Besides trading, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and its Western Indian counterpart (WIC) also sought to expand their dominant position by establishing and managing colonies. Central to this... Show moreBesides trading, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and its Western Indian counterpart (WIC) also sought to expand their dominant position by establishing and managing colonies. Central to this strategy was to stimulate an orderly, self-producing colonial population, with a European elite at the top and a sharp distinction between free citizens and people in slavery. The reality was less orderly, however: in disparate colonial settlements such as Batavia, Cochin, Ceylon, Elmina, Suriname, Curaçao and Berbice, people from different backgrounds, religions, and social positions encountered one another and formed relationships – formal and informal, coercive and consensual – which could either challenge or reinforce the social divisions on which colonial hierarchies rested. Regulating Relations, focusing on the abovementioned settlements in the eighteenth century, investigates how norms around marriage, family, and sexuality formed in this complex world: how did colonial authorities attempt to regulate the intimate relations of populations under their control, and how did men and women of various backgrounds give shape to these norms through their own behavior and use of institutions? Show less
In the second half of the eighteenth century, the island of Walcheren was the center of the Dutch Transatlantic slave trade. This dissertation focuses on the impact of this trade on the local... Show moreIn the second half of the eighteenth century, the island of Walcheren was the center of the Dutch Transatlantic slave trade. This dissertation focuses on the impact of this trade on the local economy during the peak years of 1755 to 1780. It contains a discussion of the slave traders and their business practices and traces the commodity chains of various goods exported to West-Africa for the trade in enslaved Africans. It finds that the trade was strongly embedded in local economic structures. Many slave traders – both merchants and investors – were able to circumvent the limited profitability of the slave trade by combining related economic activities. About 5 to 6 percent of the economy of Middelburg was connected to the slave trade during the peak years, while the Flushing economy was even more geared towards this trade in human beings (about 25 percent of all local income connected to this trade). While the slave trade had a positive impact on many tradition industries on the island, most notably gunpowder production, it did not lead to industrial or financial innovations on Walcheren. Show less
To date, the Dutch East and West India companies’ involvement in litigation in the Dutch Republic has been ignored. Kate Ekama’s research highlights this side of company activity by delving into... Show moreTo date, the Dutch East and West India companies’ involvement in litigation in the Dutch Republic has been ignored. Kate Ekama’s research highlights this side of company activity by delving into company disputes in the High Court of Holland, Zeeland and West-Friesland (Hoge Raad). The VOC and WIC were involved in over 100 cases in the High Court. These cases were about company charters and contracts, private trade-related matters, wages, shares and property rights. This study shows that a wide range of litigants pursued cases against the companies, encompassing individual and corporate litigants, subjects of the States General and foreigners, men and women. The companies were not above the law; rather, both the VOC and the WIC were subject to the decisions of the High Court. Following recent developments in historiography, the cases are approached from the point of view of conflict management. This wider perspective brings into view the States General, who played an important role in connecting jurisdictions and managing company conflicts before, during and after litigation. Kate Ekama’s study fills a lacuna in the historiography of the Dutch East and West India Companies, and lays the foundation for future research on early modern company conflict management. Show less
How could an individual attain high rank in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch colonial empire and once appointed, how could one retain high office? This dissertation seeks to answer these... Show moreHow could an individual attain high rank in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch colonial empire and once appointed, how could one retain high office? This dissertation seeks to answer these questions by means of a detailed case-study of the careers of two colonial governors: Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen (1604-1679)and Rijckloff Volckertsz. van Goens sr. (1619-1682). By following their careers through the rise to high office and the appointment procedures, their time in office and finnaly their fall from power, this dissertation shows how different interests could align to further careers or to break them. By comparing a case from the history of the West India Company with a case from the East India Company, this dissertation shows how the internal workings of both companies actually differed in practice. Both governors spent most of their overseas career in what were atypical colonies: Brazil and Ceylon. Close examination of the policies they proposed not only sheds light on the reasons for their eventual fall from power, it also shows that the assertion that the Dutch companies were mostly interested in trade over territory does not hold true. This suggests that empire is a proper frame for studying the Dutch Republic and its colonies. Show less
