Speaker A
Four hundred years ago, a village by the name of Amsterdam set out to conquer the world, invented capitalism as we know it, and became the richest city on the European continent.
Explore how Amsterdam pioneered capitalism, global trade, and shipbuilding innovations shaping the modern economic world.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
Generated from the transcript and can be wrong — check the timestamp.
Key Takeaways
- Amsterdam's inclusive capitalist model allowed broad participation in economic growth.
- Religious and political upheaval in Europe redirected wealth and talent to Amsterdam.
- The Compagnie van Verre's expedition broke Portuguese trade dominance, opening new markets.
- Technological innovation in shipbuilding was crucial for Amsterdam's maritime success.
- Amsterdam's rise laid the foundation for modern global trade and urban economic powerhouses.
What the video covers
- Amsterdam, 400 years ago, became the richest city in Europe by inventing capitalism as we know it.
- Dutch society promoted inclusive economic participation, allowing many to share in wealth creation.
- London later rivaled Amsterdam, becoming the world's largest city and a major trading power.
- New Amsterdam evolved into New York, pioneering vertical city development during the technical revolution.
- In 1594, Amsterdam was a small town but poised for global trade expansion through a key meeting of merchants.
- Refugees from Antwerp, fleeing religious conflict, brought capital and expertise to Amsterdam.
- The merchants formed the Compagnie van Verre to challenge the Portuguese spice trade monopoly.
- Cornelius de Houtman led a risky expedition to Asia, returning with spices despite hardships, proving the venture's viability.
- Cornelius Corneliszoon invented the crankshaft, revolutionizing shipbuilding and enabling rapid fleet expansion.
- These developments marked the rise of liberal capitalism, global commerce, and the emergence of the global city.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker B
There was this sense among the Dutch that whoever you were, you could have a piece of the action, you could be involved in this great economic activity of your society.
Speaker A
One hundred years later, London, its main rival, took its place.
Speaker A
The greatest trading power in the world, London endured terrific hardships, but went on to become the world's largest city and invented the megalopolis of tomorrow's world.
Speaker C
When the railways crashed through the poorer areas of London, people were just dispersed.
Speaker C
They were swept aside, I might say.
Speaker A
Meanwhile, New Amsterdam had now become New York. It was under British rule. The city cut itself free and entered the fray.
Speaker A
At the outposts of technical revolution, New York became the vertical city and created a whole new horizon for itself.
Speaker D
You watched day by day as this stone structure was being built in the middle of the river, and it got bigger and bigger and bigger.
Speaker A
Today, we admire the beauty of the city's houses and the charm of its canals.
Speaker A
But there's much more to Amsterdam than that.
Speaker A
It marks the starting point of a great adventure, that of the rise of liberal capitalism.
Speaker A
The expansion of worldwide commerce and the emergence of the global city.
Speaker A
A combination of circumstances that has rarely been seen in human history, and one which changed the face of the world.
Speaker A
Amsterdam, 1594.
Speaker A
Amsterdam was still just a small town of less than 30,000 inhabitants.
Speaker A
A town of small consequence in terms of the European continent.
Speaker A
On this spring morning of 1594, near Dam Square, which has been the heart of Amsterdam since its very origins, 10 men held a meeting.
Speaker A
The meeting took place in one of the participants' houses, a certain Martin Spill, a brewer by profession.
Speaker A
Around the table sat men whose businesses traded wood, salt, and herring.
Speaker A
Products which Amsterdam had become a specialist in.
Speaker A
Their ships were, however, excluded from the trade of pepper and spices with South Asia, the most lucrative products around.
Speaker A
On the day in question, it was this very monopoly that was at the heart of their discussion.
Speaker B
And the idea is, we can attack the Portuguese monopoly on trade with the Far East.
Speaker B
And they realized that by this time, the city of Amsterdam has developed.
Speaker B
It's got money, it's got these people with this kind of expertise.
Speaker B
They've been building ships.
Speaker B
So, in other words, all the ingredients are coming into place.
Speaker A
Each of the men present that morning had already amassed a fair amount of capital.
Speaker A
But it was nothing compared to what they'd soon own, and the veritable empire they'd contribute towards founding.
