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113-648: Not to be confused with Dutch Gold Coast or Netherlands New Guinea . [REDACTED] Look up Dutch Guiana in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Dutch Guiana may refer to: Dutch colonisation of the Guianas , the coastal region between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in South America Surinam (Dutch colony) , commonly called "Dutch Guiana" after

226-676: A Dutch-Flemish astronomer, cartographer, and clergyman, they sought for a northeastern or northwestern access to Asia to circumvent the VOC monopoly. In 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson , in employment of the VOC, landed on the coast of New England and sailed up what is now known as the Hudson River in his quest for the Northwest Passage to Asia. However, he failed to find a passage. Consequently, in 1615, Isaac Le Maire and Samuel Blommaert , assisted by others, focused on finding

339-569: A galleon from Honduras with cacao, indigo, and other valuable goods. Privateering was its most profitable activity in the late 1620s. Despite Heyn's success at plunder, the company's directors realized that it was not a basis to build long-term profit, leading them to renew their attempts to seize Iberian territory in the Americas. They decided their target was Brazil. ( Recapture of Bahia ) There were conflicts between directors from different areas of The Netherlands, with Amsterdam less supportive of

452-694: A minor role, but expanded during the period of the Dutch in Brazil. Emigrant Calvinists from the Spanish Netherlands did make significant investments in the GWC. Investors did not rush to put their money in the company in 1621, but the States-General urged municipalities and other institutions to invest. Explanations for the slow investment by individuals were that shareholders had "no control over

565-455: A peace treaty between the confederacy and Elmina was signed, in which Elmina pledged to be neutral if war was to break out between the Ashanti and Fante. The blockade of the town by the confederacy was not lifted, however, and trade between Elmina and the Ashanti dropped to an absolute minimum. Attempts were made to persuade Elmina to join the confederacy, to no avail. Elmina and the Dutch sent

678-609: A private business monopoly in the Dutch Gold Coast. Eventually none of the plans came to fruition, as Daendels died of malaria in the castle of St. George d'Elmina , the Dutch seat of government, on 8 May 1818. His body was interred in the central tomb at the Dutch cemetery in Elmina town. He had been in the country less than for two years. In the remainder of the 19th century, the Dutch Gold Coast slowly fell into disarray. The only substantial development during this period

791-588: A request for help to the king of Ashanti, whose army, under the leadership of Atjempon, arrived in Elmina on 27 December 1869. Unsurprisingly, the Ashanti army had an uncompromising attitude to their Fante rivals, making the prospect of a compromise between the Ashanti-backed Elminese and the new Fante-dominated forts transferred to the Dutch ever more difficult. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands,

904-431: A south-westerly route around South America's Tierra del Fuego archipelago in order to circumvent the monopoly of the VOC. One of the first sailors who focused on trade with Africa was Balthazar de Moucheron . The trade with Africa offered several possibilities to set up trading posts or factories , an important starting point for negotiations. It was Blommaert, however, who stated that, in 1600, eight companies sailed on

1017-522: A trade of forts so as to produce more coherent areas of influence. In the Dutch political landscape of the time, a buyout was not a possibility, so a trade of forts was negotiated. In 1867, the Convention between Great Britain and the Netherlands for an Interchange of Territory on the Gold Coast of Africa was signed, in which all Dutch forts to the east of Elmina were handed over to Britain, while

1130-475: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Dutch Gold Coast The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in contemporary Ghana . By 1471, they had reached the area that was to become known as the Gold Coast because it was an important source of gold. The Portuguese trading interests in gold , ivory and pepper so increased that in 1482

1243-499: Is nowadays primarily associated with Atlantic slave trade , this was not the reason for the first Dutch traders to trade with the Gold Coast. Barent Eriksz made a profit trading gold , ivory , and West African pepper , and these products remained the primary trading goods in the early 17th century. According to Joannes de Laet , the Dutch West India had transported West African goods worth 14 million Dutch guilders to

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1356-595: The Groot Desseyn plan. After failing in 1625 , the company managed to capture Elmina Castle from the Portuguese in 1637 . Fort San Sebastian at Shama and Fort Santo Antonio at Axim followed in 1640 and 1642 respectively. The Dutch West India Company was given the monopoly on trade in the West Indies, including the Gold Coast, in 1621. Mismanagement meant that several disillusioned employees of

1469-529: The Ashanti Empire replaced the Denkyira as the dominant power, and the Dutch began paying tribute to the Ashanti instead. Although the existence of the so-called "Elmina Note" is often questioned, the Dutch generally paid two ounces of gold per month to the Ashanti as tribute. This bond between the Dutch and the Ashanti, who through the port of Elmina had access to trade with the Dutch and the rest of

1582-683: The Batavian Republic replaced the Dutch Republic in 1795. The administration of the Dutch Gold Coast was reformed by a secret resolution of 12 May 1801. The office of Director-General was renamed Governor-General , and the council was split in a Great Council and a Small Council. The Small Council was responsible for the everyday government of the colony, and comprised the Governor-General, the administrator-and-Director-General (Dutch: administrateur en directeur-generaal ),

