattered references to the book in contemporary correspondence, as well as Barlaeus’ work on Maurits, but none of these discuss the contents of the Kort Verhael. Neither author features in any history of economic or political thought of which I am aware. See, for instance, the correspondence between Grotius and his brother in law, Nickolaes van Reigerberch, H. C. Rogge, ed., Brieven van Nickolaes van Reigerberch aan Hugo de Groot (Amsterdam: Johannes Muller, 1901).   257
versus settlement. He was also more firmly committed, as was the Leiden community generally, to the Protestant cause and to continuing to prosecute the war against Spain. These were political commitments and they gave to his analysis a more overtly political and bellicose tone. If Specx and De Laet both calculated, they did so within the framework of widely divergent conceptions of value pitched at very different audiences within the Dutch elite. In somewhat idealized terms, these audiences were the States General and the Prince of Orange, on the one hand, and specific cities within the States of Holland, on the other; of the two the latter were the less receptive. Despite criticism of the company's management, fed in part by pamphlets published at the behest of the Portuguese ambassador in The Hague, action to save the colony in Brazil was broadly popular. 112 At the States General the company could count on support from Zeeland, Gelderland, and Groningen, and at court the WIC was still regarded as part of the war effort and thus had the ear of the Prince of Orange and his advisors. The company also had important allies in Holland—including the cities of North Holland, Leiden, and Dordrecht—and powerful constituencies in Delft, Rotterdam, and, most critically, Amsterdam. 113 In different measure, these cities evidently saw the company's value as a thorn in the side of Spain, a promoter of trade and employment, and an agent to seize and govern lucrative territories overseas. There were serious problems in each of these, but as De Laet and Specx’s texts aimed to show, the good side of the ledger outweighed the bad. With Pernambuco beginning to produce sugar again, the slave trade accelerating from Angola, and a new government to put down the revolt in Brazil, the 700,000 guilders subsidy the company had requested in mid-September was a relatively modest price to pay.                                                          112 Boxer, The Dutch in Brazil, 1624-1654, 179. 113 NA 1.01.03, inv.nr. 4845, entries for December 5, and December 8, 1645; Staten van Holland and Westvriesland, Gedrukt Resoluties, entry for December 16 and December 19, 1645.   258
Page 1 and 2:
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
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to be understood the sending over o
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But by far the most important trans
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Illustration 8. Map of Mauritstad a
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geographers whose works remain a tr
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important military, administrative,
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noblemen played in overseas adminis
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good order, police and justice, and
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the council's size and authority, d
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servants. These individuals may not
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At this point the election was comp
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(Receiver General) of the United Pr
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Why did these candidates all refuse
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Alexander's name was almost certain
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None of the remaining records indic
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would be profitable and that their
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Haecxs thanked them for the honor t
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On June 22, 1645—just a week befo
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5. Wolter Schonenborch and the Ritu
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with the WIC presumably did not go
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Haecx recorded in his diary that on
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wavered, for De Laet, who was many
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privately to Brazil, legally or ill
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1. Introduction Chapter Five Free T
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left relatively open. 6 Where monop
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community saw greater profits in pr
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and close trade to private merchant
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trouble paying its bills, especiall
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means to capitalize the company wit
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director than his trade to Brazil,
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With the verhoging stalled, and ani
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e handled without gloves.” 55 In
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“walking the land half-naked” f
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While the resolution as a whole sho
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along with the two powerful Amsterd
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Cornelis Melijn, of a patroonschap
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this measure, he said, “no one in
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maintaining the company's solvency,
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colony, overestimated the number of
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And Maurits offered another argumen
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Page 235 and 236: had not yet been renewed. 4 As the
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Page 241 and 242: ambitions. 21 Although neither Spec
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Page 245 and 246: included. 34 In Specx’s estimatio
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Page 249 and 250: notes on these documents, suggest t
Page 251 and 252: It was, of course, a fiction. With
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Page 255 and 256: van West-Indien (New World, or a De
Page 257 and 258: title page of the revised edition a
Page 259 and 260: It occurred to me that these miracu
Page 261 and 262: third in the Kort Verhael. This rep
Page 263 and 264: This extraordinary conclusion might
Page 265 and 266: enemy” and the positive effects o
Page 267: appeared in the late 1630s in the c
Page 271 and 272: An exceptionally cold winter delaye
Page 273 and 274: failure of Dutch imperialism from t
Page 275 and 276: that focuses on political and imper
Page 277 and 278: support to the WIC, but they also i
Page 279 and 280: Maurits predicted and which was not
Page 281 and 282: British Library Additional Manuscri
Page 283 and 284: Burke, Peter. A Social History of K
Page 285 and 286: Goffman, Erving. Frame Analysis: An
Page 287 and 288: Jonge, J. K. J. De Oorsprong van Ne
Page 289 and 290: Noorlander, Danny L. “Serving God
Page 291 and 292: Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Na
Page 293: 1624-1654, edited by Marianne L. Wi
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