hey guys welcome back to foreign reacts today we're going to be checking out a video titled how
the netherlands helped america gain independence i don't even know about that but
that's kind of why but um to hear about that that that that's something really interesting but we're
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a little about the american revolution you know that france played an important role in america's
victory for independence by providing money men and material but there is another lesser-known
contributor to the united states victory the netherlands its official name at the time was
the republic of the seven united netherlands also commonly known as the dutch republic this is the
predecessor state of modern day netherlands though at the time this also included parts of modern day
belgium now the netherlands wasn't officially an ally of the united states nor did they support the
united states with soldiers both of which probably contributes to why they are often forgotten
great britain actually saw the netherlands as an ally of theirs at the beginning of the revolution
but the netherlands officially declared themselves neutral in the war what the netherlands was more
interested in than a u.s victory was making money and they weren't too concerned with
who they were making the money from but by the end of the war the united states and the dutch
republic would have a common enemy this is how the dutch would support the war effort trade
before i go further let me first provide some context at the time of the american revolution
though slowly declining in power by the 18th century the netherlands was a global leader
in trade controlling territories across the globe and a worldwide network of seafaring trade routes
historians and economists debate on what exactly drove this small nation
of only about 16 000 square miles or 42 000 square kilometers to become such a power but historically
the netherlands have accepted a high number of immigrants which often brought with them skills
and capital that could be reinvested the country's inhabitants have also historically had a hard work
ethic that emphasizes efficiency which many historians say is rooted in its calvinist past
but its rise to becoming a great seafaring nation is also rooted in the netherlands physical
geography this is a coastal country lies extremely low in elevation and is essentially one giant
river delta which has made it prone to flooding i actually made a whole video on how the dutch have
adapted to its geography if you want to check that out i've left a link in the comments below
water and the terrain shaped by it is why the country rides bikes grows tulips and has
hundreds of windmills but water didn't just shape culture within its mainland borders
the physical geography combined with the aforementioned cultural characteristics of
the netherlands turned the dutch into expert and efficient shipbuilders and motivated its
population to seek trade opportunities across the globe and one of those places was the 13 colonies
tensions began rising in the american colonies following the french and indian war in 1763.
the british launched a series of acts that raised taxes on the colonists in order to pay for the war
because the british felt that the colonists caused the war so they should provide payment for the
protection that great britain had provided the colonists weren't happy about it protests erupted
and in 1770 british soldiers opened fire on a mob of angry colonists killing at least five men
and wounding several more in what is known as the boston massacre then in december of 1773
a band of bostonians dressed as mohawk indians in protest on the taxation boarded british ships and
dumped 342 chests of tea into boston harbor the event is known as the boston tea party
the british parliament responded with what the colonists refer to as the intolerable acts this
brought massachusetts under full control of the british government and allowed british loyalists
in the colony to be tried in great britain george washington called this the murder act
because he said it allowed british officials to harass colonists and then flee to great
britain to escape justice the act also allowed british soldiers to be housed wherever necessary
including private homes though some historians say the act only meant unoccupied buildings
great britain had attempted to isolate extremists in massachusetts with these acts
but it backfired and other colonies pledged to support massachusetts if there was an attack by
the british the colonists prepared for war the british for obvious reasons refused to sell arms
and ammunition to the american colonists and they banned other countries from doing so as
well in 1774 britain declared the export of war materials to the colonies to be illegal
and therefore subject to search and seizure and this is where the dutch entered the picture
because the dutch didn't care dutch merchants continue to trade wherever and whenever possible
the british lieutenant governor of new york warned london in november of 1774 that
contraband between this place and holland prevails to an enormous degree actions must be taken
against the smugglers but it would not be easy the vessels from holland or st eustatia do not
come into this port but in the numerous bays and creeks at our coasts and rivers furnish on which
the contraband is sent up through small boats the british were furious that the dutch continued to
that makes a lot of sense that makes a lot of sense first you see from where the ships because
of the low line and now the docs they don't come on now come on now i had no idea like i found
out about new york and then i found out about new york city to be specific and then i'll find
out about while the independence or the band they then made a strong request to the netherlands to
stop all war materials from being shipped to the american colonies penalties included confiscation
of materials large funds and the confiscation of ships if not paid conscience of not being able to
go head-to-head with the british navy the british had 100 warships compared to the netherlands 11