1695-732: The Danish West India Company , an undercover Dutch enterprise, was founded. (In 1660 the Royal African Company was founded, led by the Duke of York .) In 1662, the GWC obtained several asiento subcontracts with the Spanish Crown , under which the Dutch were allowed to deliver 24,000 enslaved Africans. The GWC made Curaçao a centre of the Atlantic slave trade , bringing slaves from West Africa to

1808-719: The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War , the British attacked Elmina . Although this attack failed, Britain seized Fort Nassau, Fort Amsterdam, Fort Lijdzaamheid, Fort Goede Hoop and Fort Crêvecoeur from the Dutch. The Dutch Republic only managed to seize Fort Sekondi from the British. In the Treaty of Paris of 1784, all forts returned to their pre-war owners. In 1791, the Dutch West India Company was disestablished, and on 1 January 1792, all territories held by

1921-605: The Great Post Road on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies , he came up with some very ambitious infrastructural projects, including a comprehensive road system, with a main road connecting Elmina and Kumasi in Ashanti . The Dutch government gave him a free hand and a substantial budget to implement his plans. At the same time, however, Daendels regarded his governorship as an opportunity to establish

2034-509: The Holy Roman Empire , Denmark–Norway , England and other European countries. In 1649, a competing Swedish Africa Company was founded; the GWC obtained a monopoly on gold and enslaved Africans with the kingdom of Accra (present-day Ghana ). Elmina Castle was the main port. In 1654 the Dutch were thrown out of Brazil after the recapture of Recife . In 1656, the company signed the Treaty of Butre ( Dutch Gold Coast ). In 1659

2147-537: The States-General of the Dutch Republic and the Dutch West India Company. The colonial government was based at Fort Nassau in Moree between 1621 and 1637, and at Fort George in Elmina from 1637 onward. When the Dutch conquered Luanda and São Tomé from the Portuguese in 1642, the Dutch West India Company's possessions on the coast of Africa were divided into two separate commandments. The government at Elmina

2260-468: The Treaty of Butre was signed. This treaty established a Dutch protectorate in the area, and established diplomatic ties between the Dutch Republic and the Ahanta. The treaty's arrangements proved very stable and regulated Dutch-Ahanta diplomatic affairs for more than 213 years. Only after the Gold Coast was sold to Britain in 1872 were the provisions of the treaty abrogated. On 18 February 1782, as part of

2373-600: The 19th century. Much more important were the African inhabitants of Elmina, who came from every region of the Gold Coast to Elmina to try their luck. Slaves formed a considerable portion of the population of Elmina as well, and were often in the possession of the Akan people inhabitants themselves. The third group in Elmina was of mixed race, and the result of interracial relations between Dutch West India Company employees and African women in Elmina. The illegitimate children of

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2486-580: The Americas, fur (North America) and sugar (South America) were the most important trade goods, while African settlements traded the enslaved (mainly destined for the plantations on the Antilles and Suriname), gold, copper and ivory. In North America, the settlers Albert Burgh , Samuel Blommaert, Samuel Godijn , Johannes de Laet had little success with populating the colony of New Netherland, and to defend themselves against local Amerindians. Only Kiliaen Van Rensselaer managed to maintain his settlement in

2599-413: The British forts west of Elmina were handed over to the Netherlands. The trade proved a disaster for the Dutch, as their long-standing alliance with the mighty inland Ashanti Empire did not fare well with the coastal Fante population around the new forts assigned to them, who were allied with the British. To subject the local people around Fort Komenda, the Dutch had to send an expeditionary force to

2712-691: The Caribbean, and North America. The area where the company could operate consisted of West Africa (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Cape of Good Hope ) and the Americas, which included the Pacific Ocean and ended east of the Maluku Islands , according to the Treaty of Tordesillas . The intended purpose of the charter was to eliminate competition, particularly Spanish or Portuguese, between

2825-604: The Dutch East Indies for the Batavian Republic in 1807. This republican and revolutionist background made him controversial in the Kingdom of the Netherlands established in 1815, which effectively banned him from the country by assigning to him the rather obscure governorship of the Gold Coast in 1815. Daendels tried to redevelop the rather dilapidated Dutch possessions as an African plantation colony driven by legitimate trade. Drawing on his experience in building

2938-542: The Dutch East Indies than European soldiers. In 1836, the Dutch government had decided to recruit soldiers via the King of Ashanti. Major General Jan Verveer arrived for this purpose in Elmina on 1 November 1836, and went to the Ashanti capital of Kumasi with a delegation of about 900 people. After long negotiations, an agreement with King Kwaku Dua I was reached. A recruitment depot was established in Kumasi, and furthermore

3051-425: The Dutch Republic by 1637, of which the most important was the trade in gold. This changed with the gradual capture of Brazil from the Portuguese, from 1630 onward. Suddenly, the trade of slaves, for which there was no significant market earlier, became a necessity for the economic survival of Dutch Brazil . Nicolas van Yperen, Governor of the Dutch possessions on the Gold Coast, was instructed by his superiors of

3164-526: The Dutch Republic would withdraw from trading with Asia and America. Spain refused to sign the peace treaty if a West Indian Company would be established. At this time, the Dutch War of Independence (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic was occurring. Grand Pensionary Johan van Oldenbarnevelt offered to suspend trade with the West Indies in exchange for the Twelve Years' Truce . He took

