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Dutch Clubs Weet U een Nederlandse Club/Vereniging in uw omgeving... laat het mij weten! |
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Immigrating/Remigrating
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Dutch Goodies - Where to find those Goodies from Holland!? |
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The Netherlands - Some history and general information |
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Dutch-American History
The two countries have a much greater common history than many people know. |
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Dutch Culture and Folklore
Our Cheese, greetings, gestures, tulips, birthdays, christmas and much more... |
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Dutch Folklore Costumes - Costumes from the 12 Provinces. |
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Like to learn Dutch? Dutch Course in 10 easy to follow lessons... |
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Dutch Food - Habits and great food links. |
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Klompenmuseum Gebr.Wietzes - Largest wooden shoe museum in Europe. (dutch & english) |
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Queensday - The Queen's official birthday (Koninginnedag) is a national holiday, which is celebrated by street parties and other events. |
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Sinterklaas - All you want to know about Sinterklaas. |
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Elf Steden Tocht - The Great Dutch Ice-Skating Marathon |
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Netherlands and WWII - Links and info |
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Holland Mania is about a curious era in which a significant portion of the American sensibility celebrated all things Dutch.
The Dutch American Experience: Essays in Honor of
Robert P. Swierenga
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 Oh, that Dutch feeling!!For the last decades lots of Dutch people have left Holland to build a future somewhere else. All over the world you can find them. And all of a sudden they become DUTCH!! And they stick together because of the Dutch way of thinking. And that is exactly the mystery of that 'Dutch feeling'. Holland (or the Netherlands) is an unique country: more than three quarter of the land lies below sea-level. We conquered land by gaining it out of the sea and our existance depends completely on the quality of our dikes. But the necessity of controlling the water level stipulates everything in our society. Whether it's political, social or otherwise. Because of that even our extreme liberal political outlook has to contain elements of socialism. The existance of our form of government began only in the eighteenth century. Before that a bunch of provinces was occupied by the Spanish. The individual provinces had less in common, but after they defeated the Spanish together they founded a 'federation' of seven provinces and a first real attempt was made by calling it: The first Dutch Republic. After that Holland was occupied by the French. In the nineteenth century the Monarchy was finally founded. But before the Dutch got organized at land, they undoubtedly ruled the Seven Seas. In the seventeenth century the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (United East-Indian Company) was founded. The V.O.C. was originally a commercial enterprise to establish commercial undertakings and agreements in the far east. But because of the British and Portuguese policy of expansion they were forced to colonize their outlets. But they were less rulers than the British or the Potuguese and got themselves involved in other cultures and so they established many sub-cultures as well. So the Dutch history is at once complex and unique. The Dutch can adjust themselves where ever they settle, but somehow that unique history is printed in their genes. That small country behind huge dikes keeps calling. Once in a while they come back to visit 'home', knowing that their choice to leave Holland for a better future somewhere else was the right choice. So what else can they do, than bring a piece of Holland to their new country. It's a piece of mind. A different look upon the quality of life, the need for struggle to establish something better. And things can always be better. 
