Summary history chapter 3
3.1
Dutch farmers were no longer able to feed the population in the towns and cities. Amsterdam
therefore began importing grain from countries around the Baltic Sea, such as Poland. Dutch farmers
began concentrating their efforts on commercial products, such as butter, cheese or hemp. In this
way, farming became commercial. The grain was stored in warehouses. If there was a shortage of
grain somewhere in Europe, prices rose and the Amsterdam traders sold the grain they had stored.
On the return journey, they also brought back iron from Sweden or wood for shipbuilding. On the
outward journey, the Amsterdam grain ships took French or German wine and cloth made of wool
from Flanders. Later they took spices, silk and tea from Asia. They benefited from the trade network
of merchants who had fled from Antwerp. That was an unintended effect of the fall of Antwerp. The
city grew and so the canal belt and the Jordaan district had to be constructed. Because goods for
import and export were temporarily stored in Amsterdam’s warehouses the city became the staple
market of Europe.
3.2
To prevent quarrelling among themselves and to be able to compete with the Spaniards and the
Portuguese the Dutch East India Company was founded (VOC). It began trading with present-day
Indonesia, China and India, but also between those regions. This last activity was known as Intra-
Asian trade. For this purpose, Jan Pieterszoon Coen founded an administrative centre on Java. In the
Netherlands, there were chambers, departments of the VOC which fitted out their own ships. The
VOC ships brought all kinds of eastern products to the Netherlands, such as silk, spices, cotton and
porcelain. A new development was that you could buy shares in the VOC. Not only rich people did
this, such as mayor Bicker, but also ordinary people, such as bakers and kitchen maids.
3.3
In West-Africa, the Portuguese bought slaves for their Brazilian plantations. They also built a slave
station there, called El Mina. Dutch privateers lay in wait for the Spanish and Portuguese fleet
carrying silver and sugar from their American colonies. The most famous privateer captain was Piet
Hein. In the service of the West India Company (WIC) he focused on West Africa and America. The
WIC conquered Portuguese Brazil and entered the slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean. The
Netherlands traded New Amsterdam for Suriname after a conflict with the English. Hundreds of
Dutch sugar cane and coffee plantations were set up there, and slaves were brought in to do the
hard labour. Thanks to the grain trade, the VOC and the WIC, the Dutch Republic linked the
economies of four continents Europe, Asia, Africa and America. The WIC’s transatlantic slave trade is
a prime example of this. This resulted in a global economy. England was so envious that in 1651 it
introduced the Navigation Act, a law which stated that apart from English ships, only ships from the
country of origin were allowed to transport goods to and from England. That was an unintended
effect of the success of Dutch merchant shipping. The two Anglo-Dutch naval wars made it clear that
international competition was increasing. This meant that profits would slowly decline. These were
long term effects.
3.1
Dutch farmers were no longer able to feed the population in the towns and cities. Amsterdam
therefore began importing grain from countries around the Baltic Sea, such as Poland. Dutch farmers
began concentrating their efforts on commercial products, such as butter, cheese or hemp. In this
way, farming became commercial. The grain was stored in warehouses. If there was a shortage of
grain somewhere in Europe, prices rose and the Amsterdam traders sold the grain they had stored.
On the return journey, they also brought back iron from Sweden or wood for shipbuilding. On the
outward journey, the Amsterdam grain ships took French or German wine and cloth made of wool
from Flanders. Later they took spices, silk and tea from Asia. They benefited from the trade network
of merchants who had fled from Antwerp. That was an unintended effect of the fall of Antwerp. The
city grew and so the canal belt and the Jordaan district had to be constructed. Because goods for
import and export were temporarily stored in Amsterdam’s warehouses the city became the staple
market of Europe.
3.2
To prevent quarrelling among themselves and to be able to compete with the Spaniards and the
Portuguese the Dutch East India Company was founded (VOC). It began trading with present-day
Indonesia, China and India, but also between those regions. This last activity was known as Intra-
Asian trade. For this purpose, Jan Pieterszoon Coen founded an administrative centre on Java. In the
Netherlands, there were chambers, departments of the VOC which fitted out their own ships. The
VOC ships brought all kinds of eastern products to the Netherlands, such as silk, spices, cotton and
porcelain. A new development was that you could buy shares in the VOC. Not only rich people did
this, such as mayor Bicker, but also ordinary people, such as bakers and kitchen maids.
3.3
In West-Africa, the Portuguese bought slaves for their Brazilian plantations. They also built a slave
station there, called El Mina. Dutch privateers lay in wait for the Spanish and Portuguese fleet
carrying silver and sugar from their American colonies. The most famous privateer captain was Piet
Hein. In the service of the West India Company (WIC) he focused on West Africa and America. The
WIC conquered Portuguese Brazil and entered the slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean. The
Netherlands traded New Amsterdam for Suriname after a conflict with the English. Hundreds of
Dutch sugar cane and coffee plantations were set up there, and slaves were brought in to do the
hard labour. Thanks to the grain trade, the VOC and the WIC, the Dutch Republic linked the
economies of four continents Europe, Asia, Africa and America. The WIC’s transatlantic slave trade is
a prime example of this. This resulted in a global economy. England was so envious that in 1651 it
introduced the Navigation Act, a law which stated that apart from English ships, only ships from the
country of origin were allowed to transport goods to and from England. That was an unintended
effect of the success of Dutch merchant shipping. The two Anglo-Dutch naval wars made it clear that
international competition was increasing. This meant that profits would slowly decline. These were
long term effects.