3277-457: The Dutch Republic, which lasted from 1609 to 1621, disrupted Dutch trade on the Gold Coast, as the Portuguese now had sufficient resources to protect their trade monopoly. Dutch traders then petitioned the States-General of the Dutch Republic to build a fort on the coast. The States-General were receptive of their demands, and sent Jacob Clantius , who was to become the first General on the Coast, to

3390-775: The Dutch West India Company left the company to work for another European power. Hendrik Carloff , for example, was a former high-ranking officer in the company, who joined the Swedish Africa Company , founded in 1649 by the Walloon-Dutch industrialist Louis De Geer . In the end, Carloff also left the Swedish company, this time for the Danish Africa Company , which he founded himself with Isaac Coymans and Nicolaes Pancras, also former Dutch West India Company employees. Whereas Swedish presence on

3503-492: The Dutch West India Company to supply Dutch Brazil with slaves. In 1636, he managed to ship around a thousand slaves to Brazil from Fort Nassau , but to secure a continuous flow of slave labour, the company decided it was necessary to attempt once more to capture Elmina from the Portuguese. After Elmina was finally captured in August 1637 , the focus of trade for the Dutch West India Company shifted to slave trade. The directors of

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3616-722: The Dutch West India Company were not happy with the increasing slave trade on the Gold Coast itself, however, as it interfered with the profitable gold trade, and actively tried to move the slave trade to the Slave Coast , where they had trading posts from 1640 onward. The loss of Brazil did not collapse Dutch slave trade, as in 1662, Dutch signed their first asiento with the Spanish Empire, pledging to provide slaves to Spanish America , primarily through their trading post in Willemstad , Curaçao . Furthermore, in 1664,

3729-647: The Dutch and The Spanish renewed truce talks in 1633. In 1629, the GWC gave permission to a number of investors in New Netherlands to found patroonships , enabled by the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions which was ratified by the Dutch States General on 7 June 1629. The patroonships were created to help populate the colony, by providing investors grants providing land for approximately 50 people "upwards of 15 years old", per grant, mainly in

3842-471: The Dutch becoming a rather small player in the trans-Atlantic trade. Since globally this trade peaked in the 18th century, this meant that the Dutch contribution to the Atlantic slave trade only amounts to 5% of the grand total, equalling around 500,000 slaves shipped from Africa to the Americas. In 1730, the monopoly of the Dutch West India Company on the Atlantic slave trade was lifted. This contributed to

3955-554: The Dutch began buying slaves in large amounts from the 1670s onward. Until the liquidation of the Dutch West India Company in 1791, the title of the Director-General and the limits of jurisdiction remained the same. According to the 1722 government instruction, the Council comprised the Director-General, who functioned as the council's president, the fiscal (Dutch: fiscaal ), the senior merchant (Dutch: opperkoopman ), and

4068-488: The Dutch conquered Suriname , complementing Berbice and Essequibo as Caribbean plantation colonies depending on slave labour. Meanwhile, the Dutch had tried in 1654 to directly control the mining of gold by building Fort Ruychaver far inland on the Ankobra River , but had left gold production to the locals since that fort was attacked and burned to the ground in 1660. The supply of gold declined dramatically at

4181-530: The Dutch forts were a colonial backwater in the 19th century, the British forts were slowly developed into a full colony, especially after Britain took over the Danish Gold Coast in 1850. The presence of Dutch forts in an area that became increasingly influenced by the United Kingdom was deemed undesirable, and in the late 1850s British began pressing for either a buyout of the Dutch forts, or

4294-464: The Dutch managed to dislodge the Swedes from Butre and began building Fort Batenstein at that site, the leaders of the Dutch West India Company thought it beneficial to negotiate a treaty with the local political leadership in order to establish a peaceful long-term relationship in the area. The local Ahanta leaders found it equally beneficial to enter into such an agreement, and thus on 27 August 1656,

4407-503: The Dutch trading post at Ouidah , on the Slave Coast . De la Palma was a difficult personality and often at odds with his merchants and local African leaders. He resigned from his position in September 1705, but died before he could return to the Dutch Republic. He was replaced by his deputy, Pieter Nuyts, who tried to revive the gold trade at the coast. But by the beginning of the eighteenth century, even slave trade dwindled, with

4520-479: The Dutch wanted the number of natives in the Dutch East Indies Army to be limited to roughly half the total strength to maintain the loyalty of native forces, the addition of forces from the Gold Coast seemed an ideal opportunity to keep the army at strength and loyal at the same time. It was also hoped that the African soldiers would be more resistant to the tropical climate and tropical diseases of

4633-718: The East India company.) The institutional structure of the GWC followed the federal structure, which entailed extensive discussion for any decision, with regional representation: 8 from Amsterdam ; 4 from Zeeland , 2 each from the Northern Quarter ( Hoorn and Enkhuizen ), the Maas ( Rotterdam , Delft , and Dordrecht ), the region of Groningen , and one representative from the States General . Each region had its own chamber and board of directors. The validity of

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4746-550: The Eguafo Kingdom along the Gold Coast, present-day Ghana. The Komenda Wars drew in significant numbers of neighbouring African kingdoms and led to the replacement of the gold trade with enslaved Africans. Calabar was the largest slave trading place in Africa. Sint Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean) became the most profitable asset of the GWC and a transit point for enslaved Africans in the transatlantic slave trade . After 1734

