'White Gold': When the sugar trade became the reason for the Dutch invasion of Brazil

During the 17th century, Pernambuco was a major economic powerhouse thanks to the sugar trade.

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Author, Cristina J. Argaz

Position, BBC

On February 14, 1630, 60 warships were seen off the coast of Pernambuco, Brazil, and are said to have carried 80,000 warriors.

The ships had orange and white flags on their sails, identifying them as warships from the United Provinces (now the Netherlands). This part of Brazil was part of the territory that the Portuguese had conquered during the reign of King Philip IV of Spain, and the United Provinces now sought to control these territories.

The inhabitants of this region had a hard time defending themselves from the attack, and they received little help from Spain. That is why the Dutch were able to capture the capital of the region, Olinda, and the even more important port of Recife.

“Those were difficult years,” says Jorge Cabral, a professor of Brazilian colonial history at the Federal University of Pernambuco. “For four years they could not really lift the siege. But even so, they gradually managed to seize more territory and held on for 24 years. This was their longest reign.”

The Dutch colony in northwest Brazil cost a fortune because it needed soldiers and ships to defend it.

During the 17th century, Pernambuco was a major economic powerhouse thanks to the sugar trade, a business as lucrative as the silver trade. At that time, the Spanish Empire also controlled the silver mines of Potosí (now Bolivia). Similar silver mines were also under Spanish control in Zacatecas and Guanajuato in Mexico.

With control of this part of the Netherlands, the Netherlands also had the opportunity to trade in tobacco, spices, Brazilian timber, or slaves through the West India Company.

The British colonialists called the region ‘white gold’ because of the sugar. 

“There was no comparison to Brazil,” says José Manuel Santos Pérez, director of the Center for Brazilian Studies at the University of Salamanca. “At that time, Pernambuco was the richest region, the largest sugar producer in the world, and that was why the Dutch invaded.”

The British colonialists called the region ‘white gold’ because of the sugar. Sugar production and refining were the main reasons why millions of Africans were brought to America in the early 16th century.

Weakening the Spanish Empire

This was the second invasion of Brazil by the Dutch. They had previously captured Salvador, Bahia, between 1624 and 1625. However, the Dutch were expelled from the region only a year later, but this invasion revealed the Dutch’s intentions regarding Brazil.

There was a lot of interest in Europe at the time and everyone wanted to seize the resources of the region.

According to historians, the victory of the Dutch forces in Pernambuco and the five other captains in the region was actually intended to weaken the Spanish Empire and dominate the Atlantic trade routes in the region.

This was a time when the United Provinces of the Netherlands, along with their Dutch East India Company, were emerging as a global trading power throughout the world.

But there was also a past to this conflict between the Spanish and the Dutch, and that is a very interesting story.

For years, the Dutch have been partners with the Portuguese in the sugar trade

In 1580, Portugal had no heir, and taking advantage of the power vacuum, King Philip II of Spain claimed the right to Portugal and became Philip I of Portugal.

For years, the Dutch have been partners with the Portuguese in the sugar trade.

Cabral said that “they were closely involved in transportation, financing, and sugar refining in Europe. When there were wars between Spain and the Netherlands, the alliance of Portugal and Spain created problems for the Dutch rulers.”

Among other things, the profits that the Dutch made in trade with the Portuguese provided them with financial support for the war with Spain. For this reason, in 1621, Emperor Philip banned trade between the colonies of Brazil and the Netherlands and closed the ports of Dutch ships.

“The Spanish Empire imposed sanctions on them, thus cutting off their access not only to sugar but also to other goods,” says Bruno Ferreira Miranda, a historian and associate professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco.

The decision to attack the colonies The decision to attack Pernambuco came at a time when the Dutch were promoting plans to liberate their colonies in the Americas from Spanish rule and were trying to create a trading company to finance these plans.

