African islands and the formation of the Dutch Atlantic economy: Arguin, Gorée, Cape Verde and São Tomé, 1590–1670

Abstract

The role played by Atlantic islands in the formation of European overseas empires, and the development of coastal and intercontinental commercial routes and business networks, is relatively well studied for the Iberian Atlantic. Few scholars have, however, examined the functions of isles in the building of Dutch maritime connections. This paper partially fills this void in the literature by looking at the African islands of Arguin, Gorée, Cape Verde and São Tomé, and highlighting their significance within the seventeenth-century Dutch Atlantic. Using information from the notarial archives of Amsterdam, the collection of the Dutch West India Company (WIC) and journals of voyages, we examine the role played by these islands in the formation and operationalization of Dutch commercial circuits in the Atlantic, and emphasize their geo-strategic importance for the achievement of the colonial aspirations and military ambitions of the Dutch Republic and the WIC.