4859-514: The GWC could not repay its debts in 1674, the company was dissolved. But due to continued high demand for trade between West Africa and the Dutch colonies in the Americas (mainly slave trade ), a second West India Company known as the New West India Company was chartered that same year. This new company controlled the same trade area as the first but privateering was no longer an asset. All ships, fortresses, etc. were taken over by

4972-614: The GWC reorganized and a new charter was granted in 1675, largely on the strength in the Atlantic slave trade. This "new" version lasted for more than a century, until after the Fourth Anglo–Dutch War , during which it lost most of its assets. When the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was founded in 1602, some traders in Amsterdam did not agree with its monopolistic policies. With help from Petrus Plancius ,

5085-571: The GWC was primarily engaged in facilitating the slave trade, and only responsible for the supply of slaves until 1738. The company then began to outsource the slave trade and left it to private enterprise , especially in Middelburg, Zeeland . In 1750 Thomas Hope was elected in the board of the company, but preferred the Heren XVII after two years; he was succeeded by Nicolaas Geelvinck in 1764. In 1773, when drinking coffee and cocoa

5198-475: The Gold Coast turned out to be only temporary, British and Danish settlement in the area proved to be permanent. From 1694 until 1700, the Dutch West India Company fought the Komenda Wars with the British over trade rights with the Eguafo Kingdom. In addition, Brandenburgers also had forts in the area from 1682 onwards, until they were bought out by the Dutch in 1717. The Portuguese had completely left

5311-547: The Gold Coast in 1611. In 1612, after gaining permission of the local rulers through the Treaty of Asebu , he built Fort Nassau near Moree , on the site of an original Dutch trading post that had been burned down by the Portuguese. After the Twelve Years's Truce ended in 1621, the Dutch West India Company was established, which tried to seize the Portuguese colonies in Africa and America as part of

5424-410: The Gold Coast, eclipsing Accra and Kumasi . In the 18th century, its population numbered 12,000 to 16,000 inhabitants, and in the 19th century, this figure rose to between 18,000 and 20,000. Most of these inhabitants were not European, however; their number peaked at 377 Dutch West India Company employees for the entire Dutch Gold Coast in the 18th century, before sinking back to a mere 20 officers in

5537-675: The Gold Coast. William I of the Netherlands took over this abolition when he issued a royal decree to that effect in June 1814 and signed the Anglo-Dutch Slave Trade Treaty in May 1818. The abolition of slave trade was coupled with the arrival of Herman Willem Daendels as Governor-General. Daendels was a Patriot who played a major role in the Batavian Revolution , and subsequently became Governor-General of

5650-404: The Portuguese built their first permanent trading post on the western coast of present-day Ghana. This fortress, a trade castle called São Jorge da Mina , was constructed to protect Portuguese trade from European competitors. The Portuguese position on the Gold Coast, known as Portuguese Gold Coast , remained secure for over a century. During that time, Lisbon sought to monopolize all trade in

5763-408: The United Kingdom , under which terms the whole colony was to be ceded for a sum of 46,939.62 Dutch guilders . On 6 April 1872, after ratification of the treaty by parliament, Elmina was formally handed over to Britain. As was to be expected, the Ashanti were less pleased by the handover of Elmina to the Fante-allied British. Ashanti king Kofi Karikari posited that the "Elmina Note", which governed

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5876-572: The West Indian Company could be established. The West India Company received its charter from the States-General in June 1621, granting it a 24-year monopoly on trade and colonization that included the American coast between Newfoundland and the Straits of Magellan. One of the promotors was Reynier Pauw , who went on to appoint two of his sons as the first managers in 1621; both Pieter and Michiel Reyniersz Pauw were in place for fifteen years. Reynier Pauw II, Cornelis Bicker , and Samuel Blommaert were appointed in 1622. The Dutch West India Company

5989-408: The alliances responsible for massive, racial-based enslavement, which fabricated European wealth as much as fabricated African systemic impoverishment. In essence, African individuals profited at the expense of enslavement and impoverishment of African peoples, while European individuals profited as means of consolidating wealth for European peoples. African wives could receive money and schooling for

6102-621: The area, but still the Gold Coast had the highest concentration of European military architecture outside of Europe. The European powers were sometimes drawn into conflicts with local inhabitants as Europeans developed commercial alliances with local political authorities. These alliances, often complicated, involved both Europeans attempting to enlist or persuade their closest allies to attack rival European ports and their African allies, or conversely, various African powers seeking to recruit Europeans as mercenaries in their inter-state wars, or as diplomats to resolve conflicts. Another way conflicts with

6215-415: The charter was set at 24 years. Only in 1623 was funding arranged, after several bidders were put under pressure. The States General of the Netherlands and the VOC pledged one million guilders in the form of capital and subsidy. Although Iberian writers said that crypto-Jews or Marranos played an important role in the formation of both the VOC and the GWC, research has shown that initially they played

6328-416: The children they bore by European men. Wives could also inherit slaves and property from their husbands when they returned to Europe or died. Many coastal ethnic groups in Africa, such as the Ga and Fante, used this system to gain economic and political advantages. These African ethnic groups had been using this practice before the arrival of the Europeans with strangers of a different ethnicity, and extended

