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INVESTORS OF THE WEST INDIES COMPANY

In 1656 the Amsterdam Chamber of the West Indies Company had been financially set back and could not pay their investors. The directors arranged a financial settlement with them and more than 324 investors signed this agreement. I have transcribed and translated this document with all these names. This document can be found in the National Archives, Oude West-Indische Compagnie (OWIC) inventory nr. 18C

The directors probably sent a clerk to all the residences of those who invested in the W.I.C. That explains all the different kinds of ink, pens and handwriting. This document is one big sheet, written on both sides, it was folded so many times that the material cracked and that made some names and part of the text illegible.

The list opens with the following statement of the Directors of the West Indies Company

o-o-o-o-o-o

So by the faithless rebellion of the Portuguese in Brazil and elsewhere and also by other adversities, the West Indies Company has been financially set back and is unable to satisfy their creditors. The directors of the Amsterdam Chambers, who want with all their hearts to satisfy all their creditors in an equal way and without distinction, have decided, in expressing their affection to these creditors, to come forth with reasonable proposals which have been discussed and will be proceeded in the following way. First there will not be any distinction between debts from obligations or merchandises, company needs, ammunition for war and other goods. Also that all claims of loss of interests during the time of the company's incompetence shall not be compensated any time in the future.

That the before mentioned directors will do everything in their power to obtain the money to pay the investors an interest of two percent per year, and if possible two-and-half percent or even more per year, starting on the first day of May 1656. With the restriction that nobody will demand more than the above mentioned percentage. The directors promise to act with caution and in their most competent way on behalf of the company and the investors to make it possible to pay the above mentioned interest. Under the condition and restriction that the investors do promise that they follow the terms and conditions as agreed by the directors and investors, without any objections or legal procedures, in which case they will lose all their rights and they will have to pay for any damage or loss suffered by the company. The document signed within the city of Amsterdam on the 10 February 1656 and some following days.

GO TO THE NAME-LIST OF THE INVESTORS

Comment Cor Snabel

324 persons have signed this document.

273 of them mentioned their investment with a total of f. 1,121,372

So these 273 persons invested an average amount of 4,107.60 per person

IF these are all the investors and assuming that the remaining 51 investors also invested that average amount, than the Amsterdam chamber of the W.I.C. had a capital of about

324 x 4,107.60 = f. 1,330,000

That could explain why the directors of the W.I.C. did not invest as much as they should have.

To compare; In 1600 the Amsterdam chamber of the V.O.C. (the East Indies Company) had an amount of f. 3.674.915

A huge difference between the W.I.C. and the V.O.C. is that the V.O.C. had the advantage that for generations, the 'Indonesian' population had already been suppressed and exploited by their own landowners. So all the Dutch had to do when they arrived was to bribe those landowners, and they had their cheap laborers/slaves, who were used to working hard for someone else.

 The W.I.C. did not have that advantage: the Caribbean Indians and the Native Americans were much too warlike and resistant to be used as slaves. So the issue of the laborers needed a completely different approach. That's probably one of the reasons why the W.I.C. intensified the slave-trade from Africa.

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