The fur-traders were growing rich, and after
a few years there came a decided change, when a new company was formed
in Holland; a great body of men this time, who had a vast amount of
money to build ships and fit them out. This organization was the West
India Company, and was to battle with Spain by land and by sea (for the
Netherlands was at war with Spain) and was to carry on trade with the
West Indies, just as the East India Company carried on trade with the
East Indies. As the West Indies included every country that could be
reached by sailing west from Holland, you will see that all the Dutch
land in America, which land was called New Netherland, came under the
control of this new company.
The territory called New Netherland was the country along the Atlantic
Ocean which now makes up the States of New Jersey, New York, and
Connecticut. But its limits at this time were uncertain as it extended
inland as far as the Company might care to send their colonists.
Within a few years, the seventy ships sailing under the flag of the West
India Company, fought great battles with the Spaniards, and won almost
every one of them. There were branches of the Company in seven cities of
Holland, and the branch in Amsterdam had charge of New Netherland.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25