Dutch East India Company

(noun)

A chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia.

Related Terms

Examples of Dutch East India Company in the following topics:

  • The Dutch Empire

    • In 1602, the government of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands chartered the Dutch East India Company with the mission of exploring for a passage to the Indies and claiming any uncharted areas for the United Provinces.
    • In 1609, the Dutch East India Company commissioned English explorer Henry Hudson who, in an attempt to find the fabled northwest passage to the Indies, discovered and claimed for the VOC parts of the present-day United States and Canada.
    • In 1621, a new company was established with a trading monopoly in the Americas and West Africa: the Dutch West India Company.
    • The new company sought recognition for New Netherland as a province, which was granted in 1623.
    • In 1626, the Director of the Dutch West India Company, Peter Minuit, purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape and started the construction of Fort Amsterdam, which grew to become the main port and capital, New Amsterdam .

  • Preferred Stock Rules and Rights

    • Some preferred shares have special voting rights to approve extraordinary events (such as the issuance of new shares or approval of the acquisition of a company) or to elect directors, but, once again, most preferred shares have no voting rights associated with them.
    • Preferred stock is a security ( a little more modern that this stock from the VOC or Dutch East India Company) that carries certain rights which designate it from common stock or debt.

  • Government Action

    • Additionally, the Dutch East India Company provides a historical example of a government-granted monopoly.
    • The state-owned petroleum companies that are common in oil-rich developing countries (such as Aramco in Saudi Arabia or PDVSA in Venezuela) are examples of government monopolies created through nationalization of resources and existing firms.

  • The Economy of the Middle Colonies

    • The Netherlands granted an exclusive patent for trade in the New World to the Dutch East India Company.

  • Comparing Common Stock, Preferred Stock, and Debt

    • Common stock, preferred stock, and debt are all securities that a company may offer; each of these securities carries different rights.
    • However, common stock shareholders can theoretically use their votes to affect company decision making and direction in a way they believe will help the company avoid liquidation in the first place.
    • Debt can be "purchased" from a company in the form of a bond.
    • Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the major difference between the two is that (capital) stockholders have an equity stake in the company (i.e., they are owners), whereas, bondholders have a creditor stake in the company (i.e., they are lenders).
    • A bond is a financial security that represents a promise by a company or government to repay a certain amount, with interest, to the bondholder.

  • The Nature of Bonds

    • Bonds are issued by public authorities, credit institutions, companies, and supranational institutions in the primary market.
    • Both individuals and companies can purchase bonds.
    • Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the major difference between the two is that (capital) stockholders have an equity stake in the company (they are owners), whereas bondholders have a creditor stake in the company (they are lenders).
    • A bond is a financial security that represents a promise by a company or government to repay a certain amount, with interest, to the bondholder.

  • From New Netherland to New York

    • In 1609, Henry Hudson, an English explorer, was hired by the Flemish Protestants running the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam to find a northeast passage to Asia.
    • The Dutch in New York chafed under English rule.
    • The Dutch West India Company had introduced slavery in 1625.
    • When the colony fell, the company freed all its slaves, establishing early on a nucleus of free blacks.
    • After one of the proprietors sold part of the area to the Quakers, New Jersey was divided into East Jersey and West Jersey—two distinct provinces of the proprietary colony.

  • The East India Trading Company

  • Freedom in New Netherland

    • The Dutch colony of New Netherland changed hands several times and eventually ceded, transferring permanently to Britain in 1674.
    • They met no resistance; the West India Company that ran the colony had proven uninterested in installing a protective garrison to defend against English encroachment.
    • The surrender of Fort Amsterdam to England in 1664 was formalized in 1667, contributing to the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
    • In 1673, the Dutch re-took the area but the next year, finding itself financially bankrupt, the republic relinquished New Netherland under the Second Treaty of Westminster in November, 1674, ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
    • Analyze the Anglo-Dutch wars and the transfer of New Amsterdam to the British

  • The Calm Before the Storm

    • The Tea Act of 1773 arose from the financial problems of the British East India Company and the dispute of Parliament's authority over the colonies.
    • In England, Parliament gave the East India Company a monopoly on the importation of tea in 1698.
    • The East India Company did not export tea to the colonies; by law, the company was required to sell its tea wholesale at auctions in England.
    • Until 1767, the East India Company paid a tax of about 25% on tea that it imported into Great Britain.
    • Another possible solution for reducing the growing mound of tea in the East India Company warehouses was to sell it cheaply in Europe.