Willem Usselincx (1567 – c. 1647) was a

Flemish Dutch Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; i ...

merchant, investor and diplomat who was instrumental in drawing both Dutch and Swedish attention to the importance of the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. Usselincx was the founding father of the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...

Background

Usselincx was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

(in present-day

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, Belgium), during a time of major upheaval and change. His lifespan covered the period of the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

(1568–1648), which was a

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

against Spain that resulted in the secession of seven provinces that came to form the

Republic of the Seven United Netherlands The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

. At the time of his birth, Antwerp was the most prominent harbor of Western Europe. Over the first half of the 16th century, during its Golden Age, Antwerp grew to become the second-largest European city north of the Alps. The religious revolution of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

erupted in Antwerp with violent riots in August 1566, and the Eighty Years' War followed shortly after. The

Spanish Crown , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

succeeded in recapturing parts of the southern provinces of

and

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

. In 1579, the city of Antwerp joined the

Union of Utrecht The Union of Utrecht ( nl, Unie van Utrecht) was a treaty signed on 23 January 1579 in Utrecht, Netherlands, unifying the northern provinces of the Netherlands, until then under the control of Habsburg Spain. History The Union of Utrecht is r ...

and became the capital of the

. In 1585,

Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

, eventually captured Antwerp after a long siege. As part of Antwerp's terms of surrender, its

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

citizens were given four years to settle their affairs before quitting the city. Some returned to Roman Catholicism, but many left the city; of the pre-siege population of 100,000 people, only 40,000 remained. Most settlers went to the

(the unoccupied part of the Union of Utrecht) in the north, laying the commercial foundation for the subsequent "

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

". Antwerp's banking was controlled for a generation by

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

became the new trading centre of the region—the population of Amsterdam went from 30,000 in 1570 to 60,000 in 1600, and the Amsterdam Canal District was constructed to accommodate the traders and bankers from Antwerp. The

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

became known as the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

Dutch West India Company

Map-Novi Belgii Novæque Angliæ (Amsterdam, 1685)

Usselincx had spent some time in Spain, Portugal and on the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

. There he saw the wealth that was produced by the Spanish and

Portuguese colonies The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...

. Some time after the seizure of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

by the Spanish in 1585, Usselincx moved to the

, first to

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

and later to

. He was convinced that the Netherlands would win independence and should capture colonies from Spain and Portugal. His book ''Naerder Bedenckingen, Over de zee-vaert/ Coophandel ende Neeringhe alsmede de versekeringhe vanden Staet'' was first printed in 1608. This work translated into English as "Further reflections on the navigation, commerce and trade, and building of the state", presented Usselincx's arguments for a West India trading company and made frequent reference to the Spanish power and source of wealth in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. In 1621, Usselincx was one of the founding fathers of the

, an enterprise he had planned for many years. His intentions were not entirely commercial. He hoped to create a new and better society. He expected that thousands of

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

would migrate to America. He did not wish so much to exploit the country, but rather to let arise a

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

. In this secondary goal, he was insufficiently supported by the

States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...

Swedish South Company

Usselincx, drew the attention of

Peter Minuit Peter Minuit (between 1580 and 1585 – August 5, 1638) was a Wallonian merchant from Tournai, in present-day Belgium. He was the 3rd Director of the Dutch North American colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and 3rd Governor of New N ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

efforts to found the colony which would later become

New Sweden New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...

(Swedish: ''Nya Sverige''). Like his friend Usselincx,

had also been disappointed by the

and was replaced as governor of

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

. As early as 1626, Usselinx had described the advantages to Sweden of contributing in an overseas venture. He referred to the wealth acquired by Spain and The Netherlands in similar enterprises and extolled Sweden's resources for success in the marketplace. Usselinx received royal privileges from king

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

for a trading company. The king commissioned Usselinx to raise the capital for the

Swedish South Company The Swedish South Company, also known as the Company of New-Sweden (Swedish, ', '), was a trading company from Sweden founded in 1626, that supported the trade between Sweden and its colony New Sweden, in North America. The colony was envisioned ...

through stock subscriptions in Sweden and its territories. Usselincx relocated from The Netherlands to Sweden but the process of the founding of the new company was difficult and time-consuming, despite the support of

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre (; 1583–1654), Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a c ...

, Swedish Lord High Chancellor. Its charter included Swedish, Dutch, and German stockholders led by directors of the New Sweden Company. In 1637, Minuit made arrangements with

Samuel Blommaert Samuel Blommaert (''Bloemaert'', ''Blommaerts'', ''Blommaart'', ''Blomert'', etc.) (11 or 21 August 1583, in Antwerp – 23 December 1651, in Amsterdam) was a Flemish/Dutch merchant and director of the Dutch West India Company from 1622 to 1629 ...

and the Swedish government to create

, the first Swedish colony in the New World. But by that time, Usselincx was largely financially ruined due to bad investments and unable to profit from his vision. Between 1638 and 1655, the company sponsored 11 expeditions to Delaware in 14 separate voyages (two did not survive). In 1649 the Swedish South Company lost its monopoly on tobacco, granted by the king of Sweden in 1641. In 1655 New Sweden was annexed by New Netherland, this brought an end to the activities of the Swedish South Company, it was dissolved in 1680. The

Swedish East India Company The Swedish East India Company ( sv, Svenska Ostindiska Companiet or ''SOIC'') was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with China and the Far East. The venture was inspired by the success of the Dutch East ...

(Swedish: ''Svenska Ostindiska Companiet'' or SOIC) would not be founded until 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with the far east.''The History of the Colony of New Sweden''
(Carl K. S. Sprinchorn's "Kolonien Nya Sveriges Historia", English translation by Gregory B. Keen in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vols. vii. and viii. 1878)

References

Other sources

* Fiske, John ''The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America'' (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1902) *Jameson, J. Franklin ''Willem Usselinx: Founder of the Dutch and Swedish West India Companies'' (G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1887) *Mickley, Joseph J. ''Some Account of William Usselinx and Peter Minuit: Two individuals who were instrumental in establishing the first permanent colony in Delaware'' (The Historical Society of Delaware. 1881) * Johnson, Amandus ''The Swedes on the Delaware, 1638-1664'' (Philadelphia, PA: The Swedish Colonial Society. 1915)

External links

Governor's Island, Lifeblood of American Freedon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Usselincx, Willem 1567 births 1640s deaths New Netherland Dutch West India Company people Businesspeople from Antwerp 17th-century Dutch people Dutch company founders Businesspeople of the Spanish Netherlands