A Brief History of the Anglo-Dutch Wars

and how New Amsterdam became New York

The Anglo–Dutch Wars (Dutch: Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen or Engelse Zeeoorlogen) were a series of wars fought between the English (later British) and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes. The first war took place during the English Interregnum, and was fought between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic (also known as the United Provinces). The second war and third wars took place after the Restoration, and involved the Kingdom of England and the Dutch Republic. The fourth war took place after the Acts of Union, and involved the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic.

While the British eventually emerged as the greater world power, the Dutch did see some significant victories.

Background

1341 — The Queen’s College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is founded. The college acquires the Liber Secretorum (Book of Secrets), an alchemical treatise by Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi. The book is seized the following year by King Edward III.

1611-1614: The territory of New Amsterdam is surveyed and charted by private commercial companies on behalf of the States General of the Dutch Republic and operates commercially before it becomes a provincial entity in 1624.

1625 – The town of New Amsterdam is founded by its second director, Willem Verhulst. Manhattan Island is selected as the optimal place for permanent settlement by the Dutch West India Company.

1641 – Oliver Cromwell introduces the Root and Branch Bill to the Long Parliament, which calls for the “abolishing of Archbishops and Bishops in England and Wales and for settling their lands and possessions upon Trustees for the use of the Commonwealth.” In other words, the bill calls for the decentralization of church authority, a chief aim of the Puritan Independents movement, of which Cromwell was a strong adherent.

1642 – The English Civil War begins, as the Long Parliament enters armed conflict with Charles I.

1645 — Parliament passes the Self-Denying Ordinance, which forces its members to choose between civil office and military command. Additionally, the army is remodeled on a national basis. The New Model Army takes the field with Oliver Cromwell second-in-command. Nobody comments on the irony that Parliament has dissolved church hierarchy, but has copied that hierarchy in its restructuring of the military.

1646 — Charles I surrenders to the Scots, ending the Civil War.

1647 — In danger of going unpaid for their service, the New Model Army seizes Charles I from Parliament’s imprisonment. The army demands full political equality for all men. In the midst of the debate, Charles I escapes.

1648 — The Civil War flares up again. Cromwell goes to war against various Royalist factions. Cromwell’s speeches become heavily based on biblical imagery and the belief that he has been provided as one of God’s chosen people to direct the affairs of the world.

1649 — Charles I is executed and Parliament declares a republic, the Commonwealth of England.

1649-1650 — Cromwell leads an invasion of Ireland to put down an alliance of Irish Confederate Catholics and English royalists. Consumed by religious hostility toward the Irish, Cromwell orders several massacres, writing “I am persuaded that this is a righteous judgment of God upon these barbarous wretches.”

1650 — Charles II lands in Scotland and is proclaimed king by the Covenanter regime. Cromwell returns to England to counter this new threat, then invades Scotland.

1651 — Cromwell’s forces destroy the last Scottish Royalist army. Charles II escapes and flees to exile in France and the Netherlands.

The First War

1652 — The Commonwealth conquers Ireland. Catholicism is banned and Catholic priests are murdered when captured. In addition, roughly 12,000 Irish people are sold into slavery—indentured servitude in Barbados—and Catholic-owned land is confiscated and given to Scottish and English settlers. The First Anglo-Dutch War begins.

1652 — While in the Netherlands, Charles II studies trade and finance, especially the functioning of charters.

1653 — Angered by endless debate, Cromwell dissolves Parliament by force. Under Cromwell’s guidance, the new Parliament of Saints is formed. Composed of nominated religious men from across the Commonwealth, the new Parliament is quickly dominated by the Fifth Monarchists, a group of religious radicals who believed that the Apocalypse was due to arrive in 1666. Having converted to their beliefs, Cromwell backs the Fifth Monarchists and is sworn in as Lord Protector of England in December.

1653-1658 — The Protectorate of Saints. Cromwell begins a campaign to change the corrupted society of the Commonwealth into a new Saintly kingdom on Earth, anticipating the imminent return of Jesus Christ. An era of extreme personal and religious freedom begins. Taxes and tithes are abolished, debtors are released from prison, and the long-standing ban on the practice of magic is lifted.

