Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University
Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University
ather than the opposition between two fixed positions, one of which must ultimately be deemed victorious. 88 Analysis at the level of meetings thus also offers an alternative to the Cambridge School approach. Quentin Skinner, John Pocock, and their many followers have developed a powerful methodology for understanding texts in the history of political thought as “speech acts,” which both encapsulate a coherent set of ideas and engage directly and often polemically with a broader set of texts. 89 By focusing on, but also slowly expanding, the Western canon, their approach has helped to reconstruct the language and central pre-occupations of early modern European political discourse. It has proven of only limited use in the United Provinces, however, where there are relatively few canonical thinkers whose work can be treated in this fashion. Martin van Gelderen has done so for the early texts of the Dutch Revolt, and Martine van Ittersum has produced a masterly study that places Grotius’ arguments for the free sea within the context of his work for the VOC in the first decade of the seventeenth century. 90 Arthur Weststeijn's new study of Pieter de la Court addresses the intersection of political and economic thought even more closely. 91 There is, however, no study that approaches the synthesis of David Armitage's Ideological Origins of the British Empire. 92 It is hard to agree with Henry William Spiegel's bizarre claim that, despite their flourishing economy, “the Dutch produced no economic thinker 88 On negotiation and compromise in the Dutch context, see John H. Grever, “Louis XIV and the Dutch Assemblies: The Conflict About the Hague,” Legislative Studies Quarterly 7, no. 2 (May 1982): 235–249. 89 The classic statement is Quentin Skinner, “Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas,” History and Theory 8, no. 1 (1969): 3–53; See also Quentin Skinner, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, vol. 1: The Renaissance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978); J. G. A. Pocock, The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975). 90 Martin van Gelderen, The Political Thought of the Dutch Revolt 1555-1590 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992); Van Ittersum, Profit and Principle. 91 Arthur Weststeijn, Commercial Republicanism in the Dutch Golden Age: The Political Thought of Johan & Pieter de La Court (Leiden: Brill, 2012). Unfortunately this book appeared too late to be consulted for this dissertation. 92 Armitage, The Ideological Origins of the British Empire. 27
of note.” 93 But it is clear that the Dutch Republic did not generate a printed source base akin to that in England, where merchants and others involved in commercial affairs composed literally thousands of pamphlets and books during the seventeenth century. Between Grotius at the beginning of the century and De la Court in the 1660s is a rather large gap—one that, among other things, overlaps almost exactly with both the height of the Golden Age and the heyday of the WIC. To access this important period requires expanding our conception of the text and the methods we use to examine politics and political ideas. 94 Here meeting minutes are approached as a sort of collective text, authored by the Heren XIX and the WIC as an institution; within this text can be read both arguments in favor of specific policies and the ways that mediating figures and institutions helped to forge political consensus and reach mutually acceptable outcomes. Rather than highly polished rhetoric, one finds the rough and tumble of practical politics. This is not the same as writing a collective biography of the company's directors, though one is badly needed. Instead it uses their active participation in collective decision-making as a resource for reconstructing the core assumptions that underlay their approach to political, commercial, and imperial problems. It turns out that a number of prominent writers do appear in Middleburg including, most importantly, Johannes de Laet. As Anthony Grafton has shown, individuals like De Laet—whose published works were influential in their own day, but fly somewhat under the radar of modern scholarship—can prove extremely useful for understanding early modern ideas, 93 Henry William Spiegel, The Growth of Economic Thought, 3rd ed. (Durham: Duke University Press, 1991), 97. See also Thomson's comment that "modern scholarship has almost entirely neglected Dutch thought about commerce in the seventeenth century, at least until Pieter de la Court's Maxims or even Bernard Mandeville." Thomson, “The Dutch Miracle, Modified. Hugo Grotius’s Mare Liberum, Commercial Governance and Imperial War in the Early-Seventeenth Century,” 109-110. 94 Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller, trans. John Tedeschi and Anne Tedeschi (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980). 28
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of note.” 93 But it is clear th<strong>at</strong> the Dutch Republic did not gener<strong>at</strong>e a printed source base akin to<br />
th<strong>at</strong> in England, where merchants and others involved in commercial affairs composed literally<br />
thousands of pamphlets and books during the seventeenth century. Between Grotius <strong>at</strong> the<br />
beginning of the century and De la Court in the 1660s is a r<strong>at</strong>her large gap—one th<strong>at</strong>, among<br />
other things, overlaps almost exactly with both the height of the Golden Age and the heyday of<br />
the WIC.<br />
To access this important period requires expanding our conception of the text and the<br />
methods we use to examine politics and political ideas. 94 Here meeting minutes are approached<br />
as a sort of collective text, authored by the Heren XIX and the WIC as an institution; within this<br />
text can be read both arguments in favor of specific policies and the ways th<strong>at</strong> medi<strong>at</strong>ing figures<br />
and institutions helped to forge political consensus and reach mutually acceptable outcomes.<br />
R<strong>at</strong>her than highly polished rhetoric, one finds the rough and tumble of practical politics. This is<br />
not the same as writing a collective biography of the company's directors, though one is badly<br />
needed. Instead it uses their active particip<strong>at</strong>ion in collective decision-making as a resource for<br />
reconstructing the core assumptions th<strong>at</strong> underlay their approach to political, commercial, and<br />
imperial problems. It turns out th<strong>at</strong> a number of prominent writers do appear in Middleburg<br />
including, most importantly, Johannes de Laet. As Anthony Grafton has shown, individuals like<br />
De Laet—whose published works were influential in their own day, but fly somewh<strong>at</strong> under the<br />
radar of modern scholarship—can prove extremely useful for understanding early modern ideas,<br />
<br />
93 Henry William Spiegel, The Growth of Economic Thought, 3rd ed. (Durham: Duke <strong>University</strong> Press, 1991), 97.<br />
See also Thomson's comment th<strong>at</strong> "modern scholarship has almost entirely neglected Dutch thought about<br />
commerce in the seventeenth century, <strong>at</strong> least until Pieter de la Court's Maxims or even Bernard Mandeville."<br />
Thomson, “The Dutch Miracle, Modified. Hugo Grotius’s Mare Liberum, Commercial Governance and Imperial<br />
War in the Early-Seventeenth Century,” 109-110.<br />
94 Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller, trans. John Tedeschi and<br />
Anne Tedeschi (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins <strong>University</strong> Press, 1980).<br />
28
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