6441-408: The claim on the territories lost in this area to the Portuguese. The title of the Director-General was concurrently changed to "Director-General of the North and South Coast of Africa." This larger claim was not primarily meant to reclaim Luanda and Sao Tomé from the Portuguese, however, but merely to establish authority over Dutch trade in the area. This was especially relevant for Loango , from which

6554-427: The coast of Africa, competing with each other for the supply of copper, from the Kingdom of Loango . Pieter van den Broecke was employed by one of these companies. In 1612, a Dutch fortress was built in Mouree (present day Ghana), along the Dutch Gold Coast . Trade with the Caribbean, for salt, sugar and tobacco, was hampered by Spain and delayed because of peace negotiations. Spain offered peace on condition that

6667-428: The coast, but virtually all attempts proved failures. One of the first attempts at establishing a plantation was made by the sons of Governor-General Herman Willem Daendels in 1816. They established a plantation named Oranje Dageraad in Simbo. The Governor-General himself tried to buy 300 slaves from Kumasi , which were to regain their freedom by cultivating farmland. Both projects failed. Between 1845 and 1850,

6780-411: The colonial government once again, after the failure of Fort Ruychaver , tried to establish a gold mine on the coast. The Dutch government bought an open-air gold mine from the chief of Butre, and sent in 1845 an expedition of a director, three engineers, and nine workers to the village of Dabokrom to establish a mine. Two engineers and all nine workers fell victim to tropical diseases and died, leaving

6893-444: The company made losses and paid no dividend . After the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War , it became apparent that the GWC was no longer capable of defending its own colonies, as Sint Eustatius , Berbice , Essequibo , Demerara , and some forts on the Dutch Gold Coast were rapidly taken by the British. In 1791 it was decided not to renew the patent to the GWC and to dissolve the company. All stocks were sold and territories previously held by

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7006-450: The company reverted to the rule of the States-General of the Dutch Republic . During the French occupation of the Netherlands between 1810 and 1814, the Dutch possessions on the Gold Coast held the rather unusual position—together with the island of Deshima in Japan —of being the only Dutch territories not occupied by either France or Great Britain. The British Slave Trade Act of 1807 effectively ended all slave trade from

7119-522: The company. Non-maritime cities, including Haarlem , Leiden , and Gouda , along with Enkhuizen and Hoorn were enthusiastic about seizing territory. They sent a fleet to Brazil, capturing Olinda and Pernambuco in 1630 in their initial foray to create a Dutch Brazil, but could not hold them due to a strong Portuguese resistance. Company ships continued privateering in the Caribbean, as well seizing vital land resources, particularly salt pans. The company's general lack of success saw their shares plummet and

7232-486: The demand also increased due to the asiento trading with the Spanish. Between 1660 and 1690, the Dutch trading posts in Africa, which included the Slave Coast , Arguin , and Senegambia , shipped a third of the total number of slaves across the Atlantic. On the Gold Coast, Governor De la Palma actively tried to systemize the slave trade and improve the numbers of slave shipped to the Americas. To this purpose, he sent Jacob van den Broucke as "opperkommies" (head merchant) to

7345-518: The directors' policy and the handling of ordinary investors' money," that it was a "racket" to provide "cushy posts for the directors and their relatives, at the expense of ordinary shareholders". The VOC directors invested money in the GWC, without consulting their shareholders, causing dissent among a number of shareholders. In order to attract foreign shareholders, the GWC offered equal standing to foreign investors with Dutch, resulting in shareholders from France, Switzerland, and Venice. A translation of

7458-429: The employees were called "Tapoeijers" by the Dutch, for, according to them, the colour of their skin resembled those of native Americans . A decree from 1700 by the Governor-General at Elmina stipulated that employees of the Dutch West India Company who were to return to the Netherlands either had to take their (illegitimate) children with them, or had to pay a sum of money to provide for their "Christian upbringing". For

7571-403: The first capital. Other settlements were established on the Netherlands Antilles , and in South America, in Dutch Brazil, Suriname and Guyana . In Africa, posts were established on the Gold Coast (now Ghana ), the Slave Coast (now Benin ), and briefly in Dutch Loango-Angola . It was a neo- feudal system , where patrons were permitted considerable powers to control the overseas colony. In

7684-406: The forts, but also the territory surrounding the forts. District officers were instructed to make surveys of physical, economic, and socio-political situation of the districts. As a consequence of the tariff system set up in the Anglo-Dutch Gold Coast Treaty , a tax and customs office was established in Elmina in 1867. At the same time, a postal office was established as well. Although the colony

7797-496: The island, before selling them elsewhere in the Caribbean and Spanish Main . The influence of the GWC in Africa was threatened during the Second and Third Anglo–Dutch Wars , but English efforts to displace the Dutch from the region ultimately proved unsuccessful. The first West India Company suffered a long agony, and its end in 1674 was painless. The reason that the GWC could drag on for 27 years seems to have been its valuable West African possessions, due to its slaves. When

7910-461: The king sent the young Ashanti princes Kwasi Boachi and Kwame Poku with General Verveer to take with him to the Netherlands, so that they could receive a good education. Kwasi Boachi later received education at the forerunner of Delft University and became the first black Dutch mining engineer in the Dutch East Indies. Dutch author Arthur Japin wrote a novel about the life of the two princes with The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi (1997). Whereas

