The seven northern provinces of the Netherlands won their independence from Spain and became the Republic of United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1579 by terms of the Union of Utrecht. Their independence was confirmed by the Peace of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years War. Holland is/was the largest of these provinces, although there is a tendency to refer to the entire country by that name. During the seventeenth century, Dutch scientific, artistic and literary achievements reached full flower.

The House of Orange, of which William of Orange (later William III of England) would have preferred to establish a hereditary monarchy in the Netherlands, but they people resisted. They did not want absolute rule; they identified it with the capricious nature of the Spanish monarchy from which they had recently been liberated. Within each of the provinces, an oligarchy of wealthy merchants called "regents" handled domestic affairs in the local legislative bodies, known as Estates. The provincial Estates held almost all power. Each province was a member of a larger, federal organization known as the States General which handled foreign affairs. Members of the nobility received automatic representation in the States General, but their economic and political authority was weak. The States General did not possess sovereign authority, as it had to refer all issues back to the local Estates for approval. It appointed a representative known as the stadholder for each state, who was the highest executive in that state. The stadholder was frequently a member of the House of Orange. The stadholder had influence, but not authority. He performed ceremonial functions and was responsible for maintaining peace and good order as well as for defense; however he could not declare war, legislate, or even participate in the decisions of the Republic.

In 1659, William II (1626-1650), stadholder of six of the seven provinces, arrested six leaders of Holland and sent an army to attack Amsterdam. A compromise reinforced the power of the stadholder; but William died unexpectedly two years later, and the balance of power swung back to the regents. Any possibility of the Netherlands becoming an absolutist state was forever ended.

Independence was closely guarded, and any attempt at a centralized government was vigorously resisted. Even so, the republic was dominated by Holland, which had the largest navy and most wealth. The States General met at The Hague, Holland’s capital. Commercially, the Dutch were amazingly successful, which contributed to their political success. The moral and ethical bases of their wealth were thrift, frugality, religious toleration

Religious toleration was practiced by the Dutch more than any other European state. All faiths were welcome. Although there is some evidence of anti-Semitism in scattered areas, Jews enjoyed a degree of acceptance into society and business that was quite unique. Jews in Amsterdam numbered 7,500 out of a population of 200,000 in 1672. Catholicism was also tolerated, even though the Dutch were primarily Calvinist. The prevailing attitude was that religion was a private matter, and was not the business of the community unless it interfered with business. Over 60,000 Huguenots fled France and migrated to the Netherlands to escape persecution. The Separatists (known to every American History student as the "Pilgrims") originally settled in Holland, but soon abandoned their homes there as they were horrified to learn their children began speaking Dutch. Not everyone was routinely accepted, however. Arminians were not allowed religious freedom, and gypsies were routinely persecuted.

Dutch religious toleration attracted tremendous amounts of foreign investment. The Bank of Amsterdam (whose deposits were guaranteed by the City Council) became the chief bank of Europe and a ready source of large loans at cheap interest rates. It also became the chief clearing house for bills of exchange.

Dutch agriculture also flourished. Thousands of workers and horses constructed the dikes which allowed the reclamation of fertile land from the sea. An agricultural surplus resulted, the profits of which were reinvested in commerce and manufacturing. (Necessary as they were, the dikes were also dangerous and broke on occasion. In one momentous flood in 1421, a flood killed over 100,000 people.)

Amsterdam’s trading centers featured people of every race and creed; the docks of the Amstel River, on whose banks Amsterdam sits, saw as many as five thousand ships docked at its berths, all there to do business. In the early seventeenth century, the people of Amsterdam constructed three large canals which expanded the area of the city fourfold. The canals allowed boats to dock outside warehouses where they could load goods and carry them to larger ships at the harbor.

The success of the Dutch banking and trading businesses led the poet Joost van den Vondel to proclaim:

                God, God, the Lord of Amstel cried, hold every conscience free.
                And Liberty ride, on Holland’s tide, with billowing sails to see.
                And run our Amstel out and in, let freedom gird the bold.
                And merchant in his counting house stand elbow deep in gold.

Shipping and fishing were the cornerstones of Dutch prosperity, primarily the herring business. Profits from the herring business stimulated shipbuilding; powered by wind driven sawmills. The Dutch merchant marine was the largest in Europe, with an estimated sixteen thousand ships in service, half the entire European fleet. All the wood for the ships was imported from Norway, where the Dutch merchants often purchased entire forests. At the same time, they purchased entire vineyards of grapes from French vintners before they were ever harvested. They also controlled the grain trade, buying entire wheat and rye crops in Poland, East Prussia, and Pomerania. They dealt in large bulk, so no one could undersell them, their prices and shipping charges were the cheapest in Europe. They were something of the Wal-Mart of the seventeenth century. Foreign merchants could purchase everything from precision microscope lenses (invented by a Dutchman, Anton van Leeuwenhoek) to muskets for an entire army. The tremendous wealth accumulated by Dutch merchants meant that the Dutch enjoyed the highest standard of living anywhere in Europe, if not in the entire world.

