RECAP 3.1 & 3.2

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Today's lesson

1. Recap about 3.1 and 3.2, what do you remember? Activate your prior knowledge.
2. Jan Pieterszoon Coen and the Banda Islands

Goals: 

1. You can explain how the regents governed the Dutch Republic

2. You can explain how a small country could govern a large colony

What are regents?

States General

Ruling the Republic

Each province was ruled in its own way by the Provincial States. This assembly of a small group of rich men, called regenten, formed the daily government of their province and made all the political decisions.

For certain larger political issues, it was better for the provinces to work together. 

For example: what to do about the war with Spain? 

For these kinds of decisions, every province would send one or more regenten as representatives to the States General in The Hague. 

a meeting of the Provincial States of the province of Holland

The States General

• Each of the seven provinces had its own administration: the Provincial States.
• They made decisions that mainly affected their own province.
• Decisions for the entire Republic were made in the States General, the assembly of all the provincial states together. 
• The leader of the States General was the grand pensionary.

Another important function in the Republic was the Stadtholder. These were always the Princes of Orange since William of Orange. In the Republic, his son Maurice became the first stadtholder

The stadtholder had high military positions: he was the general of the army and admiral of the navy.

Officially, the stadtholder was in the service of the States General, but who was the boss was not always clear.

Regents

• Contrary to many other countries, rich citizens  in the Republic had much more power and influence than aristocrats (nobles).
• Many of these citizens had had gained a fortune through trade (in the cities).
• This group of rich citizens was called regenten.
• Almost all important jobs were taken by regenten. 

VOC

The rise of the VOC 

The many small Dutch companies that sailed to the East Indies had to compete with each other. As a result, their profits reduced because they had to sell their goods at lower prices. This also meant that the Republic received less profit taxes from the sold goods. In 1602, the States General decided it would be more effective to join all the small companies together into one unified company. Representatives from the small companies were invited by the States General to establish the Dutch East India Company ('Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'), also known as the VOC.

What can you tell about capitalism?

The States General granted a monopoly to the VOC. This means that the VOC was the only Dutch company allowed to trade spices in the East Indies.

Setting up the VOC was very expensive: ships had to be built, crews had to be hired. To finance this and to spread the risks, the VOC issued shares. By buying a share, people owned a small part of the company. If the company was successful, the value of their share would increase and could be sold against a profit. Therefore, many people would invest money in the VOC and its trading opportunities. This is the beginning of a new economic system based on commercial capitalism.

VOC shipyard

original VOC share

How can a country so small govern a colony so large?

What do you..

.. notice ?

Jan Pieterszoon Coen

To get more profit from the spice trade, the VOC decided to cut out the local merchants by taking over areas overseas. They placed these areas under the direct control of the Dutch Republic, making them colonies of the Republic. In this way, the Republic acquired a monopoly on the trade of spices such as cinnamon, clove, mace and nutmeg. Batavia and Sumatra are examples of these colonies. 

In 1619, Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587-1629) was appointed the Governor-General of the VOC. Coen came up with an idea to make the trade with the East Indies more profitable.

To establish a monopoly on the spices nutmeg and mace, Coen used the VOC's right to wage war to establish control over the Banda Islands. These were the only islands where these spices were grown. This proved to be a black day in the history of the Republic: to gain control over the Banda Islands many men, women and even children were killed. Their villages were burned down to the ground and their ships were destroyed. 

Today's lesson

1. Start with the exercises of 3.2 / 3.3

Goals: 

1. You can explain how the regents governed the Dutch Republic

2. You can explain how a small country could govern a large colony