8023-420: The latter purpose, a school was established in Elmina . Many people of mixed descent, also referred to as Euro-Africans, became wealthy merchants. The most prominent of these was Jan Niezer , who visited Europe on several occasions, and who traded directly with European and American companies. Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( Dutch : Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie )

8136-510: The local capital of Kwassie-Krom. Meanwhile, a Fante Confederacy was founded to drive the Dutch and their Ashanti allies out of Elmina. The confederacy founded an army, which marched to Elmina in March 1868. Although the army was deemed strong enough in April to begin the siege of the town, struggle between the various tribes united in the confederacy meant that the siege was lifted in May. In June,

8249-451: The local inhabitants were avoided was through marriage. European men often created alliances with the local African people through a practice known as cassare or calisare derived from the Portuguese casar meaning "to marry." Dutch men and other Europeans would marry African women whose families had ties to the Atlantic slave trade. In this way, Europeans benefited from those marriages by corrupting African individuals in order to maintain

8362-666: The loss of other large colonies in the area See also [ edit ] The Guianas , French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname in South America Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Dutch Guiana . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dutch_Guiana&oldid=1088094347 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

8475-430: The major goals within the GWC. The arming of merchant ships with guns and soldiers to defend themselves against Spanish ships was of great importance. On almost all ships in 1623, 40 to 50 soldiers were stationed, possibly to assist in the hijacking of enemy ships. It is unclear whether the first expedition was the expedition by Jacques l'Hermite to the coast of Chile, Peru and Bolivia, set up by Stadtholder Maurice with

8588-474: The master of stores, the master of works, and the bookkeeper of the general office (Dutch: boekhouder ten comptoir-generaal ). The Great Council consisted of the Small Council, with the addition of the residents of Fort Crèvecoeur at Accra, Fort Saint Anthony at Axim, Fort Saint Sebastian at Shama, and Fort Amsterdam at Kormatin, and met every three months. The administration of the Dutch Gold Coast

8701-454: The meantime, the war demanded so many of its forces that the company had to operate under a permanent threat of bankruptcy. In fact, the GWC went bankrupt in 1636 and all attempts at rehabilitation were doomed to failure. In 1636, the Dutch West India Company took possession of St. Eustatius , Sint Maarten , and Saba which all fell under Dutch control. A commander was stationed on St. Eustatius to govern all three islands by 1678. Because of

8814-426: The minimum necessary to keep the colony running, fired all unnecessary colonial officers, and pensioned of most of the slaves of the state. Most notably, the offices of bookkeeper, fiscal, secretary, cashier, and bailiff were combined into one office, the summation of functions actually being the office-holder's title (Dutch: boekhouder, fiscaal, secretaris, kassier en deurwaarder ). Also, the office of Governor-General

8927-538: The new company. Nobody was fired, but the number of directors was reduced from 19 to 10, and the number of governors from 74 to 50. By 1679, the new GWC had slightly more than 6 million guilders which was largely supplied by the Amsterdam Chamber. In 1687, due to the Asiento possessed by Balthasar Coymans , the company paid the highest dividend. From 1694 until 1700, the GWC waged a long conflict against

9040-412: The newly established kingdom put up a plan to transform the colony into a profitable plantation colony. For this purpose, the new governor Herman Willem Daendels was given an open mandate and a large budget. The project was cut short with Daendels early death in 1818, however. Left without a visionary governor, budgets were cut for the colony. The new regulations of 1 November 1819 reduced the budget to

9153-590: The north along the Hudson. Blommaert secretly tried to secure his interests with the founding of the colony of New Sweden on behalf of Sweden on the Delaware in the south. The main focus of the GWC now went to Brazil. The West India Company managed to conquer parts of Brazil from Portugal in 1630. That same year, the colony of New Holland was founded, with a capital in Mauritsstad (present-day Recife ). In

9266-484: The ongoing conflicts made the call for the transfer of the entire colony to Britain to become ever louder. The Dutch governor of Elmina, Cornelis Nagtglas , tried to persuade the Elminese to relinquish their city to the British. This was of course complicated by the presence of an Ashanti army in the town, which even arrested Nagtglas for a short while in April 1871. In February of that year, a treaty had been signed with

9379-570: The ongoing war in Brazil, the situation for the GWC in 1645, at the end of the charter, was very bad. An attempt to compensate the losses of the GWC with the profits of the VOC failed because the directors of the VOC did not want to. In 1645, the main participants in the GWC were members of the Trip family . Merging the two companies was not feasible. Amsterdam was not willing to help out, because it had too much interest in peace and healthy trade relations with Portugal. This indifferent attitude of Amsterdam

9492-671: The original 1621 charter appeared in English, Orders and Articles granted by the High and Mightie Lords the States General of the United Provinces concerning the erecting of a West-Indies Companie, Anno Dom. MDCXII . by 1623, the capital for the GWC at 2.8 million florins was not as great the VOC's original capitalization of 6.5 million, but it was still a substantial sum. The GWC had 15 ships to carry trade and plied