1654 — Thomas Venner, a leading Fifth Monarchist, tasked to catalog the Crown’s documents, discovers and publishes The Book of Secrets, intending with it to illustrate the depths of corruption to which the royals had subscribed. The book, however, becomes a raging success among the populace and the untrained practice of magic spreads throughout England.

1655 — England is in chaos, as casual and uneducated practitioners of magic flood the country with mysterious summonsing, illusions, and unquenchable fires. Ignoring the magical problem, Parliament begins to work on a radical program of constitutional reform. Rather than opposing Parliament’s bill, Cromwell dissolves them and bans The Book of Secrets.

1655-1658 — Cromwell attempts to bring order back to magical chaos, but his political enemies, including the cast-from-power Fifth Monarchists, oppose his every move. As rogue magicians grow in strength and madness, England descends into fear.

1658 — Cromwell dies and is succeeded by his ineffective son, Richard.

1659 — Richard Cromwell is forced to resign.

1660 — Charles II is invited to return from exile to be king under a restored monarchy.

1660-65 — Charles II embarks on a campaign to regain control of magic in England. His success inspires his brother James to belief in the notion of absolute monarchy, as well as to accustom the English people, who were still recovering from the magical chaos of the Cromwell years, to embrace the Divine Right of Kings.

1665-66 — The Great Plague and The Great Fire of London.

The Second War

1664-1667 – The Second Anglo-Dutch War

1664 – New Amsterdam falls provisionally and temporarily into the hands of the English, lead by James, Duke of York.

1670 – The English and French in secret sign the Treaty of Dover, an offensive alliance against the Dutch Republic and an agreement for Charles II to convert to Catholicism. King Louis XIV promises a large sum of money to Charles II.

1670 — The Charters of 1670. Charles II provisions the British East India Company, under royal charter since 1600, with the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas. Charles II uses his recently acquired funds from Louis XIV to invest in the East India Company, with the subsequent profits solving his perpetual lack of financing. Charles II also grants a charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company, with a similar private investment.

The Third War

1672 – King Louis XIV of France declares war on the Dutch, followed the next day by King Charles II of England.

1672 – King Charles II of England issues a Declaration of Indulgence, which suspends penal laws against non-conforming Protestants and relaxes the penal laws applying to Roman Catholics. When Parliament reconvenes they denounce the Declaration, but Charles II asserts his right to suspend penal laws passed by Parliament.

1673 – The Dutch Republic regains New Amsterdam in August with a fleet of 21 ships, renaming the city “New Orange”.

1674 – The Treaty of Westminster fails to end the Third Anglo-Dutch War (also known as the Franco-Dutch War). Despite pressure from the gentry, Charles II keeps Parliament prorogued in order to continue to wage war without oversight, relying on the income from the Charters of 1670 to finance his pursuits.

1677 – Despite pressure from Parliament, who argues that such an alliance could bring an end to the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Charles II refuses to betroth his daughter Mary to William, Prince of Orange. Attempts by Charles II to betroth Mary to the French heir, the Dauphin Louis, also fail. Mary remains unbethrothed.

1678 – The Treaty of Nijmegen ends the war between and among various countries, including France, England the Dutch Republic, Spain, Brandenburg, Sweden, Denmark, the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, and the Holy Roman Empire. Out of Dutch territory, France gains control of the Franche-Comté and some cities in Flanders and Hainaut, while England, per the terms of the Treaty of Dover, receives Walcheren, the mouth of the Scheldt, and the isle of Cadzand. Additionally, England retains conquered Dutch islands of Tobago, Saba, St Eustatius, and Tortola.  In exchange for agreeing to a fee of ten million guilders as war compensation to England and France, the Dutch Republic retains control of New Amsterdam (New Orange).

1679 – France and England sign a peace with the Holy Roman Empire.

1680 – Charles II opens negotiations to reconcile England with the Roman Catholic Church, against the fervent opposition of Parliament and the Church of England. up

1685 – Prince James, the Duke of York, is crowned as James II. A firm believer in absolute monarchy and religious liberty, his goals are at odds with the English Parliament and many of his subjects.

1688 – Fearing the pending success of James II’s plans to finalize the reconciliation of England with the Holy Catholic Church, religious and political leaders in England invite William of Orange to invade. In order to negate the threat of invasion, James II offers to abdicate the throne in favor of Mary, his Protestant daughter, rather than in favor of the son just born to his second wife. The nobles and church are placated and, when William of Orange lands his Dutch forces on English soil, a unified English army tells him to return home. In order to ensure their safety (and his own) James II sends his Roman Catholic wife, Mary of Modena, and their six-month-old son, Prince James, to France.

