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DUTCH CROSSINGSVictor Enthoven

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To cite this article: Victor Enthoven (2005): DUTCH CROSSINGS, Atlantic Studies, 2:2, 153-176

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DUTCH CROSSINGS

Migration between the Netherlands and the

New World, 1600�/1800

Victor Enthoven

This essay presents an overview of 200 years of demographic consequences of Dutch presence in

the Western Hemisphere. It starts with an overview of the Dutch Atlantic World and its

settlements. The second section deals with the European Atlantic migration from the Dutch

Republic in comparison with the human needs of the Dutch East India Company. In more detail, it

addresses the Jewish Diaspora and the migration of the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch to the New

World.

KEYWORDS: migration; trans-Atlantic; Dutch; Jews; Pennsylvania Dutch

Introduction

The motivation behind this essay is an article published by Piet Emmer and Wim

Klooster on the Dutch Atlantic World in 1999.1 One particular section, written by Emmer,

takes as its subject ‘‘The Demography of the Dutch Atlantic.’’ In a rather arbitrary way, he

compares the Dutch demographic impact in the Atlantic with the British Empire and the

Dutch East India Company (VOC). Without much documentation he estimates that the

Dutch Atlantic required 2,400 men per year, half the 4,800 individuals needed annually by

the VOC. Emmer argues that the Dutch Republic had an open labour market, which

especially attracted young German and Scandinavian men. However, he concludes

surprisingly that the Dutch Atlantic was a drain on Dutch population. Furthermore he

argues that Dutch merchants were very keen to exploit the lethal trade niches of tropical

zones in Asia, rather than to send those men as settlers to North America (as Britain did)

which would have been less profitable, according to Emmer. By 1983, however, Marianne

Wokeck had already shown that Dutch merchant houses played a pivotal role in

populating Pennsylvania with German settlers, the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch.2

This essay gives an overview of 200 years of demographic consequences of Dutch

presence in the Western Hemisphere. First, it addresses two different aspects of Dutch

migration in the Atlantic: the overseas settlements and the European Diaspora. In the

second section, a comparison will be made between the human needs of the Dutch

Atlantic World and the VOC.

Atlantic Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, October 2005ISSN 1478-8810 print/1470-4649 online/05/020153-24– 2005 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/10494820500224335

1 Emmer and Klooster, ‘‘The Dutch Atlantic.’’2 Wokeck, ‘‘Tide of Alien Tongues.’’

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The Dutch Atlantic World

In the 1570s, the Dutch started to revolt against the King of Spain. Consequently,

Dutch entrepreneurs began to venture beyond the familiar European waters, both in

search of uncharted lands and new commercial opportunities, and to damage the king’s

interests. In 1613, for instance, Amsterdam merchants set up a trading post in the region

of Paramaribo, on the Suriname River. A year later, the New Netherland Company was

founded, which launched a settlement on the Hudson River. The Dutch also established

colonies on the banks of the Amazon River, the Pomoroon River and the Essequibo River,

also known as the Wild Coast.3

The Dutch West India Company

These colonial ventures had taken place during the relative calm of the Twelve Year

Truce (1609�/1621). When war resumed in 1621, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) was

founded, a chartered trading company granted a monopoly on all trade and shipping with

West Africa, the Americas and the West Indies. In essence, the WIC had three objectives: to

damage the enemy’s interest, to generate commercial activities and to establish overseas

settlements.4

Initially, the main goal of the WIC was the so-called ‘‘grand design,’’ the conquest

of the Portuguese possessions in Brazil and the exploitation of its rich sugar plantations.

This would suit all three objectives of the company: a large settlement could be

developed, it was profitable for commerce and the enemy would suffer a great loss. In

1630, a fleet of 67 vessels and more than seven thousand soldiers captured the towns of

Olinda and Recife.5

Under the inspiring leadership of Governor General Johan Maurits of Nassau-

Siegen (1604�/1679) the thriving and heterogeneous colony of New Holland emerged (see

Table 1). In the Dutch held territories, more than 15 000 indigenous Indians were living: the

Tupıs, already Christianised by the Portuguese and referred to as ‘‘Brazilians,’’ and the

nomadic Tapuyas. The company, however, failed to conquer all of Portuguese held Brazil

and a protracted war developed. After Johan Maurits had left the colony in 1644,

Portuguese planters started to revolt against Dutch rule. Eventually the WIC had to

abandon Recife in 1654.6

Owing to their presence in Brazil, the WIC had to turn its attentions towards West

Africa in search of black enslaved plantation workers. In 1637, a fleet sailed from Brazil and

conquered the Portuguese fort Sao Jorge d’Elmina, known to the Dutch as Elmina,

present-day Ghana. Between 1641 and 1654, the WIC also occupied Luanda. As mentioned

above, the Dutch had some scattered settlements on the Wild Coast. In 1620, there was a

small but thriving colony on the Xingu River (a tributary of the Amazon) of around seventy

3 Lorimer, English and Irish Settlement , 27, 51, 253.4 Heijer, ‘‘The Dutch West India Company,’’ 77�/112.5 Boxer, The Dutch in Brazil , 37.6 Schalkwijk, The Reformed Church , 47�/8; and Mello, Nederlanders in Brazilie , 114, n. 119 and

122.

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Europeans. In 1623, the Portuguese destroyed all the Dutch settlements in the Amazon

estuary.7

As the company could not be actively engaged throughout the entire area of the

cooperative, it was possible for private entrepreneurs to set up so-called ‘‘patronships’’ in

the WIC area, like those of Cornelis Lampsins on the island of Tobago and Abraham van

Pere on the Berbice and Essequibo Rivers. The population of each of these settlements

never exceeded one hundred Europeans. On Tobago, for instance, in 1628, 68 colonists

were the vanguard of a stream of Europeans, including free settlers and indentured

servants. For some 50 years, they defied both Spanish and Amerindian hostilities as well as

claims from the Baltic Duke of Coerland. In 1678, a French force took the island.8

After the loss of New Holland in Brazil in 1654, the WIC lay in tatters. There were no

resources left for new initiatives, yet it was essential to populate the Atlantic settlements.

Even more than before, the company was forced to endorse private initiatives in its

domain. In 1656, Jan Claessen Langendijck began a settlement in Cayenne between Cape

Orange and the Cayenne River. Five years later 40 colonists and 120 slaves were tilling the

tobacco and cane fields. A year later, the French took possession of the colony.9

Another initiative was the colony of Nova Zelandia. The main objective was to re-

populate the colony on the Essequibo River. A first group of settlers and 25 soldiers left the

Netherlands in February 1658, followed by five other ships carrying predominantly Jewish

emigrants. In addition, several ships had been equipped for Africa to buy 200�/300 African

TABLE 1

Population in Dutch Brazil, 1645

Category Total

Company officialsMilitary 3,050Sailors on 33 ships 675Civil 500

4,225Amerindians 3,583African slaves 2,671

Vrijlieden (free settlers)Recife 1,704Mauritsstad 685Itamaraca 150Paraıba 160Rio Grande 200

2,899Total 13,378

Source: National Archief, The Hague (NA), Archief van de Oude West-Indische Compagnie (OWIC)61:51, Lyst van al het volk in Brazilie, 1645; ibid., Lyst van het volk varende op de schepen, 1645/46.