9605-473: The proposal of founding a West-India Company off table. The result was that, during a few years, the Dutch sailed under a foreign flag to South America. However, ten years later, Stadtholder Maurice of Orange , proposed to continue the war with Spain, but also to distract attention from Spain to the Republic. In 1619, his opponent Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was beheaded, and when in April 1621 the truce expired,

9718-411: The region in royal hands, though appointed officials at São Jorge, and used force to prevent English, French and Dutch efforts to trade on the coast. After Barent Eriksz successfully sailed to the Gold Coast in 1591, Dutch merchants began trading in the area. Pieter de Marees 's publications greatly increased the interest of merchants in the region. The Twelve Years' Truce between Portugal-Spain and

9831-439: The region of New Netherland. Patroon investors could expand the size of their land grants as large as 4 miles, "along the shore or along one bank of a navigable river..." Rensselaerswyck was the most successful Dutch West India Company patroonship. The New Netherland area, which included New Amsterdam , covered parts of present-day New York, Connecticut, Delaware, and New Jersey, with Manhattan and Fort Amsterdam serving as

9944-420: The reign of the Dutch West India Company, the government of the colony was headed by a Director-General . The Director-General was assisted by a Council composed of senior colonial officers. Aside from being the supreme ruler of the colony, the Director-General was also the supreme commander of the land and sea forces, and highest judicial officer. The Director-General had a double mandate, being installed by both

10057-420: The rest of the expedition to return to Europe. The second expedition of 1847 was not less successful, now with 11 out of 13 people dying. By 1850, the Dutch government ended the mining attempt. Another attempt to develop the colony involved the establishment of a cotton plantation just outside Elmina. In light of this project, a Brazilian man by the name of La Rocha Vièra was brought to the Gold Coast. Due to

10170-585: The rise of the Middelburgsche Commercie Compagnie (MCC), which dominated the Dutch slave trade for much of the eighteenth century. With the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 , the Dutch vowed to stop trading slaves. This meant a severe blow to the economy of the Gold Coast, which had increasingly relied on slave trade from the 18th century onwards. Attempts were made to establish a plantation colony and to open gold mines on

10283-538: The rude treatment of workers, La Rocha Vièra was unable to attract new labourers, and the plantation died an early death. In 1848, a tobacco plantation was attempted in the government's garden in Elmina, but failed due to bad soil conditions. A more successful tobacco plantation was established in Simbo, but fell victim to a lack of labourers wanting to work on the plantation. From February to October 1859, Dutch colonial government official J.S.G. Gramberg tried to develop

10396-593: The same privilege to European men by the late 1400s. Cassare enabled Africans to trust strangers, like the Europeans, when dealing within their trade networks. It made the transition between stranger and trade partner a lot smoother. At Elmina, the Dutch had inherited from the Portuguese a system in which tribute was paid to the Denkyira , who were the dominant power in the region. After the Battle of Feyiase (1701),

10509-495: The senior commissioners (Dutch: oppercommies ). These senior commissioners consisted of the head of Fort Saint Anthony at Axim , the head of Fort Nassau at Moree , the head of Fort Crèvecoeur at Accra , and the head of the factory at Ouidah , on the Dutch Slave Coast . Between 1746 and 1768, the Council consisted of the Director-General, the fiscal, and the seven highest ranking "first officials", which included

10622-417: The senior commissioners, the master of works (Dutch: equipagemeester ), the bookkeeper-general (Dutch: boekhouder-generaal ), and the ensign (Dutch: vaandrig ). In 1768, the council was again reduced to the fiscal, the three senior commissioners (the trading post at Ouidah has since been abandoned), and the commissioner-and councillor. The composition of the council was changed for a final time in 1784, in

10735-586: The soil on the Bossumprah River, but also had difficulty attracting workers. The only two plantations that were successful comprised a coffee plantation in Akropong , established by missionaries from Basel , and another coffee plantation in Mayra near Accra , owned by mulatto entrepreneur Lutterodt, worked by slaves. Until the destruction of Elmina in 1873, the town was the largest settlement on

10848-551: The supply of gold was declining, the supply of slaves boomed as never before. This was to a large part due to the Ashanti wars; Governor-General Willem de la Palma wrote to his superiors at the Dutch West India Company that the war had unleashed slave raids among the local peoples in the Gold Coast. Whereas between 1693 and 1701, 1,522 slaves were transported from Elmina to the Americas, an average of 169 slaves per year, 1,213 slaves were transported between 1702 and 1704, an average of 404 per year. Apart from increased supply of slaves,

10961-488: The support of the States General and the VOC. The company was initially a dismal failure, in terms of its expensive early projects, and its directors shifted emphasis from conquest of territory to pursue plunder of shipping. The most spectacular success for the GWC was Piet Heyn's seizure of the Spanish silver fleet , which carried silver from Spanish colonies to Spain. He had also seized a consignment of sugar from Brazil and

11074-399: The tribute paid by the Dutch to the Ashanti, asserted Ashanti sovereignty over the town. In June 1873, the situation escalated when an Ashanti army marched to Elmina to "win back" the town from Britain. The Third Anglo-Ashanti War had started, and Britain began bombing Elmina on 13 June 1873. The old town of Elmina was completely destroyed and leveled to make room for a parade ground. During

