page_title: Dutch colonization of the Americas
section_title: Brazil
hierarchical_section_title: Dutch colonization of the Americas / South America / Brazil
caption_attribution_description: English: Holland, circa 1655 Paintings Oil on wood Unframed: 18 1/2 x 24 3/4 in. (46.99 x 62.86 cm.); Framed: 26 x 32 in. (66.04 x 81.28 cm) Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward W. Carter (M.2003.108.3) European Painting Currently on public view: Ahmanson Building, floor 3
context_page_description: The Dutch colonization of the Americas began with the establishment of Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas, which preceded the much wider known colonisation activities of the Dutch in Asia. While the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600, the first forts and settlements along the Essequibo River in Guyana date from the 1590s. Actual colonization, with the Dutch settling in the new lands, was not as common as with other European nations. Many of the Dutch settlements were lost or abandoned by the end of the 17th century, but the Netherlands managed to retain possession of Suriname until it gained independence in 1975. Among its several colonies in the region, only the Dutch Caribbean still remains to be part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands today.
context_section_description: From 1630 onward, the Dutch Republic gained control of a large portion of northeastern Brazil from the Portuguese. The Dutch West India Company set up their headquarters in Recife; it also exported a tradition of religious tolerance to its New World colonies, most notable to Dutch Brazil. The governor, Johan Maurits, invited artists and scientists in order to help promote migration to the new South-American colony. However, the Portuguese fought back and won a significant victory at the Second Battle of Guararapes in 1649. On 26 January 1654, the Dutch Republic surrendered and signed a capitulation returning control of all the northeastern Brazil colony to the Portuguese. After the end of the First Anglo-Dutch War in May 1654, the Dutch Republic demanded that Nieuw Holland (Dutch Brazil) be returned to Dutch control. Under threat of an occupation of Lisbon and a reoccupation of northeastern Brazil, the Portuguese, already involved in a war against Spain, acceded to the Dutch demand. However, the new Dutch political leader Johan de Witt deemed commerce more important than territory, and saw to it that New Holland was sold back to Portugal on August 6, 1661, through the Treaty of the Hague.
  After the devastation caused by World War II, the Dutch government stimulated emigration to Australia, Brazil, and Canada. Brazil was the only nation to allow the arrival of large groups of Catholics. With the consent of the Brazilian government, the Catholic Dutch Farmers and Market-gardeners Union (Dutch: Katholieke Nederlandse Boeren- en Tuindersbond) coordinated the emigration process. A group of approximately 5000 migrants from the province of North Brabant arrived in Brazil, establishing their first colony at the farm of Fazenda Ribeirão in the state of São Paulo. Holambra I was founded in 14 July 1948. After a referendum in 1991 where 98 % of the population voted in favor of political autonomy for the area, Holambra gained city status in January 1993.
  Famous for its large production of flowers and plants and for the yearly event Expoflora, Holambra receives thousands of tourists each year. In April 1998 this fact was recognized as Holambra gained the status of Estância Turística, touristic location. Further immigration from the Netherlands, ended up creating the cities in Brazil where the majority of the population descends from these Dutch immigrants. These cities are Holambra, Castrolanda, Carambei, Não me Toque, Witmarsum (where most of the population are descended from Dutch Frisian immigrants), Arapoti and Campos de Holambra.
caption: Frans Post: Brazilian Landscape with a Worker's House, c. 1655 (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
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