The Iberian Example

The overseas expansion of the Spanish and Portuguese seaborne empires served as a form of guide for Dutch expansion into the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, but certain features of the Iberian model were not adopted by the Dutch interlopers.

The Spanish quest for gold and silver led to the discovery by the conquistadors of the gold and silver mines in the New World. In Asia the search for wealth took another form: the Portuguese seafarers tapped the rich resources of the monsoon trade that had already connected for over a millennium the ports of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the China Seas. Seeking glory in overseas exploits was a feature of the “world of honor” so characteristic of the fifteenth- and sixteenth­century Portuguese and Spanish courts. Honra e proveito, honor and advantages, were the prime movers of Portugal’s nobility. For many Portuguese noblemen, climbing the ladder of success within the social hierarchy of the kingdom involved seeking merits by displaying courage overseas. Using their inherited natural au­thority, these fidalgos played a central role in Portugal’s expansion overseas.

The Portuguese crown indirectly administered its monopoly in Asia through the Estado da India in Goa, deriving income from tolls and taxes and by contracting out trade.

The Dutch seaborne empire in the East indeed displayed radically different traits. It is often suggested that these were essentially Dutch, but on closer examination these traits might be better identified as typical economic features of early modern society. In seventeenth-century West European society, these features became first visible within the Dutch setting. One major distinction is that in the Dutch case such features as “God and Glory” were almost nonexistent. The Protestant Dutch neither aimed at converting Asian peoples to the Christian religion, nor were these republicans obliged to seek the favor of a king.^[2101] But as far as gold was concerned: yes, the entrepreneurial Dutch, just like the Portuguese, went to Asia in search of spices and the treasures of the Orient, and yes, they readily adopted the cartaz system of their precursors.

So far for the Asian theater. But what about Dutch activities in the Atlantic? Even if Atlantic commerce was important in terms of its contribution to the Dutch economy, the historian who wishes to discuss the characteristics of the Dutch seaborne empire will think first of the large colonial possessions that were ac­quired by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Asia. As the result of intense rivalry among merchants within and outside the Netherlands, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) failed to impose its monopolies in Brazil, West Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. Dutch enterprise in the Atlantic remained private and competitive and did not show at all the coherence that was so typical of the VOC trade with Asia.^[2102]