7 Edmundson, ‘‘The Dutch in West Guyana;’’ and idem, ‘‘The Dutch on the Amazon and Negro,

1 and 2.’’8 Grol, De grondpolitiek , 2:24; and Kesler, ‘‘Tobago.’’9 Goslinga, The Dutch in the Caribbean, 1580�/1680 , 421; Grol, De grondpolitiek, 2:90�/2; and

Mims, Colbert’s West India Policy , 65.

DUTCH CROSSINGS 155

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slaves. In 1661 things had progressed so far that a large part of the Essequibo, Pomoroon

and Morucca estuaries had been cultivated.10

A third initiative to create a settlement in South America after the loss of Brazil was

the Guyana Company. In 1659 Balthasar Gerbier, a parvenu from Middelburg, was granted

a license to establish a colony between Cape Orange and the Cayenne River, the same area

where Langendijck operated. The company equipped two ships under his command and

that of Otto Keye, a Brazilian veteran. All that came from the ambitious plans was a small

colony on the Aperwacque (Approuage River) that only lasted a short while.11

In the summer of 1676, 350 Dutch colonists settled on the Oyapoc River. This ended

in another failure. They arrived during the rainy season and after six weeks 60 of the

colonists had perished. In July 1677, the French terminated the sorrowful venture.12 In

1692, the Dutch attempted for the last time to colonize Cayenne. Under the leadership of

Jan Reeps, 44 colonists and one black African left for the Wild Coast. The attempt was

abandoned after their vessel was shipwrecked on the Brazilian coast.13

The second Anglo-Dutch War (1664�/1667) had far-reaching consequences for the

Dutch Atlantic possessions. The English took the Dutch colonies on the Essequibo, the

Aperwacque and the Pomeroon. The settlement on the Berbice was spared, however. In

1666, Nova Zelandia was reclaimed from the English, soon followed by the conquest of the

English colony on the Suriname River. The Treaty of Breda (1667) was a confirmation of the

status quo: Suriname remained in Dutch hands.14

In 1624, the WIC took control over of the colony New Netherland in what is now

New York. Although the company governed the colony, the WIC was forced to lease large

areas to private enterprises, such as Swanendael, Nieuwer Amstel and Rensselaerswijck.

The colony developed successfully from no more than 500 settlers in 1628 to some 9,000

in 1664.15

During the 1630s, strategic considerations resulted in establishing small bases in the

Caribbean. These strongholds were also halfway from New Holland to New Netherland.

The WIC occupied the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, St Eustatius, St Martin and Saba.

For the next couple of decades, the Dutch presence on the islands was limited. The soil

was poor and the climate too dry. Initially it appeared that Curacao would have the same

fate, but during the 1650s, the island developed as an entrepot.16

The ambitious plans of the WIC, intended to establish an extensive overseas Atlantic

Empire, had gradually faded away. The Portuguese retook Luanda and Brazil after only a

brief period of prosperity. In 1648, the Dutch signed a truce with their old adversary, the

King of Spain, followed by a treaty with the King of Portugal in 1661. The Dutch accepted

their loss of New Holland. Elmina on the West African coast, however, remained Dutch.17

During the second Anglo-Dutch War (1664�/1667) the settlement of New Netherland was

lost, but the plantation of Suriname gained in size.

10 Enthoven, ‘‘Nova Zelandia and Cayenne.’’11 Boer, ‘‘Een Nederlandsche goudzoeker.’’12 Myst, Verloren Arbeyt ; and Muller, Elisabeth van der Woude .13 Alphen, Jan Reeps .14 Netscher, Geschiedenis van de kolonien , 71�/9.15 Jacobs, New Netherland , 47�/8; and Venema, Beverwijck , 100.16 Klooster, The Dutch in the Americas , 71�/2.17 Groenveld, ‘‘De vrede van Munster;’’ and Haar, De diplomatieke betrekkingen .

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By the 1660s, the WIC had lost its major overseas possessions and most of its

monopolies. By now, most of the Dutch Atlantic ventures were in private hands. No

wonder that the States General postponed the renewal of the WIC charter in 1671. Three

years later, a new Dutch West India Company emerged.

The New or Second Dutch West India Company

The new or second WIC was a much smaller operation than its forerunner. The

company managed and controlled only a few settlements in the Atlantic: the forts and

castles in West Africa, the plantation colony of Essequibo (in the 1750s to be extended to

the Demerara River), the three Leeward Islands of Saba, St Martin and St Eusatius (Statia),

and the three islands in the Lesser Antilles of Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire. The plantation

colonies of Suriname and Berbice were private ventures: Suriname was handed over to the

Societeit van Suriname in 1684, and Berbice was under the patronage of the Van Pere

family, but after a French raid it had to be sold to the Societeit van Berbice in 1720. In

1791, the WIC charter was not renewed and all assets and liabilities of the company were

taken over by the Dutch government.18 By then the Dutch Atlantic settlements

consisted of some 17,000 Europeans, 6,500 free people of colour and over 150,000 slaves

(see Table 2).

Until well into the eighteenth century, the most important WIC possessions were the

dozen or so strongholds in West Africa. The European presence in the forts was less than

impressive. The average number of Europeans was about 350, predominantly military.

Although the company hired Africans and tapoejers (people of a mixed African/European

birth), they did not belong to Dutch controlled society and lived outside the forts. The

WIC also owned some 300 slaves.19 In the privately owned plantation colony of

Suriname, between a 100 and 140 plantations were cultivated in 1684. This number

grew to 700 in 1800. The population grew accordingly from 4,000 in 1684 to 65,000 in

1791. Over time a heterogeneous society of Amerindians, Africans and Europeans

developed.20

At the end of the seventeenth century, around 9,500 Amerindian families of the

Carib and Arawak nations lived in Suriname, of which the Caribs were by far the more

prolific. After the so-called Indian War (1678�/1686) both nations retreated from the

vicinity of the plantations and over time faded away from colonial society.21

The European population grew from a mere 650 in 1684 to 1,058 in 1730 and 3,360

in 1791. As one would expect in a plantation colony, less than 20% of the population lived

in the city. Paramaribo was where most of the Societeit officials lived. The rest of the

European population was composed of free settlers, including scores of deprived artisans,

shopkeepers, bargemen, and widows.22

The dominant element in Suriname society was of course African. By far the largest

group of Africans were slaves, both first generation and those born in captivity in the New

World, the Creoles. The number of slaves grew from 3,300 in 1684, to 18,200 in 1730 and

18 Heijer, ‘‘The Dutch West India Company,’’ 97�/112.19 Feinberg, Africans and Europeans , 34�/5; and Heijer, Goud, ivoor en slaven , 81�/5, 93�/7.20 Wekker, ‘‘Surinaams plantagewezen;’’ and Lier, Samenleving in een grensgebied , 22.21 Wekker, ‘‘Indianen en pacificatie;’’ and Dragtenstein, De ondraaglijke stoutheid , 22�/5, 36�/57.22 Lier, Samenleving in een grensgebied , 22�/3; and Beeldsnijder, ‘‘Op de onderste trede.’’

