What American city was traded for sugar and spice?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
January 20, 2004
Series: | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | 6 |
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading—>Click here.
Assorted Killer Savings Garden Links—>Click here.
Killer Picks: Professionally Designed Gardens—>Click here.
In 1621, the Dutch chartered the Westindiscke Compagnie (WIC) with high hopes of a second company having the financial success of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC, Dutch East India Company). In 1626, Peter Minuit bought an island from the natives and began the settlement of Nieuw Amsterdam. The West India Company plied trade between Africa and the Americas, mostly the trade of humans as slaves.
The VOC held all the Spice Islands except for the English-controlled island of Run, probably held both for the nutmeg and to aggravate the Dutch since the massacre at Ambon. As an additional slap at the Dutch, Cromwell insisted that ships passing through English waters salute English warships. Vying for power and trade, the First Anglo-Dutch War broke out in 1652. By 1654, the war ended when the Dutch lost more than 1,000 merchant vessels to English warships.
To increase sales, the Dutch slavers undersold the English slavers. Tensions heated when the English retaliated in 1663 by taking two Dutch outposts on the coast of West Africa. Then in 1664, English frigates took Nieuw Amsterdam without a shot fired. This started the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch learned a lot from the first war and in 1667 almost broke the English fleet. They captured the southern coast of England.
The second war ended with the Treaty of Breda. The treaty set down territories, dividing the world among European interests—basically a very grand real estate exchange. The WIC was never as successful as the VOC. The Dutch desperate to continue their highly lucrative monopoly of the spice trade allowed the English to keep Nieuw Amsterdam; in exchange, they got the sugar-exporting Suriname in South America and the last Spice Island, Run.
In the end, the Dutch could not control the Torresian Imperial pigeon and nutmeg trees spread outside the plantations. Clove and nutmeg trees were smuggled to islands off the east coast of Africa and eventually the West Indies.
The Dutch founded a new Nieuw Amsterdam on the coast of Suriname. And the old Nieuw Amsterdam became New York.
(Compiled from: "Dutch West India Company" Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911; The Contemplator's Short History of The Anglo-Dutch Wars; and "III. Stuyvesant and the End of Dutch Rule" New York, Theodore Roosevelt, 1906, electronic publication Bartleby.)
Series: | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | 6 |
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
How did the Spanish break Arab control of the sweet spice? Plants that Changed History - 11/06/01
Lord Nelson, Napoleon, and the Silesian Beet Plants that Changed History - November 13, 2001
What spice was as valuable as gold and silver? Plants that Changed History - May 7, 2002
What was the Pepper Gate? Plants that Changed History - May 21, 2002
Why did Alexander take the island of bliss? Plants that Changed History - November 4, 2003
How did Portugal gain control of the spice trade? Plants that Changed History - December 2, 2003
Killer Savings Links:
Breck's Bulbs -$25 off—>Click here.
Gurney's Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Henry Fields Seed and Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Spring Hill Nursery -$20 off—>Click here.
Gardens Alive! -$20 off—>Click here.
Michigan Bulb -$20 off—>Click here.
DirectGardening.com—>Click here.
Mantis Garden Products—>Click here.
MasterGardening.com—>Click here.
Arbico Organics—>Click here.
AeroGrow—>Click here.
bloomingbulb.com—>Click here.
Unique Professionally Designed Gardens
Springhill Nursery®
Spring Hill Nursery has unique gardens professionally designed by experts to take the guesswork out of gardening. Whether you are looking for a three season garden, foundation garden, or a garden to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, Spring Hill Nursery has created a step-by-step design just for you.
Click here - Save $20 on $50 order
|
BACK TO TOP