Speaker A
Among them was Dirk van Os, one of the city's most dynamic traders.
Speaker A
Originally from Antwerp, he was a refugee, like many of the men who attended this meeting.
Speaker A
They moved to Amsterdam following a conflict that had been ravaging this part of Europe for the past 25 years.
Speaker A
On one side was William the Silent, who was championing the cause of the Dutch Protestants.
Speaker A
On the other side was Philip II of Spain, an uncompromising Catholic and one of the most powerful men on the continent.
Speaker A
When the northern provinces revolted, he put them to fire and sword.
Speaker A
But Amsterdam and the Netherlands finally gained their independence, whereas Antwerp and Flanders remained under his control.
Speaker A
Antwerp was, at that point, the main commercial city in Europe.
Speaker A
The richest city in the continent, a primordial source of taxation for Philip II and his kingdom.
Speaker A
However, the King of Spain made a bet.
Speaker A
Which would cost him dearly.
Speaker E
They knew that one way or another, you couldn't lock up all the merchants.
Speaker E
Money is mobile.
Speaker E
So they perhaps uniquely said to those, the inhabitants of Antwerp, there is a choice.
Speaker E
You can either stay with us, you have to convert to Catholicism if you're not yet a Catholic.
Speaker E
But you could also leave and you have three years to liquidate your assets and take them with you.
Speaker A
Half of the inhabitants of Antwerp, who were often more enterprising, chose to leave.
Speaker A
Many of them left for London or Germany, but ultimately chose to settle just 200 kilometers from their city of origin, in Amsterdam.
Speaker A
The richest among them bought themselves a house in the small medieval town.
Speaker A
But those who couldn't afford to do so, built their own homes outside the city walls, on agricultural land.
Speaker A
There would soon be dozens of thousands of people here.
Speaker A
Waiting for a better solution.
Speaker A
For these refugees, it was the start of a new life.
Speaker A
And when a chance presented itself, they weren't going to miss it.
Speaker B
They sit down with their cartographer, they've got all the people there, and they work out a system of how they're going to do this, a route they're going to go, what ships they'll need.
Speaker B
And they form a company, which they call the Compagnie van Verre, which translates as something like the Company for Far Away Lands.
Speaker A
It's fair to say that this small group were well prepared.
Speaker A
A man named Cornelius de Houtman was sent to Lisbon in Portugal.
Speaker A
Where he would work for several years.
Speaker A
And spy on the leading market players.
Speaker A
He knew what he was doing, and despite his lack of experience.
Speaker A
He was designated by the group as the leader of this expedition.
Speaker F
The total amount invested was 300,000 Dutch guilders, an enormous amount.
Speaker F
Even the richest traders in Amsterdam didn't have these kinds of sums available in cash.
Speaker F
A house in Amsterdam cost around 5,000 Dutch guilders.
Speaker F
And that would get you a very beautiful house.
Speaker F
So they needed to involve a lot of traders in order to raise such a sum of money.
Speaker F
Certainly, dozens of traders were involved as investors in this initial campaign of Houtman's.
Speaker A
Three ships, 249 crew members.
Speaker A
Nobody in Holland had ever undertaken a voyage this far.
Speaker A
Moreover, should they cross into hostile territory, the Portuguese could at any moment intercept the expedition and destroy their ships.
Speaker A
Plagued with scurvy and rebellions, the voyage did not go well, and Houtman had to stop over for several months in Madagascar.
Speaker A
Before setting sail for Asia and ultimately reaching Bantam.
Speaker A
On the island of Java.
Speaker A
Nothing was left to chance.
Speaker A
During his stay in Lisbon, Houtman realized that this was somewhere where he'd be able to buy pepper and spices.
Speaker A
But when he reached his destination, he was met with disappointment.
Speaker A
The Sultan, who initially greeted him warmly, took him prisoner.
Speaker A
Houtman escaped, and after several journeys, on August the 14th, 1597.
Speaker A
He returned to Amsterdam.
Speaker B
More than two years later, about 80 of the original 200 and some people make it back.
Speaker B
They look like skeletons.