1689 – Mary becomes Queen Mary II. She continues her father’s policy of religious tolerance. James II remains active as an advisor to the throne and is demoted back to Duke of York.

1689 – Mary II summons a Convention Parliament, which after much deliberation passes the English Bill of Rights, which asserts subjects’ right to petition the monarch, as well as to have arms in defense. It also creates limited constitutional requirements of the Crown to seek the consent of the people, as represented in Parliament. While the drafters of the Bill of Rights attempt to bar Roman Catholics from the throne of England, in return for granting powers to Parliament that had Charles II had done away with, Mary II successfully negotiates a compromise, ensuring religious freedom and paving the way for normalization of relations with the Holy Roman Church.

1690 – Still hungry for power, and supported by members of Parliament who are incensed by the compromises that Mary II forced into the English Bill of Rights, William III lands in Ireland. However, he is defeated at the Battle of the Boyne and forced to retreat permanently to the Dutch Republic. In exchange for allowing him to retreat peacefully, Mary II extracts a single concession from William of Orange: that he rename New Orange (New Amsterdam) after her father, James II.  New Orange becomes New York, which meets the letter of William’s agreement with Mary, but is meant to be a constant reminder to James II of his diminished status.

1693 – Under the influence of her father, James II, and in consultation with the leaders of the Church of England, Mary II reconciles with the Holy Roman Church. This lays the groundwork for what later becomes known as the Great Reconciliation, in which Catholics and Protestants across Europe establish a unified creed allowing a diversity of religious practices to share a belief in cross-denominational salvation.

1694 – Mary II dies and James II retakes the throne.

1701 – James II dies. His exiled son, Prince James, proclaims himself King James III of England and Ireland and James VIII of Scotland. Unable to gain the support of Louis XIV or other Catholic states, he nevertheless gains some small support from dissatisfied Tory forces in England.

1702 – Queen Anne succeeds her father, James II, to the throne of England. James III is attainted for treason and his titles forfeited under English law.

1708-1715 – James III and his supporters, the Jacobites, stage a small uprising in Scotland, which is largely ignored.

1776 – The American Revolutionary War spills into Dutch New York. General Washington invades New York with 20,000 soldiers, which he spreads along its harbor. In response, the British land 22,000 men on Long Island and drive the Americans back to Brooklyn Heights. Under siege, Washington withdraws his entire remaining army across the East River. Fighting back and forth across the city, Washington’s army is eventually forced to withdraw across the Delaware into Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the British, firmly in occupation of New York, begin to hold American prisoners in obsolete, damaged, and captured ships off the shores of Brooklyn. Between 1776 and 1783, over 10,000 prisoners die from intentional neglect.

1778 — A flutemaker named John Jacob Astor moves to England from Walldorf, Germany. While there he uncovers an extant copy of the Book of Secrets, which becomes his most treasured possession.

The Fourth War

1780-1784 – Angered by the British occupation of New York as a staging ground for their war against the Colonies, the Dutch begin to support the American revolutionaries. The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War breaks out. The war ends disastrously for the Dutch and exposes the weakness of the political and economic foundations of the country.

1783 – The Treaty of Paris. Britain’s victory over the colonists is formalized. However, international pressure forces Britain to withdraw from Dutch New York. As their final act, the British sink their prison ships. Bodies wash ashore for several years afterward.

1783 — With the war over, John Jacob Astor moves to New York, where he begins to build a huge fortune.

1785 – Economically weakened by the war, the Dutch grant independence to New York. In an effort to protect itself economically from the effects of the American colonies’ failed bid for independence, as well as to recover from the wartime British occupation, New York immediately forms its own charter, allowing its citizens to become shareholders. New York’s independent charter—and its freedom to create and sell goods and services without limit—will be a constant thorn in the side of the British chartered interests whose heavy-handed economic exploitation of the colonies depends on monopoly control. New York begins to build massive wealth enabling the smuggling of goods into and out of the British colonies in America.

NOTE: Some material on this page has been adapted from
original material at www.wikipedia.org. Per the terms
of Wikipedia's Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License
3.0, material on this page is released under CC-BY-SA
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)