Who Cares About the 80 Years War for Dutch Independence?

I have an internet acquaintance from Holland who frequently likes to extoll the importance of Dutch influences on US history and society. He usually reminds me that New York was originally Nieuw Nederland (he prefers the Dutch spelling) and will refer to the Roosevelts and other prominent Americans whose ancestors arrived from Holland. It is certainly true that the Dutch have played a role in the development of the United States but I wanted to approach Dutch influence from a different perspective, time and place, beginning with the 80 Years War in Europe (1568-1648).

Anyone who has taught history will get the question I used in the title (“who cares?”) either verbally from a student or from the look on their face when the subject of a war between Spain and 17 small North European provinces begun over 400 years ago arises. Sometimes the answer is not straightforward. The 80 Years War is one such case because the events and consequences mostly affect the US indirectly via England and the shifting of power in Europe.

The 80 Years War began shortly after Philip II of Spain became Holy Roman Emperor in 1566. At the time he was the world’s most powerful regent controlling territories in France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, England and Ireland during his 37 year marriage to Queen Mary I, colonies around coasts of Africa and India, South America, Mexico, south-central California, and the Philippines (named in Philip’s honor). The Dutch had long resented the slow and impersonal bureaucracy of the Holy Roman Empire. When the strongly Catholic Philip came to power, he began repressing Protestants using the Inquisition to enforce his will which enraged the predominantly Protestant Dutch. Within two years the 17 Provinces revolted.

Philip sent Spanish troops to Holland who initially succeeded in controlling the rebellion. However, the Protestant-Catholic rivalry could be tricky. Catholic Queen Mary died in 1558 and Philip lost his claim to England. Though officially neutral on the subject of religion, Queen Elizabeth I generally favored the Protestants and began sending aid to the Dutch. Other Spanish rivals like France also joined the cause. Gradually through effective leadership and assistance, Dutch rebels re-took their land and formed a republic. In the process, they developed a strong navy and began a prosperous sea trade around Europe and to the New World.

The growth of the Dutch navy led to the founding of a fort and later a colony in the New World in 1624 named New Amsterdam on the Hudson River between English colonies in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The rise of Dutch commerce continued to be important after the 80 Years War ended. England and Holland became rivals for control of oceanic trade leading to several wars between the two former allies. Though the wars generally went badly for the English, they did capture New Amsterdam in 1664 which had expanded to a broader inland colony, New Netherlands. The English renamed their new city and colony New York City and New York respectively.

Here the old Catholic-Protestant rivalry came into play again. Catholic James II became king of England in 1685. When he produced a male heir in 1688, the English Parliament feared a new Catholic English dynasty and invited Protestant Dutch Prince William of Orange (James’ 1st cousin) to take the throne as a co-regent with Queen Mary II as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688.* Historian Niall Ferguson referred to the accession of William a de facto merger of Dutch and English commercial interests allowing among other things for England to take over lucrative Dutch trade assets such as the Dutch East India Company.[1]

So, how does all this relate to America? First, the 80 Years War produced a commercially powerful colony in New York City which later became key in the American Revolution and the center of the development of the US Industrial Revolution. Second, the war created a powerful commercial Dutch fleet which after the Anglo-Dutch merger of 1688 made England the world’s foremost naval power helping American commerce in the Colonial Period (and after the War of 1812).

Also, remember the Dutch East India Company? The successor British East India Company was in severe financial straits by 1770 and British began passing laws like the Stamp Act and the Navigation Acts in part to shore up the company. The British East India Company brought ships to Boston Harbor in 1773 to sell tea which the Sons of Liberty boarded in the Boston Tea Party. In more general terms, the Stamp Act, Navigation Acts and Intolerable Acts (the latter passed after the Boston Tea Party) generated a revolutionary spirit: “no taxation without representation” which inspired the American Revolution.

So in response to my friend, I acknowledge Dutch influence in the founding of the United States. That said, America is a conglomeration of peoples from many nations of which the Dutch are one of many including the Scots, English, Irish, French, Germans, Poles, Italians, Africans, Asians, and many others who made significant contributions. We can argue about who is most important but that is a subject for another post at another time.

*One tangible Dutch influence here in Virginia, the first college in Virginia and the second founded in the US was named “William & Mary” in William’s honor.

[1] Ferguson, Niall, Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World. New York: Penguin, 2004, p. 24-32.

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