Dutch Republic Free Response

Discuss ways that the 17th-century Dutch Republic differed from its neighbors, telling how these differences contributed to the country's success.

The Dutch Republic reached its peak during the early to mid 17th century, a time called the Golden Age of the Netherlands.  A dominant amount of power was gathering with the strong and hardworking merchant, or middle, class; this is similar to the Italian city-states during the Renaissance.  The Dutch Republic was becoming a world power, and was actually called "an island of plenty in a sea of want."  The Dutch Republic's rise to the economic and financial success of the Golden Age can be accredited to its very hardworking merchant class and also because of its independently ruled provinces, which separated the Dutch Republic from its French and English neighbors.

During the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic, the trade and banking system exceeded those of its French and English neighbors as well as the rest of Europe.  The Dutch even had their own gold, florin, as the monetary trade unit throughout the world.  At the time, Amsterdam was the center of banking out of the entire world.  The Dutch were very successful in building canals for the transport of goods by ship.  Because of this they took control of the shipping in Northern Europe.  They were also able to reclaim land to use to improve their agriculture and also for people to build homes.  In the beginning of the 1600s, the Dutch were definitely the most successful and prominent world power out of its French and English neighbors.

The Dutch can accredit their great successes to the hardworking merchant class.  The merchant class held much of the power when it came to trade and banking.  The Dutch middle class families lived comfortably with townhouses as well as food produced at home.  They were also able to enjoy luxury imports from around the world.  The homes were beautifully furnished and decorated which suggested a comfortable lifestyle, but they did not live in excess, which separated them from their French neighbors.  The Dutch considered the way the French lived to be sinful and called them "loose-living."  The Dutch solely focused on hard work and their duties as citizens of the Dutch Republic.  The Dutch Republic was also different from the French because they had free press, which the French would at times use in order to publish things that could not be published in their own country.  The work-oriented merchant class of the Dutch Republic was the main difference between the cushy lifestyle of the French, which lead the Dutch to outshine the French in terms of trade and banking.

The Dutch Republic consisted of seven provinces which each had its own political leader, a "stadholder."  There was no "stadholder" that was in charge of the entire country or the other "stadholders."  All of the provincial leaders had to work together in order to make one powerful nation.  Power of the country was held in the hands of the wealthy merchants, and courts developed in each province protected the rights of each citizen.  This political structure greatly differed from the absolute monarchy of its English neighbors.  The English were ruled by a single person that controlled every aspect of their lives.  The Dutch had more control over their lives and were able to participate in decision-making by electing the "stadholder" for their own province.  This form of government was more successful than the absolute monarchy because the people were able to choose their leader, which could diminish the amount of revolts from the people.

The Dutch Republic of the 17th century was the most successful world power out of all of Europe, including France and England.  The hardworking merchant class was the prime reason for the triumph of the Dutch Republic.  The Dutch Republic was also very different from the rest of Europe because it was not ruled by an absolute leader.  Each province had its own leader that made its own decisions.  This made the people happy because they were in on the decision-making and they were able to choose their own leader.  The key to a successful country is to keep the people happy, which is what happened in the Dutch Republic with the provincial leaders.  The Dutch Republic was able to keep the people happy with the style of government as well as keep an effective trade and banking system with the hard-working merchant class, which lead to its success and made it differ from France and England, its neighboring countries.