the government of the netherlands officially decided to comply but the dutch merchant class
wasn't happy with their government's decision and they just continued to ignore the british request
so the british then responded with more search and seizures around saint eustacious
the hub for this arms and ammunition trade once the war had officially begun with the battles of
lexington and concord in april of 1775 the dutch ammunition trade to the americans got so bad
that king george iii in january 1776 ordered more warships on duty around the caribbean he stated
every intelligence confirmed that principally saint eustacious but also all the other islands
are to furnish the americans with gunpowder this winter but many of the dutch traders continue to
find ways to evade the british more obstacles arose with the defeat of the americans at long
island which left america completely without the ports of new york and later philadelphia
though the two largest ports were occupied by the british the dutch were again not a group to give
up on this lucrative trade and they continued smuggling through smaller ports and estuaries
in 1776 the dutch republic made a half-hearted effort to comply with the continued requests from
the british they replaced saint eustace's governor with the new man named johannes
de graaf after the british complained that his predecessor was allowing merchants to continue
to ship war materials to the americans but on the 16th of november 1776 the american navy ship
uss andrew doria with the american declaration of independence on board arrived in saint eustacious
its captain fired a salute to the dutch flag on fort orange and the governor johannes de graaf
decided to answer the salute with 11 gunshots and so the united states of america were for
the first time recognized as a nation by another so now not only were the dutch preventing the
americans from running out of ammunition allowing the revolution to continue they had now recognized
the british colony as a sovereign nation on top of this the netherlands was actually supposed
to have provided 6 000 troops to the british for the war as was the terms of a past treaty in 1778
when france was persuaded to join in the fight against the british the dutch traded with them
as well but with the french they traded mostly naval stores the french needed supplies for their
naval construction but were unable to obtain them themselves due to the blockade of the royal navy
so they turned to the dutch who were privileged by a concession obtained after their victory in
the second anglo-dutch war known as the principle of free ship free goods which was enshrined in the
anglo-dutch commercial treaty of 1668. according to the treaty naval stores were not considered
contraband as long as the dutch remained neutral which the dutch claimed they were
but of course the british just declared naval stores illegal and started arresting dutch ships
and as always dutch merchants continued to evade the british the dutch british relationship became
more hostile on the 31st of december 1779 when the two countries had a brief naval engagement
the british wished to inspect dutch ships for what they considered contraband destined for france
the dutch initially refused and threatened the british with force before finally backing down
the event caused the dutch to pursue joining the league of arm neutrality
which was an alliance of european naval powers which was intended to protect neutral shipping
against the royal navy's wartime policy of unlimited searches the british government saw this
move as a threat and it could potentially embroil great britain and a war with its other members
russia sweden and denmark norway they had finally had enough great britain officially declared war
on the dutch republic and they began attacking their former allies colonial economic interests
including saint eustacious in what was known as the fourth anglo-dutch war one head-to-head naval
battle did take place the battle of dogger bank both sides took hundreds of casualties
tactically the battle was a draw but it was a strategic victory for the british the dutch did
not have the naval strength to continue going head-to-head with the british this allowed the
british to continue their oppression against the dutch merchants though the dutch colonial empire
had already been slowly declining this settled it and cemented great britain as the new leading
commercial power though the netherlands economic self-interests were a large motivator for the
support of the american revolution dutch citizens probably more so than the dutch government became
more sympathetic to the american cause as the war progressed both countries were being bullied
by the same global power and some sympathy may have come from the netherlands having fought for
their own independence in the 16th and 17th centuries whatever the motivation was the
united states will always be grateful for their support historian barbara tuchman claims that
it's possible that the american revolution would not have survived without the dutch ignoring the
ban on war materials and successfully evading the british on february 27 1939 president franklin d
roosevelt presented a plaque to st eustace mounted on the flagpole inside fort orange
it reads in commemoration of the salute to the flag of the united states
fired in this fort on 16 november 1776 by order of johannes degraff governor of saint eustacious
in reply to a national gun salute fired by the u.s brig of war andrew doria here the sovereignty of
the united states was first formally acknowledged to a national vessel by a foreign official
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i had no idea i had no idea i didn't even know like the dutch even played a important role like
wow wow makes sense makes a lot of sense well
that was a beautiful video i learned a lot too much and it wasn't even that complicated
wow okay netherlands okay i'll see y'all these ways guys that's gonna
be the end of the video i can talk about this more in the comment section and uh
we can engage in a conversation down there so i'm out of here guys peace