DUTCH CROSSINGS 157

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some 60,000 in the 1790s.23 A second black element in Suriname were the maroons, free

Africans and Creoles who had fled enslaved life on the plantations and lived deep in the

forest.24 Third, there were the free people of colour, the free Africans/Creoles (the

manumitted slaves), and the free slaves who served in the Neger Vrijcorps (the Black

Rangers).25

In the other Dutch plantation colonies similar societies evolved, but on a much

smaller scale. In 1720, the Societeit van Berbice owned eight plantations with 895 slaves

and 111 Europeans, all of them Societeit personnel. In 1732, private planters were allowed

in. By the end of the eighteenth century the total number of plantations had risen to 300,

with a population of 320 Societeit officials, 540 free European burgers, 200 free people of

colour, and 8,300 slaves.26

The colony of Essequibo was governed by the WIC. Around 1700 there were 19

plantations with 426 slaves and 60 Europeans. Essequibo was instrumental in establishing

a settlement on the nearby Demerara River in 1746, populated by predominantly English

planters from the West Indies. By the end of the century, Essequibo/Demerara had almost

equalled Suriname in size, with seven hundred plantations, 50,000�/60,000 slaves, 600�/

700 free people of colour, and 2,700 Europeans.27

In Dutch Caribbean societies, Amerindians played only a minor role. On the Leeward

Islands, for instance, there were no indigenous people at all. In the 1630s, some four-

hundred Caribs lived on Curacao; after the Dutch took over, most of them left. On Aruba,

there were a few dozen Amerindians, on Bonaire even less. They herded cattle on all the

TABLE 2

Overview of the population in the Dutch Atlantic territories, c. 1800

Europeans Free people of colour Slaves Total

The African forts 350 �/ 300 650Suriname 3,360 700 60,000 64,060Berbice 860 200 8,300 9,360Essequibo/Demerara 2,700 650 60,000 63,350Curacao 4,850 2,450 12,900 20,200Aruba 210 1,150 370 1,730Bonaire 50 650 430 1,130St Martin 990 130 3,600 4,720St Eustatius 2,340 640 5,140 8,120Saba 730 10 560 1,300Total 16,440 6,580 151,600 174,620

Source: See text and notes 19�/34.

23 Dragtenstein, De ondraaglijke stoutheid , 25; Beeldsnijder, Om werk van jullie te hebben ,

appendix 3; and Stipriaan, Surinaams contrast , 311.24 Hoogbergen, De bosnegers zijn gekomen ; and Dragtenstein, De ondraaglijke stoutheid .25 Beeldsnijder, ‘‘Op de onderste trede;’’ Hoogbergen and Hove, ‘‘De vrije gekleurden;’’ Blakely,

Blacks in the Dutch World , 237�/40; Groot, ‘‘Het Korps Zwarte Jagers, 1 and 2.’’26 Netscher, Geschiedenis van de kolonien , 282; and Buffart and Jong, ‘‘Naar de Barbiesjes,’’ 6

and appendix 2.27 Oest, ‘‘The Forgotton Colonies,’’ 329, Table 12.1.

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islands. Over time, the Amerindians mingled with the free people of colour and

disappeared as a separate ethnic group.28

Curacao was unsuitable for growing cash crops. The island estates eventually

specialized in growing sorghum (small maize), the staple diet of the slaves, and raising

cattle as well. In time, the island became an important entrepot. Until 1714, the island was

also a major slave market, distributing slaves to the Spanish colonies. The number of free

residents rose from 300 in 1675 to 850 in 1715. In 1735, there were 410 European

households, including forty of company officials. By 1789, the European population had

reached 3,814 Europeans. The rest of the free population consisted of some 2,450 people

of colour and manumitted slaves. There were 12,864 registered slaves in that same year.29

Up until 1770, no colonists were allowed on Aruba, although in 1715 there had been

an unsuccessful attempt to establish a plantation on the island. There was a small garrison.

Several hundred Amerindians inhabited the island. After private individuals were allowed

on the island, the population grew to 1,730 souls in 1816, predominantly Amerindians and

free blacks, but also 210 Europeans.30

In order to prevent competition with Curacao, no settlers were allowed on Bonaire. It

was only after 1780 that some free colonists settled there. In 1792, there were twenty

Europeans and 319 slaves on the island. By 1816, the population had grown to over 1,130

souls.31 On Dutch St Martin, there were several large saltpans and 35 sugar plantations.

The population grew from 1,642 (532 Europeans and 1,110 slaves) in 1735 to over 4,700 in

1794.32 Over time, St Eustatius developed into a major West Indian entrepot. The

population grew from 410 Europeans and 561 slaves in 1715 to 860 Europeans and 1,586

slaves in 1742. In 1790, 2,340 Europeans, 640 free people of colour, and 5,140 slaves

populated the island.33 The small island of Saba had a population of 1,300 people in

1791.34

The European Diaspora

In order to assess the European demographic consequences of the Dutch presence

in the Atlantic World several variables have to be determined, such as the average number

and size of the ships, and the average number of sailors, soldiers, and passengers on board

these vessels. Since the available data consists of bits and pieces, the assessment will be

28 Geschiedenis van de Antillen , 44�/5.29 NA, Archief van de Nieuwe West-Indische Compagnie (NWIC) 582:242, Number of

households, 1735; NA, Archief van de Raad van Colonien (RvC) 120: Report Sontag (1794),

appendix 16; Jordaan, ‘‘The Curacao Slave Market;’’ and Renkema, Het Curacaose

plantagebedrijf , 26�/7 and 112�/5.30 Encyclopedie van de Nederlandse Antillen , 192; Jordaan, ‘‘De eerste slaven op Aruba.’’ In

August 1804 and April 1806, Aruba had a population of 1,155 and 1,546 people respectively.

NA, Archief van de Raad der Amerikaanse Bezittingen 185�/I: 202�/4.31 NA, RvC 120:57, Report Sontag; and NA, RvC 83: Inventory, 28 December 1792; and

Encyclopedie van de Nederlandse Antillen , 194.32 Paula, Vrije slaven , 28, 35 and 50.33 Knappert, Geschiedenis ; and Postma, The Dutch in the Atlantic Slave Trade , 197 n. 46.34 Brugman, The Monuments of Saba , 25.

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rather provisional. At the end of this section, a comparison on the same lines will be made

with the human needs of the VOC.

