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Abstract

While Holland is often overlooked in colonial power politics, she greatly impacted English developments in mainland America through trade and the Anglo-Dutch Wars. The Dutch Republic’s foothold in North America was far from unimportant, as it influenced its neighbors through its sheer economic power. The various continental settlements undeniably saw positive alteration due to direct trade with the Dutch. Without trade, the English may never have thrived or even survived in the New World. An example of this was how the Dutch would exchange food with the English settlers during dire times, possibly saving the early colonies from destruction.

England’s and Holland’s American commercial interactions did not stop at mutual gain, as economic and maritime competition also impacted the English settlements negatively. This was highlighted in the English Navigation Acts, which were meant to choke trade with the United Provinces to strengthen England whilst crippling their opponent. While the Navigation Acts successfully throttled the economy of New Netherland, it did so to the English colonies as well. After all, New England’s biggest trading partner was New Netherland, and southern colonies such as Virginia deeply relied on selling tobacco to their northern neighbor to keep themselves afloat.

The multiple conflicts between the English and the Dutch called the Anglo-Dutch Wars would arise from this economic rivalry. Over the course of these conflicts, all Dutch possessions in continental North America became Anglo dominated. The biggest of these gains that would be New Amsterdam, which the English would rename New York City (NYC). Under the English, as it was under the Dutch, NYC was a major trading hub that delt in various goods between Natives and Europeans. By the 18th century, NYC had become one of the chief cities under both the English and later the Americans.

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