Amsterdam's America

Abstract

Try this experiment: put a group of American historians in a room and ask them what they know about Dutch history. Most, if they remember the history of New York or recall the early portions of textbooks, will know that the Dutch colonized New Netherland. Some, presumably the early Americanists, will also remember that the Dutch established plantations in Brazil. A few who have an interest in early modern history might know about the West India Company (WIC), or about the Dutch golden age, a marvelous epoch depicted by the historian Simon Schama and others.' But that is about it. With the exception of a small group of specialists who have studied New Netherland, American historians have not examined Dutch history in much depth.2 The publication of Benjamin Schmidt's Innocence Abroad should change this scenario. The argument he has made is too compelling to ignore. Though some readers will disagree with parts of the book, and though the presentation of some of the visual evidence is problematic, we must all reckon with Schmidt's work. Innocence Abroad focuses on how the Dutch understood America in the