The Ships

For the better part of the seventeenth century over 200 ships left the Dutch Republic

every year for an Atlantic destination. During the last quarter of the century, this declined

to an average of 100 ships, to rise again to 200 vessels during the eighteenth century.35 A

tentative estimate for the period 1600�/1800 is 36,000 Atlantic voyages, an average of 180

voyages annually. This may seem a bit excessive, but it is even less than the number

approximated by Piet Emmer in his article cited above.36

A further estimate is that eleven percent of the outward ships did not return. Around

five percent would have been shipwrecked. Other ships were declared un-seaworthy and

scrapped. The rest were taken by enemy ships or pirates.37 Thus, annually an average of

180 ships left a Dutch harbour for an Atlantic destination, of which 160 returned safely.

Initially the WIC operated relatively large, and heavily armed ships of 130�/150 feet

and measuring 200�/600 last , (400�/600 tons).38 No serial data exist for private ships, but

these vessels must have been relatively large, too. By around 1700, the ships had become

smaller. From 1674 to1740, the WIC used ships averaging 107 feet in length. By then slave

traders, too, operated medium-sized ships.39 During the eighteenth century, when the

TABLE 3

Inhabitants of Suriname, 1684

Gentiles Jews Total

EuropeansMales 362 105 467Females 127 58 185Total 489 163 652

Slaves Owned by Gentiles Owned by JewsBlack males 1,299 543 1,842Black females 955 429 1,384Total 2,254 972 3,226

Red males 29 10 39Red females 54 13 67Total 83 23 106

Total 3,984

Source: Enthoven, ‘‘Suriname and Zeeland,’’ 255, Table 1.

35 Enthoven, ‘‘An Assessment,’’ 402�/10.36 Emmer and Klooster, ‘‘The Dutch Atlantic,’’ 58.37 Of the 750 WIC ships bound for West Africa in the period between 1674�/1740, 40 were

shipwrecked (5.3%), 40 were taken by the enemy (5.3%), and nineteen were scrapped (2.5%).

Heijer, Goud, ivoor en slaven , 108�/9. As this period was especially rife with conflicts, I have

slightly lowered the percentage of the captured ships.38 Laet, Jaerlyck verhael , 1:34�/5; 2:48, 56�/7, 158; 3:135; 4:1, 280.39 Heijer, Goud, ivoor en slaven , 405, appendix 2; Klein, The Atlantic Slave Trade , 142�/3; and

Enthoven, ‘‘Pinassen,’’ 43�/57.

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Guiana plantation colonies expanded, ships became even smaller, because they had to sail

up the shallow rivers to take plantation commodities onboard. This tendency toward

smaller ships is of course reflected in the number of persons on board.

Sailors

In the period between 1624�/1636, the WIC equipped over eight hundred ships, with

an average of 100 men on board, of which 40% were sailors and 60% soldiers.40 Between

1674 and 1740, 750 company ships sailed for West African destinations. On average, these

vessels had a crew of 43 sailors.41 Company slave ships had a higher average of 58

seamen.42 This concurs with privately operated ships in the Atlantic. In the years 1720�/

1750, the Middelburgsche Commercie Compagnie (MCC) equipped 36 ships, including

slave ships, with an average crew of 48 sailors.43 Ships especially equipped for a bilateral

trip to the Spanish colonies had particularly large crews.44 After 1730, the average number

of seafarers on private slave ships was 34.45 For Amsterdam merchantmen, average crew

size declined from 27 in the 1760s to 24 in the 1790s.46 Although averages deviate from 58

for WIC slave ships to 24 for the Amsterdam ships, I estimate an average of 35 sailors on

Dutch ships for the period 1600�/1800.

Data on mortality among seamen on Atlantic ships is rather scarce. On a slave ship, a

sailor had by far the highest chance of not surviving the voyage. On board slave ships

operated by the MCC the mortality was 18%.47 With only some 1,600 slaving voyages on a

total of 36,000 Dutch Atlantic voyages these figures are, however, not significant. In bilateral

shipping death rates were much lower. Figures for French ships to the West Indies suggest a

mortality of 6%.48 Death rates on board ships to Berbice were even as low as 1%.49 I assume

that on average a seaman had a 5% chance of not surviving an Atlantic voyage.

Soldiers

The second largest group leaving Europe for an Atlantic destination were military

personnel*/at first only in the service of the WIC, but later also for the Societeit van

Suriname and the Societeit van Berbice. All three corporations hired individuals to serve as

40 See note 38.41 Heijer, Goud, ivoor en slaven , 96 and appendix 2.42 Postma, Slave Trade Data Collection. This data is from the period 1675�/1738 and is based on

174 slaving voyages. I thank Johannes Postma for sharing his information.43 Reinders Folmer-van Prooijen, Van goederenhandel , 188�/9, appendix 6.44 Klooster, Illicit Riches , 84.45 Postma Slave Trade Data Collection; and Unger, ‘‘Bijdragen, 2,’’ 109�/10, appendix 1.46 This is based on a selection from the register of the Amsterdam Waterschout (water bailiff).

For the years 1760, 1770, 1782, and 1794 crew size of all ships with an Atlantic destination were

collected. Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam (GAA), Archief van de Waterschout 1, 2, 22,

42. The Postma Suriname Data Collection gives the same averages.47 Unger, ‘‘Bijdragen, 2,’’ 26.48 Goff, ‘‘The Labour Market,’’ 315�/6.49 Buffart and De Jong, ‘‘Naar de Barbiesjes,’’ 82.

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soldiers overseas, mostly disadvantaged males from Germany and Scandinavia.50 After

arrival in the colony, the recruits received some basic military training. Eventually they

were billeted in the main fort or in one of the isolated outposts. Very rarely did they see

military action. Boredom must have been their greatest enemy.

On only three different occasions did the States General send regular army units

overseas. The first time, in the 1640s in support of the WIC in Brazil, the 6,000 troops were

too little, too late.51 Due to malnutrition and bad treatment slaves revolted in Berbice in

1763. Colonel Jan Marius de Salve and his regiment of 660 officers and men were sent to

Berbice to suppress the rebellion.52 Ten years later 1,600 soldiers were shipped to

Suriname to fight the maroons in the so-called Boni wars. This left us the famous narrative

of John Stedman notating his exploits during his five-year expedition to Suriname.53 As

Table 4 shows, by the end of the eighteenth century some 3,000 European troops lived in

Dutch settlements, although over time numbers could vary significantly. In Essequibo, for

instance, in 1780 there were 54 soldiers. Five years later, this number had doubled, and in

1790, in Essequibo and Demerara combined, the number of soldiers was 532.54 On

Curacao there were 200 troops around 1790; in a few years this number had quadrupled.55

Data on the number of soldiers sent overseas is scant. In the seventeenth century,

WIC ships had some 60 soldiers onboard.56 The 6,000 troops for Brazil were carried in 40

merchantmen: averaging 150 troops per ship. Between 1696 and 1765 the Societeit van

Suriname did send some 6,800 soldiers overseas, averaging six to seven soldiers per

vessel.57 To West Africa, the average number of soldiers was probably 15.58 For the two

hundred year period between 1600�/1800, I assume that on average 10 soldiers per ship

were sent overseas.

