Paramaribo as Dutch and Atlantic Nodal Point, 1640–1795

Abstract

This chapter takes ship movements to and from Paramaribo as a very basic indication for breaches in the mercantilist plans of the Dutch: the more non-Dutch ships serviced Suriname relative to the number of Dutch ships, the less successful the Suriname Company was in realizing its walled garden concept of the colony. While Suriname had three European villages in the seventeenth century, Paramaribo became its sole urban core in the eighteenth century. This centralization and urbanization was mainly due to the town's location near to where Suriname's main waterways flow into the Atlantic. This made the town both central to local, regional and transatlantic shipping routes. The colonists were banned from fitting out ships from the colony to regional destinations. This is a world away from nodal points such as Curacao and St. Eustatius where intercolonial connections were encouraged by the Dutch West India Company (WIC). Keywords: Atlantic; Curacao; Dutch; Dutch West India Company (WIC); Paramaribo; Suriname Company