The foundation of New York

From the 16th century onwards, Holland held its own as the world’s foremost economic power. The ships of the Dutch East India Company ruled the waves, and for a long time, the Dutch monopoly on the nutmeg trade didn’t give their competitors a chance. By the 17th century, however, the English began to take a toll on Dutch affairs, not only in Asia, but in the New World, too. From the early 17th century onwards, more and more Britons immigrated to the east coast of America. Their dominance threatened the very survival of the small Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. The Dutch East India Company, or VOC, had purchased an area of land known as Manahatta from the Native Americans and turned it into a trading center for the lucrative spice trade. By September 1664, however, the days of the Dutch colony are numbered. The dispute with the British has turned into an all-out war, and the isolated settlement of New Amsterdam is the perfect target for a British assault. Enemy ships appear off the coast of New Amsterdam, and a bloody sea battle breaks out between the British and the Dutch. The battle spreads to all the seven seas. Neither the Dutch nor the English, however, emerge victorious. In the end, both sides are exhausted and come to the conclusion that peaceful trading is more profitable than war. After all, it wasn’t the Dutch that owned the land around Manahatta, but the Dutch East India Company, which dominated the East Indian spice trade. The company shareholders were unhappy that their money was being used to finance an unwinnable war. So the Dutch traders refocused their efforts on their primary aim: controlling the spice trade. It is a little-known fact that the Dutch were prepared to swap their controlled island of Manhattan with the English-controlled Banda Islands in the East Indies. In the city of Breda, the one-time enemies signed a peace treaty. The Dutch gave up their claim on New Amsterdam, while in return, the British relinquished their hold on the nutmeg trade in the Moluccas, and the colony of New Amsterdam became New York. In effect, the island of Manhattan was acquired for a couple of hundred nutmeg trees.