Although the military were a rather small portion of Dutch Atlantic societies, with

the exception of the West African forts, relatively many soldiers were needed. For the

period between 1740�/1794 Johannes Postma found that of the recorded 13,343 soldiers

shipped to Suriname, only 976 returned.59 The two main causes for this astounding

difference were death and desertion. In 1719 on the island of Curacao, for instance, of the

50 Ibid., 24�/9; and Lohnstein, ‘‘De werving voor de militie,’’ 67�/70.51 Hoboken, Witte de With , 43.52 Netscher, Geschiedenis van de kolonien , 225�/6.53 Stedman, Narrative ; and Hoogbergen, De Boni-oorlogen.54 Zeeuws Archief, Middelburg, Archief Adriaan Anthony Brown 36: Rapport van de militairen in

fort Zelandia, 2 februari 1780; NA, RvC 119: Garnizoen Demerara & Essequibo, May 1795.55 NA, RvC 120: Report Sontag, appendix 7; and Coomans-Eustatia, ‘‘Het oog van de Engelsen,’’

142, appendices 1�/2.56 See note 38.57 Postma, ‘‘Population of a Tropical Slave Plantation;’’ and Lohnstein, ‘‘De werving voor de

militie,’’ 71.58 In the period between 1718�/1760, annually on average 82 Europeans died and had to be

supplemented. During the eighteenth century, four ships per year called at the forts. Of the 20

or so company passengers onboard, presumably around 15 had to be soldiers. Feinberg,

Africans and Europeans , 36�/7; Enthoven, ‘‘An Assessment,’’ 406, Table 14.3.59 Postma, ‘‘Populating a Tropical Slave Plantation.’’

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newly arrived recruits, nine soldiers had deserted and seven others were dead after only a

few days.60

The mortality rate in the forts in West Africa was 18.5%. On average almost one

European out of five in the employment of the WIC, of which around 80% were military,

died every year on the Gold Coast.61 On Curacao and in Suriname the soldiers’ death rate

was much lower, but still higher compared to the rest of the European population.62 Of

the recruits in Berbice, for instance, 15% died after one year, six percent in the second year,

TABLE 4

Number of soldiers in the Dutch Atlantic settlements, c. 1790

Company and region Troops Total

Dutch West India CompanyForts in Africa 280Curacao 250Aruba 10Bonaire 15St Eustatius 170St Martin 60Saba 15Essequibo 100Demerara 230Total 1,130

Societeit van SurinameParamaribo garrison 53033 posts of the Cordon or Barrier 1,090Artillery Corps 160Neger Vrijcorps (Black Rangers) 120Total 1,900

Societeit van BerbiceFort Nassau 50Post Wironje 20Post Acquewyn 20Fort Sint Andries 90Post Nieuwe Sloot 5Total 185

Total 3,215

Sources: NA, Verspreide West-Indische Stukken (VWIS) 113: Stamlyst van het gedetacheerde corps in RioEssequebo, 25 April 1789; ibid., 156: Stamlyst van het Corps troops in Demerary, April 1789; ibid., 496:Lyst der jouissances der militie op Curacao; ibid., 525: Generale monster rolle van alle militairen op deKust, 31 December 1793; ibid., 1211: Diverse staten; NA., Archief van de Stadhoudelijke Secretarie 1332:Het militaire wezen op St Eustatius & St Maarten, 1791; NA, Archief Pieter van de Spiegel 134: Militiecolonien; NA, Archief van de Societeit van Berbice (SvB) 180:25, Lyst van het Corps Militaire, 1790; NA,RvC 119: Garnizoen Demerara & Essequibo, May 1795; Hoogbergen, De Boni-oorlogen, 22�/32; andLohnstein, ‘‘Organisatie,’’ 56�/7.

60 NA, NWIC 573:848, letter from H. Veldtman, 14 January 1719.61 Feinberg, Africans and Europeans , 36�/7.62 Teenstra, De Nederlandsche West-Indische eilanden , 1:178.

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and seven percent in the third year.63 Of the recruits newly arrived on Curacao, one third

had died shortly after arrival in 1732.64

Company and Societeit officials complained constantly about the depleted

garrisons.65 The high death rate amongst the military was mainly caused by the

substandard ‘‘quality’’ of the soldiers. There are many observations on the poor physical

health of the recruits: many were old and grey, some were deaf, blind or even paralysed,

and others were alcoholics. In 1735, of a group of 35 soldiers destined for Suriname, none

were considered fit.66

As mentioned above, the second reason why the colonial garrisons were in constant

need of new recruits was desertion. During the fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780�/1784) in

Berbice, for instance, out of the garrison of 40, 23 soldiers deserted. In 1792, eight soldiers

jumped ship during the voyage to the colony.67 For the other garrisons the situation was

no better.

Passengers

The third and smallest group crossing the ocean were passengers. Two distinct

European groups migrated via the Netherlands to the New World: Jews and the so-called

Pennsylvania Dutch. Furthermore, many non-Europeans shuttled between the Old and the

New World.

In the Jewish Atlantic Diaspora, the Dutch World played a crucial role. In New

Holland, Isaac Aboab da Fonesca became the first rabbi in the Americas. Jodensavanne

(Jewish Savannah) in Suriname was the first permanent Jewish plantation settlement in

the New World, and in Willemstad, on the island of Curacao, the oldest synagogue in the

Western Hemisphere, Mikve Israel, still exists. In Dutch Brazil, Suriname and on Curacao

three different but unique Jewish settlements emerged.68

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the city of Amsterdam attracted New

Christians, Crypto-Jews, conversos , Spanish and Portuguese Marranos, Sephardim and

Ashkenazi for a variety of reasons. Merchants specializing in long distance trade were

drawn to the city because of its international entrepot, while others had fled war-torn

Germany or the Iberian Inquisition, and some came to mokum (the place) because of its

63 Buffart and De Jong, ‘‘Naar de Barbiesjes,’’ 82.64 NA, NWIC 580:515, letter by J. van Collen, 26 April 1732.65 For Curacao see: NA, NWIC 570:598, letter by J. van Collen, 13 January 1711; ibid., 571:695,

letter by Van Beuningen, 21 July 1714; ibid., 314: J. van Collen to Heren X, 10 January 1735; ibid.,

315: letter by J. van Collen, 23 July 1736; ibid., 1146:54, Van Beeck to chamber Zeeland, 26 July

1701; ibid., 573:285, letter of 20 November 1717. For Essequibo and Demerara see: Villiers,

Storm van ’s-Gravensande , 182, 27 December 1757; 287, 8 December 1766; 389, 29 August 1772.

For Suriname see: NA, SvS 222: 6 July 1697; Dragtenstein, De ondraaglijke stoutheid , 32;

Hoogbergen, De Boni-oorlogen , 23.66 NA, NWIC 566:297, letter by N. van Beeck, 21 June 1701; ibid., 567:4, letter by N. van Beeck,

30 June 1702; Hoogbergen, De Boni-oorlogen , 23; and Lohnstein, ‘‘De werving voor de milite,’’

73, 77�/8.67 Buffart and De Jong, ‘‘Naar de Barbiesjes,’’ 44.68 Wiznitzer, The Records , 3; Frankel, ‘‘Antecedents and Remnants,’’ 394�/436; and Buddingh’,

Van Punt en Snoa .

