Nicolaas van Staphorst
Encyclopedia
Holland Land Company
The Holland Land Company was a purchaser of the western two-thirds of the western New York land tract known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. This tract was known thereafter as The Holland Purchase...
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Life
In 1782, the brothers led discussions with John AdamsJohn Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
over a loan to the United States of five million guilder, at that time a considerable sum. A syndicate was formed to organize the USA's first foreign loan between the Staphorsten, the Willinks and De la Lande & Fijnje. Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol
Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol
Joan Derk, Baron van der Capellen tot den Pol was a Dutch nobleman who played a prominent role in the formation of the Batavian Republic and the revolutionary events that preceded its formation...
was marked down for 12.000 guilders. Three others loans followed: in 1784, 1787 and 1788. (In 1786 the merchant Daniel Parker took over the shares of De la Lande & Fijnje). Simon Schama
Simon Schama
Simon Michael Schama, CBE is a British historian and art historian. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain...
noted: "Part of the attraction of this stock was, doubtless, the possiblility of buying cheap and selling at a quick profit to investors less well informed than the brokers as to the state of American credit."
In September 1787 Nicolaas van Staphorst did not flee to northern France like his brother Jacobus, a prominent leader of the Dutch patriots
Patriots (faction)
The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....
and of the Revolutionary Committee of the Batavian Republic
Revolutionary Committee of the Batavian Republic
The Revolutionary Committee of the Batavian Republic was formed on 17 January 1795, when revolution broke out in The Netherlands against the regime of prince William V of Orange. The Dutch army was defeated by the French, and the French were seen as liberators. William V fled to Great Britain. Many...
. In the beginning of 1788 Nicolaas proclaimed that "experts" must draw up a new constitution for the moment at which the patriotic revolutions would take place. After the American example, he advised that the seven regions of the Netherlands and the Generality Lands
Generality Lands
The Generality Lands, Lands of the Generality or Common Lands were about one fifth of the territories of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, that were directly governed by the States-General...
be forced to give up their sovereignty and administrations, to be replaced by a whole new constitution in which the people's influence on the election of the regents
Regenten
In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the regenten were the rulers of the Dutch Republic, the leaders of the Dutch cities or the heads of organisations . Though not formally a hereditary "class", they were de facto "patricians", comparable to that ancient Roman class...
would be hugely increased.
The Van Staphorst brothers, along with Wilhelm Willink and Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck
Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck , Lord of Nyenhuis, Peckedam and Gellicum, was a Dutch politician of the Batavian Republic and an investor in the Holland Land Company....
, were in 1789 shareholders in the Holland Land Company
Holland Land Company
The Holland Land Company was a purchaser of the western two-thirds of the western New York land tract known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. This tract was known thereafter as The Holland Purchase...
, a society that invested in the north of the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, not far from Ontario, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and some canals: the Patowmack Canal
Patowmack Canal
The Patowmack Canal is an inoperative canal located in Virginia, United States, that was designed to bypass rapids in the Potomac River upstream of the present Washington, D.C. area...
, James River and Kanawha Canal
James River and Kanawha Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a canal in Virginia, which was built to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast....
and Santee Canal
Santee Canal
The Santee Canal was one of the earliest canals built in the United States. It was built to provide a direct water route between Charleston and Columbia, the new South Carolina state capital.- History :...
. He supported Gerrit Boon
Gerrit Boon
Gerrit Boon was the son of a Lutheran minister Johan Michiel Boon. His father had studied in Helmstedt and moved in 1752 from Amersfoort to Delft and in 1774 to Rotterdam. Gerrit Boon became a sugar refinerer in the city, working for his brother-in-law...
, his brother-in-law, winning maple syrup
Maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...
from the ahorn
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
.
Nicolaas and the secret political societies which were formed were of the opinion that this issue had to be resolved at all costs, and that Johan Valckenaer
Johan Valckenaer
Johan Valckenaer was a Dutch lawyer, patriot and diplomat.- Life :His father Lodewijk Caspar Valckenaer was Franeker university's professor of law and, in 1766, was appointed to succeed Tiberius Hemsterhuis at Leiden...
and his friends were the most appropriate people to draw up a Dutch-language constitution. The leading Dutch patriots, like Wiselius, Krayenhoff
Cornelis Rudolphus Theodorus Krayenhoff
Cornelis Rudolphus Theodorus, Baron Krayenhoff was a physicist, artist, general, hydraulic engineer, cartographer and - against his will and for only a short time - Dutch Minister of War.-Biography:...
, and Nicolaas van Staphorst requested general Charles-François Dumouriez to plant the liberty tree
Liberty pole
A liberty pole is a tall wooden pole, often used as a type of flagstaff, planted in the ground, which may be surmounted by an ensign or a liberty cap. They are associated with the Atlantic Revolutions of the late 18th century.-American Revolution:...
in The Hague or on the Dam square and to bring about liberty, equality and fraternity by force. They also spoke about a new calendar, to make every month of an equal length. At the end of November 1794 he and Alexander Gogel fled to Bremen or Hamburg, because of the discovery of a weapons cache. He was banned from city of Amsterdam. Two months later the French Army had occupied the whole of Holland.
External links
- http://www.parlement.com/9291000/biof/08852
- http://history.rays-place.com/ny/alma-ny.htm
Literature
- Rosendaal, J. (2003) Bataven! Nederlandse vluchtelingen in Frankrijk 1787-1795.
- Schama, S.Simon SchamaSimon Michael Schama, CBE is a British historian and art historian. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain...
(1977) Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands, 1780-1813 , p. 59, 156, 170,