Speaker B
And they've got just a few, really, a few sacks of pepper and spices in their hold.
Speaker B
So, by any logical means, this is a complete disaster.
Speaker B
Except those that handful of men who backed the voyage, realized they had done it.
Speaker B
They'd actually gone the whole way there, somehow or other gotten their hands on some of the spices and came back.
Speaker B
So they'd beaten the Portuguese.
Speaker B
And they realized then that this was an opportunity.
Speaker B
This was, this was going to work.
Speaker A
Amsterdam now needed to gather enough resources.
Speaker A
That it would need for its global ambitions.
Speaker A
It needed ships, lots of ships.
Speaker A
And as quickly as possible.
Speaker A
And it just so happened that in 1594, that is to say, three years before Houtman's return to Amsterdam.
Speaker A
One man found the answer.
Speaker A
His name was Cornelius Corneliszoon, and he owned several mills in the village of Uitgeest, near Amsterdam.
Speaker A
Cornelius Corneliszoon was a great inventor.
Speaker A
He helped Holland harness wind power.
Speaker A
Until this point, sawing planks of wood required several men and lots of patience.
Speaker A
But this all changed when Cornelius Corneliszoon developed the crankshaft.
Speaker A
This revolutionized shipbuilding production.
Speaker G
The crankshaft is actually a very simple invention.
Speaker G
That converts a circular movement into a vertical movement.
Speaker G
With this new technique, it was possible to produce planks of wood.
Speaker G
Which were mostly used for shipbuilding.
Speaker G
30 times faster than before.
Speaker G
This considerably lowered production costs and sped up the shipbuilding process, which made the production of ships, large ships, much cheaper.
Speaker G
And you have to remember, this was happening at the end of the 16th century.
Speaker G
The patent dates back to around 1592 to 1594.
Speaker G
In other words, exactly at the time when the Dutch set off on their huge explorations.
Speaker A
Amsterdam was now the leading shipyard in Europe.
Speaker A
And that's where they mass produced the best trade ship of its time.
Speaker A
The five years that followed were full of excitement, more and more expeditions were launched, and many shipping companies were founded.
Speaker A
75 ships were sent to Asia.
Speaker B
And the ships start coming back loaded with these incredibly valuable spices.
Speaker B
And this is really the moment that the Dutch Golden Age takes off.
Speaker A
These expeditions brought back 9 million Dutch guilders, which equated to the total sum of Holland's national debt.
Speaker A
The debt amassed during the war against Spain.
Speaker H
They couldn't carry on this way forever, because all these companies would eventually start competing.
Speaker H
They all wanted to travel to Asia and buy spices.
Speaker H
The prices in Asia started climbing.
Speaker H
Which nobody was happy about.
Speaker H
And the second problem was the Portuguese and Spanish, who didn't want to relinquish their spoils to the Dutch.
Speaker H
There needed to be a well-organized and centralized company with a monopoly of the market.
Speaker H
And one that would be able to defend itself against the Spanish and Portuguese.
Speaker H
And so, the Dutch East India Company, the VOC, was created.
Speaker A
Amsterdam, 1610.
Speaker A
The year Hudson returned was also the year Amsterdam underwent its transformation.
Speaker A
A few years earlier, a new district had popped up in the northeast of the medieval city.
Speaker A
Many refugees from Antwerp had settled there.
Speaker A
The less wealthy were living on top of each other.
Speaker A
In the 3,300 small homes built outside the city walls.
Speaker B
They lay out a plan for a belt of canals, a kind of U of canals that will wrap around the medieval center of the city.
Speaker B
And the canals will be used to take the problem of water and convert it to an advantage.
Speaker A
A team was put together to carry out this ambitious project.
Speaker A
And Hendrick de Keyser was one of the men in charge.
Speaker I
At the start of the 17th century, this construction company was formed of around 150 people.
Speaker I
Specialists, craftspeople from various fields, masons, carpenters, sculptors.
Speaker I
And this number just kept growing, and we know that in the mid-17th century, it had between 600 to 700 employees.
Speaker A
There were huge difficulties.
Speaker A
Because Amsterdam is built on marshy land.
Speaker A
Whereas each building needs a solid foundation.
