A West India Company was a company created in the Netherlands that aimed to control the production of sugar, through the foundation of a Dutch colony in the continent American.
Founded in 1621, the idea was to compete economically against Portugal It is Spain. The monopoly of the two countries over the “New World” bothered the rest of Europe.
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With that, the Netherlands decides to do business in the African and American colonies. The Dutch onslaught was successful, even if for a short period, as they even conquered part of the territory of Brazil.
A Northeast Region it was dominated by them from 1630 to 1654, being called “New Holland”.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Netherlands went to sea in search of raw materials for Europe. Sugar, which was a highly valued product on the continent, became coveted by the Dutch.
Aiming to escape the taxation that was charged in the ports of Lisbon, Holland starts to adopt a route that linked it directly to the regions that produced sugar, such as some places in Africa and the Brazil.
With that, the Dutch ships left the main merchant cities towards the colonies.
The West India Company was created after the 12-year truce between Spain and the Netherlands (1609–1621).
From then on, Holland began to feed the desire to obtain colonies dominated by the Portuguese and Spanish, adopting the same format as the East India Company.
The Dutch wanted to end the commercial monopoly of the Iberian countries. In addition, they wanted to legalize the trade that already existed, since smuggling was a reality of that period.
The products sought by the Dutch were sugar, salt (for food preservation), spices, gold and ivory.
The heyday of the West India Company was in the 1630s and 1640s. It was a hybrid company, that is, it involved both public and private law.
Administered by a board representing several regions of Holland, the Company was able to obtain the trade monopoly with Africa and the Americas, in addition to the Atlantic regions, between the two continents.
She had control of the ports located on the West African coast, responsible for supplying slaves for planting in the South America and Antilles.
However, this organization was unable to effectively combat Portugal, Spain and England —also interested in colonial trade.
Between 1634 and 1648, the West India Company managed to gain control of several colonies located in the Antilles and Guyana, involving Curaçao, Saint Martin and Aruba. However, the company lost most of its domains to France andwas dissolved It ism 1794.
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