W.I.C.
Item
Country
NL
Name of institution (English)
National Archives
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
dut
Contact information: postal address
Prins Willem-Alexanderhof 20, 2595 BE The Hague
Contact information: phone number
0031 703315400
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
Reference number
3.01.04.01
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
West India Company
Title (official language of the state)
W.I.C.
Language of title
dut
Creator / accumulator
West-Indische Compagnie (WIC)
Date(s)
1611/1662
Language(s)
dut
Extent
10 storage units
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
The W.I.C. is a subseries of the Handelscompagnieën (Trading companies) series, which belongs to the Staten van Holland en West-Friesland (States of Holland and West-Friesland) fonds.
The W.I.C. collection contains relevant information about the Sephardic trading networks in the Dutch Atlantic. For instance, using this collection, Jonathan Israel has determined the remarkable increase of sugar imports during the Twelve Years Truce and how a significant part of this commerce was driven by the Dutch Sephardic mercantile elite.
This collection, which comprises documentation related to the first West Indies Company (1621-1674), covers the period when the contacts of the Dutch with the colonised Iberian territories were more intense. From the 1620s onwards, the military intervention of the Dutch against territories under Iberian dominance, especially Brazil and Asia, created a permanent state of war that lasted for several decades. The members of the Sephardic community played a particularly essential role in this period as brokers between the Iberian and Dutch empires. Sephardic merchants used their contacts in Portugal and Spain to avoid the consequences of war while also taking advantage of the Dutch commercial influence to improve their commerce. Information on these dynamics can be found in the ten items that compose this subseries. They are the following:
1358G: Journal of Evert Sybrantz van Staveren on his travel to West Indies (departed December 25, 1611, from Texel).
1358a: Documents concerning the trade of the West India Company and the navigation in America (1620s).
1358E: Draft patent for trade to the detriment of Spain (after 1621) and report on the successes in Peru (1624).
1358b: Report on trade and sailing in Brazil and the competition of the Spanish and the Portuguese (1622).
1358A: Two reports concerning the enterprises of the Dutch on the west coast of America (1624, 1643).
1358C: Documents relating to the West India Company in Brazil (1636-1653).
1358D: Documents concerning the colonisation of New Netherlands (1640).
1381e: Documents concerning transactions with Portugal about Brazil (1648-1651).
1358a: Lists of all the people at war in Brazil, drawn up for the States General (1654).
1358B: Documents concerning the establishment of a Southern Company, acting in Guinea (1658-1662).
The W.I.C. collection contains relevant information about the Sephardic trading networks in the Dutch Atlantic. For instance, using this collection, Jonathan Israel has determined the remarkable increase of sugar imports during the Twelve Years Truce and how a significant part of this commerce was driven by the Dutch Sephardic mercantile elite.
This collection, which comprises documentation related to the first West Indies Company (1621-1674), covers the period when the contacts of the Dutch with the colonised Iberian territories were more intense. From the 1620s onwards, the military intervention of the Dutch against territories under Iberian dominance, especially Brazil and Asia, created a permanent state of war that lasted for several decades. The members of the Sephardic community played a particularly essential role in this period as brokers between the Iberian and Dutch empires. Sephardic merchants used their contacts in Portugal and Spain to avoid the consequences of war while also taking advantage of the Dutch commercial influence to improve their commerce. Information on these dynamics can be found in the ten items that compose this subseries. They are the following:
1358G: Journal of Evert Sybrantz van Staveren on his travel to West Indies (departed December 25, 1611, from Texel).
1358a: Documents concerning the trade of the West India Company and the navigation in America (1620s).
1358E: Draft patent for trade to the detriment of Spain (after 1621) and report on the successes in Peru (1624).
1358b: Report on trade and sailing in Brazil and the competition of the Spanish and the Portuguese (1622).
1358A: Two reports concerning the enterprises of the Dutch on the west coast of America (1624, 1643).
1358C: Documents relating to the West India Company in Brazil (1636-1653).
1358D: Documents concerning the colonisation of New Netherlands (1640).
1381e: Documents concerning transactions with Portugal about Brazil (1648-1651).
1358a: Lists of all the people at war in Brazil, drawn up for the States General (1654).
1358B: Documents concerning the establishment of a Southern Company, acting in Guinea (1658-1662).
Administrative / Biographical history
The West-Indische Compagnie (WIC), the Dutch West India Company, was founded in 1621 mainly to carry on economic warfare against Spain and Portugal by striking at their colonies in the West Indies and South America and on the west coast of Africa.
The WIC was governed by a board composed of 19 members (the Heerem XIX) and had five offices (Kamers) corresponding to the various regions of the Netherlands. Having the monopoly of trade with the Americas, Africa, and the Atlantic regions between them, the WIC was militarily and financially supported by the States General (the Dutch national assembly).
Its zenith was reached during the administration of Count John Maurice (1636-44) with the conquest of the northeastern region of Brazil and the foundation of New Holland, which ended up capitulating to the Portuguese in 1654. Between 1634 and 1648, the WIC also established several colonies in the West Indies and Guyana, including Aruba, Curaçao, and Saint Martin, but later lost many of them to the French. New Netherland, the Dutch colony in North America, became a province of the WIC in 1623 and remained so until 1667, when it was ceded to the English.
The loss of Brazil to the Portuguese and later of other colonies to the French and the English reflected the decline of the WIC. The Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars also threatened its influence on the west coast of Africa. Deeper in debt, the WIC was dissolved in 1674 and, in the same year, created a new company, the Tweede West-Indische Compagnie, which lasted until 1794.
The WIC was governed by a board composed of 19 members (the Heerem XIX) and had five offices (Kamers) corresponding to the various regions of the Netherlands. Having the monopoly of trade with the Americas, Africa, and the Atlantic regions between them, the WIC was militarily and financially supported by the States General (the Dutch national assembly).
Its zenith was reached during the administration of Count John Maurice (1636-44) with the conquest of the northeastern region of Brazil and the foundation of New Holland, which ended up capitulating to the Portuguese in 1654. Between 1634 and 1648, the WIC also established several colonies in the West Indies and Guyana, including Aruba, Curaçao, and Saint Martin, but later lost many of them to the French. New Netherland, the Dutch colony in North America, became a province of the WIC in 1623 and remained so until 1667, when it was ceded to the English.
The loss of Brazil to the Portuguese and later of other colonies to the French and the English reflected the decline of the WIC. The Second and Third Anglo-Dutch Wars also threatened its influence on the west coast of Africa. Deeper in debt, the WIC was dissolved in 1674 and, in the same year, created a new company, the Tweede West-Indische Compagnie, which lasted until 1794.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The documents are described piece by piece and organised chronologically.
Links to finding aids
Existence and location of copies
Author of the description
Kevin Soares, 2022
Bibliography
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| José Hygino | Existence and location of originals | |
| Collectie Joshua Mozes Levy Maduro | Existence and location of originals |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Nationaal Archief | Collections (official language of the state) |