The Dutch wanted to capture all of Spain’s colonies in the Americas

After starting their campaign in Pernambuco, they were looking towards Peru, Mexico, the Caribbean and the rest of the countries,” says Cabral.

“They started their campaign from places that seemed to be the weakest militarily.”

“This campaign was not easy,” says Professor Cabral. In the first phase of the Dutch presence here – from 1630 to 1637 – they fought many battles to consolidate their dominance.

They say that the Dutch certainly talked about making this period glamorous, but it was a time of hunger and violence.

Hunger constantly tormented the Dutch soldiers. When they had a full stomach, they suffered from diseases such as blindness, smallpox, dropsy or tuberculosis.

Ferreira Miranda says that ‘few of the many difficulties that the West India Company’s army faced during its years of activity in Brazil can be compared to diseases.’

The end of the Dutch presence in Brazil began millions of kilometers away in Amsterdam.

‘New Holland’

The period between 1637 and 1644 was a period of relative calm. It was not a golden age of peace, but there were few conflicts. During these years, a German nobleman employed by the Dutch company ruled Pernambuco.

The task of governing ‘New Holland’ was entrusted to Johann Maurits von Nassau, who arrived in Recife in 1637 and remained there until his resignation and departure in 1644.

It was Nassau who transformed Recife, on the Atlantic coast of South America, into a truly cosmopolitan city. He left behind a creative legacy that is still present in European museums, scientific research and books.

Recife was full of architectural masterpieces and monumental works during his reign. For example, he built two large palaces, one of which had a tower 60 meters high.

Cabral recalls that “there was also a little more religious freedom, meaning Catholics were once again able to practice their religion, Jews were allowed to worship in public places, as well as in an open synagogue.”

The task of governing ‘New Holland’ was entrusted to Johan Maurits van Nassau

The best mayor of Recife

“People’s memories are so strong that even today, if you ask someone on the street, they will tell you that the best mayor of Recife ever was Nassau,” he says. He was a very different character compared to other colonial administrators and he left behind very good memories.”

The end of the Dutch presence in Brazil began millions of kilometers away in Amsterdam. The markets here were full of sugar, but its price was falling very quickly.

Cabral also said that “prices were falling to such an extent that many sugar merchants went bankrupt.”

Cabral says that the Dutch rulers wanted to take over all of Spain’s colonies in America.

The companies in Amsterdam were now going bankrupt and were demanding immediate repayment of their debts, says the director of the Center for Brazilian Studies at the University of Salamanca. “Not in installments, but immediately.”

The owners of several sugar mills in the Brazilian colony who were indebted to the Dutch company had come to the conclusion: either we throw them out (the Dutch) or we go bankrupt ourselves.

Then the revolt began. The Dutch no longer had the means to negotiate their debts, and the high taxes levied by the West India Company, the colony’s administrator, forced the Portuguese and the citizens of Pernambuco to take action.

Santos Pérez says that ‘the natives resisted the Dutch, those who stayed in the city were so harassed that they practically stopped leaving their homes.’

Until the Dutch were defeated in Suriname, Esquivel and Belize in 1645, the people serving there were forbidden to leave the city, because those who did leave were attacked by the Portuguese army.

‘What we see in those years is that the Dutch did not have enough military capacity to face this local resistance.’

‘When the Dutch lost their colony in Brazil, they conquered another part of the South American continent, on the Caribbean coast,’

Cabral and Santos Pérez write in their book ‘The Dutch Challenge to Iberian Domination in Brazil in the 17th Century’. That: ‘Suriname, Esquivel and Belize may not have been islands like Barbados or Jamaica, but they had other advantages there, such as climate, easy access by ship, trade winds to power the sailors and good soil.’

He adds that ‘these factors made the area an ideal place for the cultivation of sugarcane.’

The Dutch lost Pernambuco, but they took up their ships, put to sea and sought out other unexplored areas to exploit.

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#History #Brazil #Agriculture #Netherlands