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• 1594-1597 - Willem Barentz reaches Spitsbergen

  • Dutch Republic
  • Reached Spitsbergen, wintering on 'Nova Zembla' (Russia/Norway)
  • The Dutch thought they could reach India via the North East (Scandinavia)
• 1602 - Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC)

  • Background
  • Naval expertise
  • Eighty Years’ War with Spain (and Portugal)
  • The officially chartered company
  • The first modern joint-stock company (shares)
  • Trading firm with military and political power
  • Two companies
  • → 1602: ° Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie
  • → 1621: Westindische Compagnie
  • Trade monopoly
  • Initially spices, later also coffee, tea, and textile
• Everybody could take een aandeel in the company and then share the profit → private company but with political power Investment was a risk, but sharing the risk with all other shareholders, the individual risk will be less

  → If a voyage was successful, the profit would be big

  → A lot of small companies, who merged together in to 2
• 1605 - The Dutch conquered the Spice Islands (Moluccas)

  → Cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, …
• 1609 - Henry Hudson for the Dutch VOC

  • The Northwestern Passage → as the Northeastern passage didn’t really work out, they were searching for new ways to reach India.
  • Henry Hudson first travelled for the Dutch VOC → Hudson River, New York
• 1621 - Westindische Compagnie
• 1624 - Dutch Trade post in Taiwan
• 1628 - Piet Hein and the Silver Fleet defeated the Spanish Armada

  • Piet Hein was a Dutch admiral and privateer for the Dutch Republic.
  • He was the first and last to capture a large part of a Spanish treasure fleet, which transported huge amounts of gold and silver from Spanish America to Spain. → This happened in 1628
  • Piet Hein worked for the WIC → Westindische Compagnie
• 1641 - Trade post in Deshima, Japan, established by Dutch East India Company

  • From 1641-1853, the Dutch were the only Europeans who were allowed on this trading route/post
• 1652 - Dutch Resupply point, Cape Colony

  • Agents of the VOC made a resupply point (or a way-station) in the Cape Colony → the most southern point of Africa
  • → here they supplied the ships with agriculture, African and Indian slaves, French huguenots, …
• 1664 - Loss of New Netherlands
• 1667 - Conquest of Suriname on England

  → British Guyana