Dutch West India Company
DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY
DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY. The Dutch West India Company was organized by Dutch merchants and chartered by the States General on 3 June 1621. The charter conferred considerable political and commercial powers on the company, including monopolistic trading privileges in parts of Africa, the West Indies, America, and Australia, as well as the rights to make alliances with the natives, build forts, and plant colonies. The company planted settlements at Fort Orange (1624) and Manhattan Island (1625), forming the colony of New Netherland. The director and council of New Netherland acted on the company's instructions and required strict obedience from all colonists. The colony's welfare suffered from this continued despotic control and the company's neglect of colonization efforts in order to focus on trade.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Merwick, Donna. Possessing Albany, 1630–1710: The Dutch and English Experiences. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Rink, Oliver A. Holland on the Hudson: An Economic and Social History of Dutch New York. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1986.
A.C.Flick/s. b.
See alsoColonial Settlements ; New Amsterdam ; New Netherland ; New York Colony ; Petition and Remonstrance of New Netherland .