11187-402: The turn of the eighteenth century, due to warfare among the states of the Gold Coast. While the Ashanti succeeded in the Battle of Feyiase of 1701 to establish their hegemony on the Gold Coast, it took them a few years to fully "pacify" their newly conquered territory. 1701 proved to be the historic low for the gold trade, with only 530 mark of gold exported, worth 178.080 guilders. Whereas

11300-486: The various trading posts established by the merchants. The company became instrumental in the largely ephemeral Dutch colonization of the Americas (including New Netherland ) in the seventeenth century. From 1624 to 1654, in the context of the Dutch–Portuguese War , the GWC held Portuguese territory in northeast Brazil, but they were ousted from Dutch Brazil following fierce resistance. After several reversals,

11413-421: The wake of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War , now extending the membership to include the bookkeeper-general-and-commissioner. After the liquidation of the Dutch West India Company in 1791, the Council of Colonies for the West Indies took over the government of the Dutch Gold Coast. Little changed in the first years, and the old administration of the Dutch West India Company was left largely intact. This changed when

11526-411: The west African coast and Brazil. Unlike the VOC, the GWC had no right to deploy military troops. When the Twelve Years' Truce in 1621 was over, the Republic had a free hand to re-wage war with Spain. A Groot Desseyn ("grand design") was devised to seize the Portuguese colonies in Africa and the Americas, so as to dominate the sugar and slave trade. When this plan failed, privateering became one of

11639-467: The world, deeply affected the relations between the Dutch, the other local peoples and the British. The latter were increasingly tight with the Fante , to which the Denkyira and thus also Elmina were culturally and linguistically close. Several Ashanti-Fante wars followed and the rivalry between the two peoples were key in the events surrounding the transfer of the Dutch Gold Coast to Britain in 1872. After

11752-610: Was a Dutch chartered company founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw , Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was granted a charter for a trade monopoly in the Dutch West Indies by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and given jurisdiction over Dutch participation in the Atlantic slave trade , Brazil,

11865-519: Was again reformed when the Kingdom of Holland replaced the Batavian Republic in 1806. By royal decree of Louis Napoleon , King of Holland, the office of Governor-General was demoted to Commandant-General in 1807, and the administration was overhauled in 1809. An even bigger change came with the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. Leaving behind the uncertain years of French occupation, and with slave trade abolished,

11978-480: Was charged with the rule over "Guinea and its dependencies from Cabo Tres Puntas to Cabo Lopes Gonsalves ," and the government at Luanda with the possessions south of the latter cape, including São Tomé. The title of the Director-General at Elmina was changed to "Director-General of the North Coast of Africa." When the Dutch lost Luanda to the Portuguese in 1648, Sao Tomé was shortly ruled from Elmina, until it

12091-421: Was demoted to Commander . When the Dutch decided to recruit soldiers for the Dutch East Indies Army in 1836, the government was strengthened again, something which was reinforced in the wake of the disastrous Ahanta War of 1838. By virtue of a royal decree dated 23 March 1838, the office of Commander was raised to Governor and extra officers were installed to make government more effective. The government itself

12204-666: Was organized similarly to the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Like the VOC, the GWC had five offices, called chambers ( kamers ), in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hoorn, Middelburg and Groningen, of which the chambers in Amsterdam and Middelburg contributed most to the company. The board consisted of 19 members, known as the Heeren XIX (the Nineteen Gentlemen, as opposed to the Heeren XVII who controlled

12317-533: Was popular almost everywhere, the family Van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck sold its property in the colony of Surinam . The GWC participated in a bigger share together with the Society of Suriname . Many planters in Surinam and the Caribbean came into financial trouble because of the mortgages ( Crisis of 1772 ); the demand for slaves dropped. In 1775, the last slave ship entered the port of Willemstad . From 1780 on

12430-496: Was recaptured by the Portuguese as well in the same year. With the establishment of the Second Dutch West India Company in 1675, the government structure was revised. The area under the authority of the Director-General was redefined as "the Coast of Africa, from Sierra Leone all exclusively to 30 degrees South of the equator , together with all the islands in between," thereby nominally reinstating

12543-466: Was reformed in 1847, which among its most notable inventions included the establishment of a Court of Justice, legally separate from the council, although memberships often overlapped. The office of fiscal, responsible for public prosecution, was renamed Officer of Justice . In the late 1850s, the administrative divisions into forts was changed into a division into districts (Dutch: afdelingen ), asserting Dutch sovereignty (or suzerainty ) over not only

12656-550: Was the main cause of the slow, half-hearted policy, which would eventually lead to losing the colony. In 1647, the company made a restart using 1.5 million guilders, capital of the VOC. The States General took responsibility for the warfare in Brazil. Due to the Peace of Westphalia , the attacks on Spanish shipping were forbidden to the GWC. The Portuguese succeeded in the recapture of Angola . Many merchants from Amsterdam and Zeeland decided to work with marine and merchants from

12769-553: Was the recruitment of soldiers for the Dutch East Indies Army . This recruitment of the so-called Belanda Hitam (Indonesian for "Black Dutchmen") started in 1831 as an emergency measure as the Dutch army lost thousands of European soldiers and a much larger number of "native" soldiers in the Java War (1825–1830), and at the same time saw its own population base diminished by the independence of Belgium (1830). As

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