Dutch Republic Essay

Discuss ways that the 17-century Dutch Republic differed from its neighbors, telling how these differences contributed to the country’s success.

The Dutch are seen as one of the most prosperous and having the best quality of life during the 1600s. This is due to their Golden Age and being the “island of plenty in a sea of want”. Other nations like France and England have a monarchy that controls much of the everyday life. However, the Dutch have a strong middle class where the power was concentrated, they had an extremely powerful shipping empire, and they were focused on trade which improved their standard of living.

Unlike most nations the middle class held most of the power in the Netherlands. They consisted of wealthy merchants who focused on trade, banking, and storage facilities. The Dutch had nearly 10,000 vessels that sailed the seas. They boasted of having ships sailing every seas and controlling most of the shipping in Northern Europe. Places like England and France had merchants, but they were not has dedicated or proficient as those of the Netherlands. Because of the strong financial empire, the gold florin became the international monetary exchange and Amsterdam became the center of world banking. Everyone had faith in the Dutch and showed this by trading with them and everyone flourished from this, mainly the Dutch. The middle class also encouraged reclaiming the land which was extremely beneficial for agriculture. This allowed the Dutch to sustain themselves with food grown by themselves along with trade from other countries. The middle class created their own system in which there were seven provinces with each having a chief executive. This allowed a form of political structure but the people in charge were never given enough power to take over the entire nation. Because the Dutch were mainly controlled by wealthy middle class merchants, they were able to have equality and everyone was able to live general well off.

One of the single most important reasons for the Dutch’s success is due to their shipping empire. This brought in much cash for the individual merchants and their families. The Dutch created canals which enabled them to transport goods more efficiently and build windmills for power. They were smart and the Dutch East India Company monopolized trade in the Far East with India and other countries over there. This brought in huge trade and because it was monopolized was only used by the Dutch. Once Japan shut itself from outside world it only let one nation trade with it: the Dutch. Not only was the Dutch trading with countries of Europe and Asia but also the Americas. They set up a new colony called New Amsterdam in the Americas and monopolized the fur trade with the Indians. However, the British were interested in this new colony and was able to annex it because of the lack of military by the Dutch. The Dutch were excellent merchants who were able to trade in places where other countries could only dream of. This allowed them to trade and make huge sums of money from each shipment. If it wasn’t for trade the Dutch would have not been nearly as successful.

As seen before the Dutch have to give credit to shipping as one of the most prominent reasons for their success. They did not have a strong agriculture or a strong military from which to be successful. They became successful on shipping. Because of all the monopolies, merchants brought home goods from all over the world. They could choose any price they wanted to sell the goods at. The Dutch were able to have a high standard of living because of their standards and morals. They believed in hard work and living extensively was sinful and related it to the French. These people had religious freedom and a somewhat free press. This country can be seen as the United States of its time. It was not too strict in religion and people could have freedom to say what they wanted to some extent. The Dutch, from working hard and living relatively secular, were able to make the majority of the people happy. This enabled them to flourish and to continue making the Dutch a strong nation.

The Dutch had a relatively short golden age. This was due to their lack of military and reluctance to colonize other countries. However, the shipping empire enabled the Dutch to prosper and have high standards of living. With a strong middle class who was focused on shipping and being merchants, the Dutch were able to stay away from political fights and wars which could bring about their demise. However, the golden age could not last forever, and in fact it didn’t, but for the short amount of time, the Netherlands was the place to be.