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Dear Friends,

After a short journey we have arrived in a place that not many Dutch people know. Dutch Brazil the very first Dutch colony in America.


What makes this place so special that we had to stop for a while?

This colony was not just like Surinam a plantation colony but started as a trade and expedition colony.

The Netherlands wanted, just like the Portuguese in the south of this colony, to bring about a popular planting here. The Dutch do not start this colony themselves. The Netherlands was the first to conquer all other European colonies in the North. and then started building the colony.

The W.I.C (West Indian Company) then made the largest city of Recife their headquarters in America. And then started renaming the region into new netherlands (not very original when we look back at the article about new york).



The cities were then also given Dutch names.
Mauritsstad = Recife
Frederikstadt = João Pessoa
New Amsterdam (Also not very original) = Natal

And then the land was made ready for work where on plantations were made for the cultivation of white gold (sugar).

The big difference with this colony compared to portuguese brazil was that, just like in the region of new york, Dutch was spoken, but the majority of the population here was not Dutch either. It was true that here too the liberties that were used in the republic were carried out here again, as a result of which large numbers of Jews and other believers went to this colony.

But now the most important question, of course, is why the Netherlands was unable to retain this area. The answer to this has to do with two factors.
1: The Portuguese had a much more successful population growth in Brazil.

2: Due to the proximity of Spanish colonies, which was an important ally of Portugal at this time, the Portuguese colony had an enormous army behind them.

It was therefore not strange that the Netherlands lost this colony.
Eventually this happened during the Battle of Guararapes where the Dutch were once and for all driven from Brazil.


But here too, just like in New York, the Dutch have certainly left things behind.

A good example is the oldest Synagogue of the americas in Recife.



We will continue our way to a place that the Dutch have successfully taken over from the Portuguese.

Off to the Cape of good hope!

Your Captain,

Koning Der Zeeuwe.