By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
The Mercantilism assumed different facets within the European colonial system. The Iberian colonialist matrix, made up of Portugal and Spain, diverged in several points from the matrix of northern countries, such as England and the Netherlands. As for the model Dutch of mercantilism, we can highlight a fundamental characteristic:the mixture of activity industrial ecommercial.
These two activities were articulated, in the Netherlands, by the creation and interrelation of three spheres:the mercantile maritime fleets, the East India Company and the banks. The Dutch bourgeoisie was, at the same time, mercantile and banking. The Amsterdam bank was responsible for issuing credit coins, which fed commercial activity and made it possible to expand it.
The creation of the East India Company, in 1602, aimed at managing what was produced, as well as controlling the issuance of precious metals and the exploitation of the natural resources of the colonies. This organization became one of the most powerful of the colonial era and enabled Holland to expand its business to several regions of the world, including Brazil, in the Northeast region.
In addition to the intense trade that was carried out by the Dutch, their industry was also huge. There was production in the dairy, textiles, silk weaving, diamond processing, beer and spirits production, salt and sugar refining, tobacco, cocoa, navigation instruments, among others.
In order to guarantee all economic movement between the colonies and the Dutch commercial center, it was necessary for the maritime fleets to establish an effective domain. For that, the Dutch fleets became very powerful and with dominion of several points of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. The might of the Dutch navy demanded from another mercantile and maritime power of the time, England, a reaction that would have decisive consequences for the modern economic scenario. The Navigation Acts, promulgated by Oliver Cromwell in 1651, led England to improve its navy, to confront Holland directly and to fight for the dominance of maritime trade.