Holland.
The
United Provinces of
Holland, by their States-General, acknowledged the independence of the
United States on April 19, 1782.
This was brought about by the energetic application of
John Adams, who, on the capture of
Henry Laurens (q. v.), was sent to
The Hague as minister plenipotentiary to the States-General, or government, of
Holland.
His special mission was to solicit a loan, but he was clothed with full powers to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce.
Mr. Adams acquainted the States-General, and also the Stadtholder (the sovereign)—the
Prince of
Orange—with the object of his mission.
Mr. Adams was not received in the character of minister plenipotentiary until nearly a year after his arrival.
He persuaded the States-General that an alliance with the
United States of America would be of great commercial advantage to the Netherlands; and immediately after
Holland had acknowledged the independence of the
United States Mr. Adams negotiated a treaty of amity and commerce (Oct. 8, 1782); he also made a successful application for a loan, which was a seasonable aid for the exhausted treasury of the colonies.
The treaty was signed at
The Hague by
John Adams and the representatives of the Netherlands, and was ratified in January, 1783.
Late in 1780
Great Britain, satisfied that the Netherlands would give national aid to the “rebellious colonies,” and desirous of keeping that power from joining the Armed Neutrality League, sought a pretext for declaring war against the
Dutch.
British cruisers had already depredated upon
Dutch commerce in time of peace, and the
British government treated the Netherlands more as a vassal than as an independent nation.
The British ministry found a pretext for war in October (1780), when
Henry Laurens, late
president of the American Congress, was captured on the high seas by a British cruiser, and with him were found evidences of the negotiation of a treaty between the
United States and the
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Netherlands, which had been in progress some time.
On Dec. 20 King George declared war against
Holland.
Before the declaration had been promulgated, and while efforts were making at
The Hague to conciliate
England and avoid war, British cruisers pounced upon and captured 200 unsuspecting merchant vessels laden with cargoes of the aggregate value of $5,000,000; orders had also gone forth for the seizure of the
Dutch island of Eustatius.
This cruel and unjust war deepened the hatred of continental
Europe for
Great Britain, for that government was regarded as a bully, ever ready to oppress and plunder the weak.
The social condition of
Holland in the seventeenth century was favorable to the development of new states.
The feudal system, in which large landholders whose tenants were military men controlled all labor and bore allegiance to the lordly proprietor, had begun to decay.
A new era had gradually dawned upon
Holland.
Labor had become honorable.
The owner of the soil was no longer the head of a band of armed desperadoes who were his dependants, but the careful proprietor of broad acres, and devoted to industry and thrift.
The nobles, who composed the landed class, gradually came down from the stilts of exclusiveness, and in their habits, and even costume, imitated the working people.
The latter became elevated in the social scale.
Their rights were respected, and their value in the state was duly estimated.
Ceaseless toil in
Holland was necessary to preserve the hollow land from the invasion of the sea, and to extract, by the hands of skilled and unskilled industry, bread for the multitude.
Common needs assimilated all classes in a country where all must work or starve or drown.
The moral tone of society was wonderfully elevated and political wisdom abounded.
It was this state of society in
Holland that stimulated agricultural interests and pursuits and furnished sturdy, intelligent, and industrious yeomen for
New Netherland (q. v.). Their example changed the pursuit of many a hunter and trapper in the Hudson and
Mohawk valleys who became farmers.