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relatively religious tolerance.69 Therefore, when the WIC unfolded its ‘‘grand design’’ to

conquer Brazil, many Jews already lived in the Netherlands, including dozens of New

Christians from Brazil. In October 1629, the directors of the WIC ruled that for the

settlements in the New World:

The liberty of Spaniards, Portuguese and natives, whether they be Roman Catholics or

Jews will be respected. No one will be permitted to molest them or subject them to

inquiries in matters of conscience or in their private homes.70

Two months later a huge fleet left the Dutch Republic for Pernambuco in Brazil, on board

were at least 40 Sephardim and 20 Ashkenazi.

It is a matter of debate how tolerant or repressive the Dutch were towards Judaism.

Wim Klooster paints a rather ambiguous picture.71 On the one hand, the Dutch colonial

government in Brazil guaranteed Jews freedom of conscience and allowed them to open

the first synagogue in the New World in 1637. Over time, Jews came to enjoy virtually

complete legal equality with Christians in Dutch Brazil. Their commercial significance even

earned them the right to retail trade, not allowed to them in Amsterdam. On the other

hand, the Dutch Reformed Church in Brazil consistently opposed their religious freedom,

and private Gentile residents tried to have the privileges revoked by arguing that Jews in

Brazil should not enjoy more rights than those in Amsterdam.72 In addition, in 1652 the

TABLE 5

An assessment of the demographic consequence of the Dutch Atlantic and Asiatic empires, 1600�/

1800

Dutch Atlantic Dutch East India Company

OutwardHomebound

%Reduction Outward

Homebound

%Reduction

Average annual number of ships 180 160 11 24 17 29

Average persons per shipSailors 35 33 5 124 �/

Military 10 1 90 62 �/

Passengers 7 4 50 21 �/

Total 52 38 206 109

Total individuals,1600�/1800

1,872,000 1,209,510 35 973,000 366,900 62

Annual average 9,360 6,048 4,865 1,835

Annual average number of people not returning 3,312 3,031

Source: For the Atlantic, see text and notes 35�/98. For the VOC: Bruijn, Gaastra and Schoffer, Dutch-Asiatic Shipping, 3:75, Table 13; 91, Table 22; 144, Table 27; 152, 162; Bruijn, ’De personeelsbehoefte,’218�/48; Bruijn and Lucassen, Op de schepen; and Gaastra, De geschiedenis, 85�/7, Tables 10�/12.

69 Swetschinski, Reluctant Cosmopolitans .70 Cited by Wiznitzer, The Records , 1�/2.71 Klooster, ‘‘Between Pernambuco and Amsterdam.’’72 Schalkwijk, The Reformed Church , 150, 249 ff.

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board of directors of the WIC wrote to Peter Stuyvesant, ‘‘This nation [of Jews] is cunning

and generally deceitful; therefore, one should not trust them too much.’’73

In any case, after the Dutch conquest of Recife, hundreds of Jewish families migrated

to Brazil, the majority of them were descendants of Iberian Marranos. The number of Jews

in Dutch Brazil was also increased by Brazilian conversos who during the Dutch occupation

officially returned to Judaism. Eventually, of the 3,000 Europeans living in Dutch Brazil

about half were Jews. A small portion were planters; others were retailers or merchants

involved in importing and exporting.’’74

There are indications that from as early as the 1640s Jewish colonists settled on the

Wild Coast, but the evidence is somewhat disputable. In any case, after the fall of Recife in

1654 an exodus took place of ‘‘Dutch’’ Jews and Gentiles. Ships crammed with refugees

were forced to sail first to the West Indies because of the South Equatorial Current, calling

regularly at settlements for fresh provisions.75 Probably some Jewish planters and their

families disembarked on one of the West Indian island to start a new life. In September

1654, a group of twenty-three had arrived in New Amsterdam, thus founding the first

Jewish community in what was to become the city of New York.76

During the second half of the 1650s and the early 1660s many Jewish families

returned to America, this time to the Dutch settlements on the Wild Coast at Cayenne,

Essequibo, Pomoroon, Morucca and Aperwacque. Again, they were granted full religious

rights. The second Anglo-Dutch War (1664�/1667), however, ended these promising

enterprises. Most of the Jewish planters and their families left the settlements and ended

up in English Suriname. Others settled in the West Indies. When Suriname became Dutch

in 1667, many Jews, once again, came under Dutch rule, this time for good.77

The Jewish centre in Suriname became Jodensavanne, where in 1685 the synagogue

Bracha veShalom was opened. Most of the Jews were planters, although this changed

during the second half of the eighteenth century. While 115 out of 401 plantations (29%)

had been in Jewish hands around 1730, in 1788 only forty-six out of 591 (8%) remained.78

By then, many Jews had settled in the capital Paramaribo, the largest Jewish community in

the Western Hemisphere. In 1791, of 3,360 Europeans living in Suriname, some 2,000 were

of Jewish descent.79 The overwhelming majority of Suriname Jewish immigrants came

from Amsterdam. Out of 332 new arrivals for the period between 1771�/1795, 276 arrived

from mokum. If most Jews from Amsterdam left for Suriname, their second favourite

destination was Curacao, the second largest Jewish community in the Dutch Atlantic

World.80 In 1652, a first group of Jews settled on the island, and others followed suit.

Before long, many merchants and ship owners were Jews, who made full use of their

73 Gehring, Correspondence , 154.74 Wiznitzer, The Records , 2.75 Hajstrup, Das Memorial , 108 ff.76 Klooster, ‘‘Networks of Colonial Entrepreneurs.’’77 Ibid.; Oppenheim, ‘‘An Early Jewish Colony;’’ idem, ‘‘Supplemental data;’’ and Zwarts, ‘‘Een

episode,’’ 519�/30.78 Klooster, ‘‘The Jews in Suriname and Curacao,’’ 352.79 Dragtenstein, De ondraaglijke stoutheid , 25�/7; and Wolbers, Geschiedenis van Suriname , 442.80 Cohen, Jews in Another Environment , 15 ff.

166 VICTOR ENTHOVEN

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particular assets: mastery of the Spanish language and extensive family networks spanning

the Atlantic. They transformed the barren island into a major entrepot.81 On Curacao, too,

Jews had full religious freedom. In 1733, they opened the synagogue Mikve Israel. By then

there were 410 European households, allegedly three quarters of them occupied by Jews.

