Abstract
Recent historiography has reconsidered the idea that the Dutch role in the early modern Atlantic was of little significance, particularly in comparison to the accomplishments of the Dutch East India Company (voc) in Asia. Revisionist studies have emphasised that in spite of the limited and fragmented nature of the Dutch Atlantic ‘empire’, the Atlantic contribution to the Dutch economy was significant and possibly even greater than the voc’s share. Moreover, this scholarship stresses the vital role of Dutch Atlantic colonies (Curaçao and St Eustatius), (partly Jewish) networks and individuals in connecting the various subempires of the Atlantic. While Oostindie subscribes to many of these conclusions, he argues against excessive revisionism. His analysis of the development of the lesser Dutch Guianas, adjacent to Suriname, is used as a counter-weight to this revisionist impulse. He demonstrates that the spectacular economic and demographic development of these colonies was due mainly to British and (British) American involvement culminating in the eventual British takeover of ‘Guiana’.
Highlights
It was long thought that for the Dutch Republic the Atlantic played a secondary role compared to that of Asia
Recent historiography has reconsidered the idea that the Dutch role in the early modern Atlantic was of little significance, in comparison to the accomplishments of the Dutch East India Company in Asia
Revisionist studies have emphasised that in spite of the limited and fragmented nature of the Dutch Atlantic ‘empire’, the Atlantic contribution to the Dutch economy was significant and possibly even greater than the voc’s share. This scholarship stresses the vital role of Dutch Atlantic colonies (Curaçao and St Eustatius), networks and individuals in connecting the various subempires of the Atlantic
Summary
Colonies of Essequebo, Demerary and Berbice’, in: M.A.P. Meilink-Roelofsz (ed.), Dutch Authors on West Indian History: A Historiographical Selection (The Hague 1982) 238-252. Guiana from the Year 1668 to the Present Time (Georgetown 1891) 171-214; Goslinga, Dutch in the Caribbean 1680-1791, 461-494; Thompson, Colonialism, 153-174; Marjolijn Kars, ‘Policing and Transgressing Borders: Soldiers, Slave Rebels, and the Early Modern Atlantic’, New West Indian Guide. The wic had ruled the early colonies of Dutch Brazil and New Netherland, centred in Manhattan, and would retain full responsibility for the six Antilles and Elmina in present-day Ghana. Suriname in contrast was governed by a mixed publicprivate institution, the ‘Sociëteit van Suriname’, in which the wic was but one partner. Essequibo, including Demerara, became a colony of the wic, with the. This growth was the result of massive imports of enslaved Africans, once British slave traders had taken over – between 1796 and 1808, when the colony was in British hands (except for 1802-1803) British slavers unloaded over 72,000 enslaved
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