The Dutch made most of their money from shipping rather than from export. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was formed. It was a joint stock company formed by a group of regents who received a percentage of the profits in proportion to their investment in the company. The importance of the company is illustrated by the fact that it was given the power to wage war to protect its commercial interests. Within 50 years, the company had deeply undercut Portuguese trading in Asia, seized the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, and Malacca. It made huge profits in the market for cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices. In the 1630’s the return on an investment in the company was 35 per cent annually. In 1621, a sister company, the Dutch West India Company, was formed to trade with Latin America and Africa. Among its other endeavors was the slave trade. In 1652, the East India Company founded the settlement at Cape Town in South Africa as a fueling station for ships planning to cross the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The spice islands of Indonesia were largely controlled by the Dutch for many years.

Wages were higher in the Netherlands than anywhere else in Europe. Even women’s wages were high compared with those in other areas of Europe. As a result, the Dutch ate well. The price of bread was low, and only a tiny percentage of one’s grocery bill was spent acquiring it. As a result, the Dutch also enjoyed eating fish, cheese, butter, vegetables, even meat on a regular basis; this at a time when meat was a luxury in Europe for all but the wealthy few. Because the people of the Netherlands ate well, the country did not experience food riots to the extent as other parts of Europe.

Even so, the Netherlands had its share of poor. Those in large cities often stole in order to survive. "Poor houses" and other charitable organizations were formed not only to help, but to get these people off the streets, as it was considered bad for business. Patience with those who stole or created disturbances was thin; and beatings, floggings, and branding were often used as punishment. Every city had a gallows at its main gates as a reminder that those who persisted would be severely punished, even executed.

Dutch Culture in the Seventeenth Century: Dutch painting of the period reflected the commercial wealth and toleration of the period, and openness to secular styles and subject matter. The Dutch press enjoyed freedom unknown elsewhere. The first English and French newspapers were published in 1620 in Amsterdam. The knowledge developed during the Scientific Revolution was disseminated by Dutch publishers.

Dutch painting reflected the wealth of the middle class. Artists of the period depended upon patronage from wealthy merchants. Ironically, the Dutch Reformed Church did not support art as had the Catholic Church; in fact the Church ordered paintings removed from its sanctuaries.

Dutch painters generally portrayed scenes of everyday life, often of ordinary people. Among the members of the Dutch School of Painting were Rembrandt van Rijn, whose works include The Syndics of the Cloth Guild, and The Night Watch. He was the only member of the Dutch school to frequently paint classical Biblical scenes. Other artists painted seascapes, naval scenes, and occasionally battles.

The Dutch considered the household to be a place of refuge and safety from the struggles of the outside world, and therefore a worthy topic of artistic expression. Household scenes are frequently depicted in Dutch artistry. Many show families at work or play, or eating. Still life painting of platters of food became staples for Dutch artists. Among these are: Still Life with Herring, and Jug Still Life with Lobster. Banquets together with tables, chairs, pans, plates, etc. were often painted. Also considered important subjects of art were paintings of families praying before a meal, carving meat, or toasting. Parents and children are often portrayed together, as well as furniture, servants, even pets.

Sadly Dutch prosperity did not last forever. The War of the Spanish Succession, in which the Dutch Prince William of Orange (who was at that time also William III of England) used Dutch wealth to finance the war was costly in terms of labor and money. The treaty of 1713 which ended the war marked the beginning of the decline of Dutch prosperity. Wars against England to protect Dutch commercial interests drained resources, and France imposed tariffs on Dutch imports that proved damaging. The French also forced the Dutch out of Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka) and the Dutch West India Company failed to dislodge the Portuguese from Brazil. The Dutch people had no desire to emigrate to these far away places, and as a result, efforts at colonization were largely unsuccessful. Holland’s commercial and shipbuilding industries, once powerful, lost ground to English manufacturers. Some Dutch entrepreneurs even invested in English colonies and manufacturing rather than in Dutch industry. Prices for real estate fell, and merchants stopped investing in land.

After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the United Provinces allied with England and Sweden, for fear that Louis XIV might invade. The alliance held the French at bay for a time, but it dragged the country into a series of costly wars with France that lasted almost 100 years, which were expensive in terms of cost and men.

With the decline in prosperity, political freedom also lapsed. Government became more rigid and less tolerant, and persecution of religious dissidents became commonplace. A virtual with hunt against homosexuals was also launched. The Dutch army became one of mercenaries, not citizens, and the republic’s influence in international affairs waned.