This last observation was made by Governor Van Collen, who often complained about the

Jewish nation on the island, and who bewailed the lack of houses for Christians.82 By 1789

the population on the island had reached 3,814 Europeans, included 1,100 Jews.83

In 1664, the Dutch lost their North American possessions to the English. Never-

theless, Dutch influence remained significant, not only because a substantial Dutch

community stayed in New York, but also because of the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch:

immigrants predominantly from Germany. The Middle colonies especially were constantly

in need of new, preferably Protestant, settlers. This time it was not rich planters or

capitalist merchants who made the Atlantic crossing, but labourers*/and the German

Rhine lands had an almost unlimited supply of these. Dutch on the rivers Maas and Rhine,

especially Rotterdam with its large English speaking mercantile community, were ideally

situated to ship these poor souls to the New World. Several merchant houses specialised in

this human trafficking and established an intricate system of agents along the whole route

from Germany via the Rhine River to Rotterdam and then to America. Most Pennsylvania

Dutch*/a corruption of the word Deutsch (Germans)*/entered the New World via

Philadelphia. Marianne Wokeck estimated that some 100,000 Germans migrated via the

Netherlands to one of the English colonies in North America during the eighteenth

century.84

The last category of passengers travelling between Europe and Africa, the Americas

and the West Indies, were non-Europeans, comprising Amerindians, Africans, Creoles,

Mulattoes, tapoejers and so forth. Almost from the start of their expansion in the Atlantic,

the Dutch invited Amerindians to Europe. An Amerindian from the Wiapoco River called

Jan was brought to Amsterdam as early as 1608. Unfortunately, nobody took care of him.85

During their short-lived occupation of Bahia during 1624 and 1625, the Dutch sent a

number of Amerindians from the coast of Paraıba to the Netherlands with the intention of

obtaining useful military information.86 Many people repatriating from Dutch Brazil

brought with them one or more Brazilians. The party of Tapuyas that voluntarily

accompanied Governor General Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen home, made quite an

impression in The Hague. At the other end of the social ladder, Corporal Peter Hansen

Hajstrup had an Amerindian servant whom he brought with him to Holland. Unfortu-

nately, a few days after arriving in Amsterdam they lost track of each other. In addition,

81 Klooster, ‘‘The Jews in Suriname and Curacao,’’ 353-61; and Israel, ‘‘The Jews of Dutch

America,’’ 335�/49.82 NA, NWIC 582:242, Number of households, 1735; ibid., 315: Letter by J.P. van Collen, 18 Juni

1736; and Emmanuel and Emmanuel, History of the Jew , I:132�/50.83 NA, RvC 120: Report Sontag, appendix 16; Klooster, ‘‘The Jews in Suriname and Curacao,’’

355, Table 18.1.84 Wokeck, Trade in Strangers , 37 ff.85 GAA, Notarieel Archief 195/9 bis: 497, 15 March 1608.86 Boxer, The Dutch in Brazil , 21�/7; and Boer, ‘‘De val van Bahia.’’

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several Amerindians were sent to the Dutch Republic to become reformed ministers.87

Information on North American Indians visiting the Netherlands is scarce, but probably

there were a few.88 Owing to their limited presence in Dutch colonial society, only

incidental South American indigenous inhabitants visited the Netherlands during the

eighteenth century, almost all of them came from Suriname. Even today, the number of

ethnic Indians from Suriname living in the Netherlands is very small.89

The most famous indigenous African to visit the Netherlands was Jacobus Captein.

He studied at Leiden University where he gained a doctorate in theology in 1742 on the

thesis Dissertatio Politica-Theologica de Servitute Libertati Christianæ non Contraria .90

Africans became a common feature of Dutch society*/at least judging from the many

paintings, depicting black servants, including the famous painting by Rembrandt van Rijn

of two African boys (1661).91 During the eighteenth century, African slaves and free people

of colour from the Guiana plantation colonies and the Antilles frequently travelled back

and forth to the Dutch Republic. Johannes Postma found that in a 55-year period 931

people of colour, predominantly slaves, travelled from Suriname to the Netherlands, an

average of 17 per year. After some time, some 80% of them returned to Suriname. There is

also evidence of people of colour from the Antilles going to the Netherlands.92 All these

newcomers to the Old World added to the black image in the Netherlands.

These examples from the seventeenth century suggest several dozen colonists on

outward ships. Between 34 and 48 settlers travelled per ship to the Dutch settlements in

North America, including a dozen or so soldiers.93 Figures for the eighteenth century are

much lower: as Postma found, of 8,000 passengers sailing in 2,000 ships from the

Netherlands to Suriname, on average of only four passengers per vessel.94 For West Africa,

the number of passengers on board outward ships was probably five.95 To the American

Middle colonies, however, an average of over 200 German migrants was crammed on

board every vessel.96 Assuming that there were fewer passengers than soldiers on the

outward voyage*/but at least more than four*/we can estimate an overall average of

seven passengers on every outward-bound ship.

How many of the passengers stayed overseas and how many returned? It is clear

that many people shuttled back and forth between the Netherlands and the Atlantic

settlements. Especially planters and merchants sometimes made several crossings to

attend to their businesses. In 1646, for instance, 29 vrijlieden (free settlers) left Brazil for the

Dutch Republic on the ship Zelandia .97 Another ship, the Nieuw Gouden Spoor , repatriated

87 Boxer, The Dutch in Brazil , 135-6; Hajstrup, Das Memorial , 121; Mello, Nederlanders in Brazilie ,

224; and Schalkwijk, The Reformed Church .88 Meuwese, ‘‘For the Peace and Well-Being,’’ 71�/2.89 Oostindie, ‘‘Kondreman in Bakrakondre,’’ 7, 9�/10; and Schoorl, ‘‘Surinaamse Indianen,’’ 43�/4.90 Kpobi, Saga of a Slave .91 For the black presence in the Dutch world, see: Blakely, Blacks in the Dutch World .92 Postma, ‘‘Populating a Tropical Slave Plantation;’’ Oostindie, ‘‘Kondreman in Bakrakondre,’’

6�/19; Maduro, ‘‘Nos a bai ulanda,’’ 145�/157.93 Rink, Holland on the Hudson , 166�/7, Table 6.4; and Jacobs, ‘‘De scheepvaart en handel.’’94 Postma, ‘‘Populating a Tropical Slave Plantation.’’95 See note 58.96 Wokeck, Trade in Strangers , 70�/1, Tables 3 and 4.97 NA, OWIC 61:77, Lyst van vrijlieden, 1647.

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14 persons from Essequibo back to the Dutch Republic in 1741, including former

commander Gelskerke, three plantation directors, an indigo planter, a surgeon, a smith,

and four soldiers.98 As mentioned above, most of the people of colour returned to the

New World. Postma found that of the 8,000 outgoing passengers (including people of

colour) some 5,300 returned. In other words, of the people going to Suriname only one in

three stayed abroad. Two thirds returned to the Dutch Republic. Therefore, I assume, that

for all settlements, including North America, on average at least 50% of all passengers

crossing the Atlantic returned to Europe.

