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The Amboyna Massacre And The Dutch East India Company

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The Amboyna Massacre occurred in 1623 on the island of Ambon in present day Indonesia where twenty men were executed on the accusation of treason by the hands of the Dutch East India Company. Ten of these men were members of English East India Company who were trading at a post belonging to the Dutch East India Company. The Amboyna Massacre would result in an intensifying feud between the English and the Dutch, and would be a symbol for growing European power throughout the world. The Indies and more specifically Ambon Island would be the stage for this massacre by the Dutch East India Company. What is more important than this is exactly what the Indies had to offer for both companies at the time. In short, the answers are trade …show more content…

The Dutch may have very well looked for spices in Portuguese land as a form of retribution for embargoing the Dutch. The Dutch may have also looked in Portuguese land because they thought it was not as well as defended or it had easier shipping routes. All three of these reasons were the potential thought process going through minds of the Dutch rulers at the time. Nearly seven years after the Spanish had embargoed trade between the Dutch and the Portuguese, Steven van der Hagen conquered the fortress Victoria at Amboyna. This fortress had previously been a trade center for the Portuguese spice trade, but after it was captured by Steven van der Hagen in 1605, the spice trade once again resumed. Once the Dutch had captured fort Victoria, they began to attempt to set up a local monopsony. To set up a monopsony, all trade competitors had to be removed and there could only be one buyer for all of the spice sellers. It was quite evident when the Dutch East India Company captured the fort that setting up a monopsony would be quite difficult especially when considering other major competitors such as the East India Company. The only way this would be possible was by force which is where the rift and future rivalry began between the two companies. At this same very time the East India Company had just been formed in 1600 after multiple

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