Speaker A
One post per meter across the entire city.
Speaker B
So I have often thought that, you know, if you were walking through Amsterdam in its Golden Age.
Speaker B
I think really, you would have been struck by this sound of hammering and of the piles being driven and driven.
Speaker B
Because that was going on all through the century as this belt of canals was dug.
Speaker B
And these roads and bridges and and houses were being built.
Speaker A
The perimeter of the city wall was extended.
Speaker A
The refugee homes were demolished and two new districts emerged.
Speaker A
A residential district.
Speaker A
And on the outside was a commercial and residential area for those with fewer means.
Speaker A
It was the first town planning scheme in the history of European cities.
Speaker A
In the commercial area, each profession had its own area.
Speaker A
Whereas in the residential areas, it was forbidden to make noise and no polluting forms of industry were tolerated.
Speaker A
Here, everybody was free to build the house of their choice to the size and style of their pleasing.
Speaker A
There was only one restriction.
Speaker A
The house could only occupy half the surface of the plot of land.
Speaker A
And the Dutch way of designing these urban gardens.
Speaker A
Was characterized by their different designs.
Speaker A
There were boxwood hedges, plant beds, topiary, original plants.
Speaker A
There were also statues, benches, garden pavilions.
Speaker A
Everything you'd find in a palace garden could be found here.
Speaker A
But on a smaller scale, in a smaller space.
Speaker A
On the ground floor of the house, there'd be a reception area.
Speaker A
Next door would be the office, where one's business would be run with one or two employees.
Speaker A
Upstairs was the family space.
Speaker A
Family in the strict sense of the term, as we know it today.
Speaker B
Before that, European homes tended to be much more mixed.
Speaker B
You may have extended family, there might be servants or or boarders who are renting rooms.
Speaker B
The Dutch canal house, and this again reinforces this new notion of what an individual is.
Speaker B
And not just an individual, but what a family is.
Speaker B
This new kind of sensibility, which I think most of us consider now today to be part of our lives.
Speaker A
In Europe, intolerance is official policy.
Speaker A
And if you're in London, basically you're English.
Speaker A
You know, this is still that moment when, you know, that that kind of identity is is intensified and and.
Speaker A
Codified by law, almost.
Speaker A
Here, there was no king or absolute power, but a republic formed of seven provinces.
Speaker A
They all had to reach a compromise for any big decision.
Speaker A
When the city became Protestant, the Catholic churches were converted into the general places of worship.
Speaker A
But there were still many Catholics in the city.
Speaker A
They represented a third of the population.
Speaker A
And their faith had not been banned.
Speaker A
Their churches were simply no longer visible.
Speaker A
They were now in individual homes.
Speaker A
There were 66 churches like this during the Dutch Golden Age.
Speaker A
Everyone knew that services were held every Sunday.
Speaker A
But they were tolerated.
Speaker A
At a time where Europeans were killing each other for religious reasons.
Speaker A
This was proof of a greater openness.
Speaker A
And it's a legacy that Amsterdam passed on throughout the Golden Age across the entire world.
Speaker B
So Hudson goes into the courtyard of this now legendary building.
Speaker B
Which was the headquarters of the East India Company.
Speaker B
Meets with the directors.
Speaker B
And they hammer out an agreement by which they will fund his voyage.
Speaker B
On one condition, however, Hudson would not head west as he'd proposed.
Speaker B
But would find a shortcut to Asia through Russia.
Speaker B
They, for their own reasons, insisted that he try a northeast passage.
Speaker B
He had tried that and failed.
Speaker B
He was convinced that wouldn't work.
Speaker B
But for one line in the contract, we know that there was tension.
Speaker B
And the line says something like, Hudson will think of taking no other route than a northeast passage.
Speaker B
Which suggests that he was saying, no, no, no, we want to go northwest.
Speaker B
We want to go northwest.
Speaker B
And they were saying, no, no, no, we want you to do northeast.
Topics:Amsterdamcapitalismglobal tradeDutch Golden AgeCompagnie van VerreCornelius de HoutmanCornelius Corneliszoonshipbuilding innovationspice tradeeconomic history
