Groot Desseyn The Groot Desseyn ( Dutch for " Grand Design " ) was a plan devised in 1623 by the Dutch West India Company to seize the Portuguese possessions in Africa and the Americas , in order to establish a trans - Atlantic trade that was to prove as lucrative as the trade of the Dutch East India Company in Asia . History . After the Twelve Years ' Truce ended , the Dutch West India Company was founded on 3 June 1621 . This company was granted the monopoly on trade in the Atlantic by the States - General of the Dutch Republic . After capital had been raised for the company , the company ' s directors , the Heeren XIX , devised the " Groot Desseyn " in October 1623 . The plan was to first seize the capital of Brazil , São Salvador da Bahia ( Salvador ) , and then the main Portuguese fort on the coast of Angola , São Paulo de Loanda ( Luanda ) . In this way , the company would control both the lucrative sugar plantations in Brazil and the Atlantic slave trade . Control of the trade itself was necessary because of the high mortality rate from the plantations ' harsh conditions and tropical diseases such as malaria . First attempt ( 1624 – 1625 ) . A fleet was swiftly assembled to capture Salvador . In December 1623 and January 1624 , the fleet left the Republic in two groups , which were assembled in the Cape Verde islands . Under Jacob Willekens , the force captured Salvador on 8 May 1624 . The Dutch in Salvador then assembled a force to attack Luanda . Under Piet Hein , the fleet tried to capture the city but failed , because Filips van Zuylen had tried to capture the city a few months earlier as well and prompted the Portuguese to fortify and add reinforcements . Meanwhile in Brazil , things turned from bad to worse for the Dutch . First , the appointed governor Jan van Dorth was killed in combat and replaced by the brothers Allert and Willem Schouten , who both had a reputation for alcoholism and incompetence . Further , the Spanish - Portuguese Empire swiftly responded to the conquest , assembling a fleet with 12 , 000 men to recapture the city . They succeeded in May of 1625 . After the capture of Elmina on the Gold Coast of Africa also failed , the " Groot Desseyn " was abandoned for the moment at least . The Dutch West India Company instead shifted its focus towards privateering . Second attempt ( 1630 – 1650 ) . Things changed for the better for the company when Piet Hein captured the Spanish treasure fleet in 1628 . The company was suddenly flush with resources and set out to try once again to capture the Portuguese Atlantic colonies . The slave port of Gorée in Senegambia had already been seized in 1627 . A fleet under the leadership of Hendrick Lonck then managed to capture Recife and Olinda in early 1630 . A separate group took Arguin in 1633 ; in 1637 , Elmina also fell . Two attempts to recapture Salvador failed , however . In 1641 , a fleet under the leadership of Cornelis Jol finally managed to capture Luanda . The Dutch West India Company was now at the height of its power , and the " Groot Desseyn " seemed to have more or less succeeded . The tide soon began to turn , however . In 1645 , the Dutch lost the Battle of Tabocas on the Portuguese mainland , which would prove the first of many defeats in Brazil . Meanwhile , the cost of constant warfare brought the company at the brink of bankruptcy . In 1647 , at the end of its charter , the company was recapitalized with 1 . 5 million Dutch guilders from the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch Republic took over the war effort in Brazil . Luanda was recaptured by Portugal in 1648 , and two Battles of Guararapes , the first in 1648 and the second in 1649 , effectively ended Dutch involvement in Brazil . Between 1652 and 1654 , the Dutch tried to recapture Recife , to no avail . The " Groot Desseyn " had failed .