Dutch West India Company

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/dutch-west-india-company

1. When was Dutch West India Company built?
2. What is the chartered by?
3. What is the key historical event?
4. What was the Dutch West India Company and when was it founded?
5. Why did the Dutch West India Company want to trade in West Africa and the Americas?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Dutch West India Company built?June 3, 1621
2. What is the chartered by?Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
3. What is the key historical event?Controlled Portuguese territory in northeast Brazil from 1624 to 1654
4. What was the Dutch West India Company and when was it founded?The Dutch West India Company was a big company that sailed the seas and traded goods. It was founded in 1621.
5. Why did the Dutch West India Company want to trade in West Africa and the Americas?It wanted to make money by selling things like fur, crops, and other goods. It also wanted to compete with other European powers.

Chartered Company: A commercial enterprise granted exclusive rights and privileges by a sovereign state, often for overseas trade and colonization.
Trade Monopoly: The exclusive right granted to a company to buy and sell specific goods or conduct trade within a defined geographical area, eliminating competition.
Atlantic Slave Trade: The forced transportation of millions of Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to be enslaved in the Americas, a major component of the WIC's operations.
Colonization: The establishment, maintenance, acquisition, and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory, often involving political and economic control.