Now we have sufficient estimates compiled, not only to make a well-considered

assessment of the demographic consequences of the Dutch Atlantic World, but also to

compare these with the human needs of the VOC. In the 200-year period between 1600

and 1800, almost 1.9 million individuals left the Dutch Republic for an Atlantic destination,

of which 1.2 million returned. So, overall, some 700,000 people (35%) did not return.

Annually, on average 180 ships left with 52 individuals on board, of which 160 vessels

returned with 38 people. Therefore, the Dutch Atlantic was annually in need of 9,300

individuals, of which eventually 6,000 returned. In other words, every year on average

3,300 individuals remained in the New World, either dead or alive.

The Dutch East India Company

Calculated along the same lines as for the Atlantic, figures for the VOC are as follows.

Almost one million individuals left the Netherlands of whom some 370,000 returned. In

total 630,000 men (52%) did not make it back. Annually, on average 24 large East Indiamen

left Dutch ports with 206 people on board, of which 17 vessels with 109 people returned.

Therefore, the VOC needed 4,800 individuals per year, of which some 1,800 came back.

This means that an annual average of 3,000 people either died or stayed in Asia.

There are, however, several differences between the Dutch Asiatic and Atlantic

Worlds. Overseas the VOC employed on average 20,000 Europeans, many more than in the

Dutch Atlantic World, even in the heydays of New Holland and New Netherland. It had

never been company policy, however, to establish settlements overseas, although over

time at the Cape an agricultural colony of so-called vrije boeren (free farmers) came into

being, and major towns developed, like Batavia and Colombo on Java and Ceylon (now Sri

Lanka).99

The Dutch East Indiamen were among the largest wooden merchant ships ever,

averaging 130�/170 feet in length, and weighing from 200�/450 last . Ships used in the

Atlantic were much smaller, especially during the eighteenth century. In all the VOC

equipped 4,721 outward and 3,354 homebound voyages. Therefore, 1,367 ships did not

return. 246 were wrecked by storms, fog, faulty navigation or un-seaworthiness, and 64

were captured by pirates and enemy ships. Overall, only 6.6% of all Dutch East Indiamen

were lost. The rest were declared unfit and scrapped. The number of discarded ships was

higher than in the Atlantic because the VOC used the East Indiamen intensively in the

intra-Asiatic trades, while in the intra-Caribbean trade the Dutch predominately used small

local craft. The West Indiamen were almost exclusively used for bilateral shipping.100

98 Public Record Office, Kew Colonial Office 116:20, 21 and 28.99 Wet, Die vrijliede ; Biewenga, De Kaap de Goede Hoop ; and Raben, ‘‘Batavia and Colombo.’’

100 Klooster, Illicit Riches , 124; and Goslinga, The Dutch in the Caribbean, 1680�/1791 , 189 ff.

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The average mortality rate on board VOC ships was four percent, comparable with

Atlantic shipping.101 The death rate in Asia, however, was as high as 12.5% for sailors and

26.5% for soldiers. The average mortality rate in the Dutch Asiatic settlements was 17%.102

VOC officials, including sailors and soldiers, had all contracted to stay in Asia for five years.

The majority of them died during their stay abroad. In the Dutch Atlantic world, however,

by far the largest group to cross the ocean were sailors, almost 1.2 million of them. They

made mainly bilateral trips, without long tenures overseas and therefore subject to the

consequent high risk of dying. This is one of the main differences in human terms between

East and West.

Around half of the soldiers, sailors and artisans in the service of the VOC came from

outside the territory of the Dutch Republic, predominantly from the German territories.103

In this respect, there was no difference with the Dutch Atlantic World.

The Balance Sheet

Over time, the volume of Dutch demographic weight in the Atlantic was rather

limited. In the 17th century, with the colonies of New Holland in Brazil and New

Netherland in North America, the number of people living overseas was no more than

25,000. By 1800, this number has risen to some 175,000, including 150,000 slaves. The

European element of the Dutch Atlantic was unique, however, because of the relatively

high numbers of non-Dutch such as Sephardim, Ashkenazi and Germans. First in New

Holland, and later in Suriname and on the island of Curacao relatively large Jewish

communities developed. The Dutch were also instrumental in peopling North America, by

shipping some 100,000 Pennsylvania Dutch to the New World.

The number of Europeans living overseas in Dutch Atlantic settlements has always

been less than the 20,000 or so Europeans employed by the VOC in Asia. In the Atlantic,

the Dutch had an active policy in establishing overseas settlements, while in Asia this had

never been the case. Nonetheless, the human demands for the Atlantic region were much

higher than those for Asia where some 1.9 million people were sent overseas to the West,

of whom almost two-thirds returned. The VOC did send a million people to the East, of

whom a mere 40% came back alive. This means that the average annual demands for the

Atlantic and for Asia were 9,300 and 4,800 people respectively, of which 6,000 and 1,800

individuals returned. In other words, every year some 3,300 and 3,000, respectively, did not

return to Europe. Therefore, the drain on the Dutch population caused by

the Atlantic compared to the VOC was only slightly higher, although due to the open

labour market in the Dutch Republic most of the young men who did not return were

German.

Although the average annual human shortfall for the Dutch Republic was for the

Atlantic perhaps some ten percent higher than for Asia, to conclude, as Emmer did, that

the Atlantic was a drain on the Dutch population is, to say the least, misleading. Moreover,

in economic terms Atlantic commerce was far more important to the Dutch Republic than

trade with Asia. For the cost of a few hundred people more involved in the venture than in

101 Bruijn, Gaastra and Schoffer, Dutch-Asiatic Shipping , 3:162.102 Brug, Malaria en malaise , 29 and 174.103 Bruijn and Lucassen, Op de schepen , 140; Opper, Dutch East India Company , 172�/4; and

Gelder, Het Oost-Indisch avontuur , 53�/70.

170 VICTOR ENTHOVEN

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the VOC, the Dutch Atlantic World generated much higher proceeds. The estimated

annual turnover for the Atlantic was 30 million guilders, compared to 20 million for the

VOC.104

Especially after the loss of New Holland in 1654 and New Netherland 10 years later,

the Dutch presence in the Atlantic became lean and mean*/no inefficient and costly

apparatus, especially in human terms, but small-scale privately run operations supported

by a relatively small infrastructure, provided by the WIC, the Societeit van Suriname and

the Societeit van Berbice.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Victor Enthoven (Ph.D. Leiden University, 1996) was affiliated for several years with

the Institute for the History of European Expansion (IGEER) at Leiden University. At present,

he is associate Professor of History and Political Science at the Royal Netherlands Naval

College at Den Helder, Netherlands. He is the co-editor of two recent collections, Riches

from Atlantic Commerce. Dutch Transatlantic Trade and Shipping, 1585�/1817 (2003) and

Een saluut van 26 schoten. Liber amicorum aangeboden aan Ger Teitler (2005).

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(1927/8): 519�/30.

Victor Enthoven, Department of International Security Studies, Royal Netherlands Naval

College, Het Nieuwe Diep 8, 1781 AC, Den Helder, The Netherlands,

Email: v.enthoven@kim.nl

176 VICTOR ENTHOVEN

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