Quite a few Americans do have some sort of an idea about The Netherlands. On the other side of the Atlantic, the Dutch have their own ideas about the Americans... The two countries have a much greater common history than many people know. The inpact of the US on The Netherlands is well known, but the role the Dutch played in American history is not that well known.  In 1602 the States General of the United Provinces, known as the Netherlands, chartered the United East India Company (the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, called the VOC) with the mission of exploring for a passage to the Indies and claiming any unchartered territories for the United Provinces. In 1609 the Dutch sent Henry Hudson, an English mariner, to explore the river that nowadays bears his name. The ship was called 'Halve Maen' (Half Moon). In making his trip up the river, Hudson claimed the area for the Dutch and opened the land for settlers who followed. His voyage came 10 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. On October 11, 1614 merchants from the cities of Amsterdam and Hoorn formed The New Netherland Company receiving a three year monopoly for fur trading in the newly discovered region from the States General of the United Provinces. In 1626 Peter Minuit obtained the island of Manhattan from the Indians in exchange for goods with a value of 60 guilders. He established the town of New Amsterdam. The names of some other settlements that were established still exist today: Harlem (named after the Dutch town of Haarlem) and Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town of Breukelen). Owned and run by the West India Company, the young colonies were protecteded by paid soldiers. The company also paid farmers and tradesmen to come work in and for the colony. The Dutch, being most interested in making a return on their monetary investments, supported religious freedom as well as open trade. By 1630, the population numbered about 270. Of these, only about half were Dutch, since settlers from among the Belgian (Walloons) and French Huguenots, as well as English, were welcomed. Families who came from Holland to establish estates in this area included the Roosevelts, the Stuyvesants and the Schuylers. Peter Stuyvesant became governor in 1646 and during his eighteen year administration, the population grew from 2,000 to 8,000. Descendants of these early settlers included three presidents of the United States: Martin van Buren (1837-41), Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-45) 
In 1776, after the Declaration of Independence, the Dutch cannons at Fort Orange on the Caribbean island of Saint Eustace were the first to answer a salute from visiting American war ships. That was on 16th November 1776, and the visiting war ship was the Andrea Doria. Thus, The Netherlands was the first nation to recognize the United States of America. This is now known as The First Salute, and 16th November is Dutch-American Heritage Day. It was not until the 19th century that Dutch began to think again about settling in America. Taxes in Holland were high and wages low and emigration became popular with agricultural labourers. Others decided to go for religious reasons. The Dutch Reformed Church received support from the State and dissenters suffered certain discriminations. One of those who had suffered for his religious beliefs was Albertus van Raalte. After being imprisoned for holding unauthorized church services, van Raalte decided to emigrate to America. In 1846 van Raalte and fifty of his followers settled along the Black River in western Michigan (modern Grand Rapids). Within two years there were over 4,000 people living in New Holland. Other religious figures who opposed the State Church such as Cornelius Van der Meulen, Martin Ypma and Jannes Van De Luyster also joined the New Holland community. Henry Scholte, another religious leader, arrived in August, 1847. He obtained 18,000 acres in Marion County and over the next few years his followers established the towns of Pella and Orange City. The settlers concentrated on beet sugar, vegetables and dairy products. By 1850 there were Dutch settlements in Roseland and South Holland in Illinois. There were several in Michigan including Groningen, Zeeland, Drenthe, Vriesland, Holland, Overisel and Graafschap. There was also a large number of Dutch living in Chicago. Most of the immigrants from Holland were members of the Dutch Christian Reformed Church. They kept strict rules about moral behaviour and the sale of intoxicating liquors was prohibited. The religious leaders also disapproved of dancing, gambling and the theatre. Albertus van Raalte and Gerrit Van Schelven began publication of the Dutch-language newspaper, De Hollander. Von Raalte was strongly opposed to slavery and urged his followers to vote for Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party in 1860. Many Dutch settlers joined the Union Army and fought during the Civil War. From 1820 to 1900 over 340,000 people from Holland emigrated to the United States. After the Second World War Holland was the most-densely populated country in the world. As a result the Dutch government encouraged people to emigrate to America. Today there are approximately 8,000,000 Americans of Dutch descent in the United States. The majority live in just ten states: California, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Washington and Iowa. An investigation carried out in 1978 revealled that since 1820 over 359,000 people emigrated to the United States from Holland. This amounted to 0.7 per cent of the total foreign immigration during this period. Dutch impact on American History! Travelling after the Dutch settlers, A coast-to-coast drive on the American backroads... In the months October and November 1996, Dutch journalists Anne Wesseling and Abram Donkers traveled through the United States, searching for Dutch influences on the American society. They found a lot, for example 28 places called Holland.
For information on Dutch immigration to western Michigan, visit the Joint Archives of Holland. From Holland to Holland: Dutch Emigration to Michigan A very informative site about Dutch Emigration to Michigan made by 3 students from Michigan and The Netherlands. For information on Pella, Iowa's Dutch heritage, visit Pella Historical Review Orange City, Iowa is a community founded by Dutch settlers in the 1870's Dutch in Wisconsin Between 1840 and 1890, Wisconsin was a major center of Dutch immigration. Dutch immigrants to Wisconsin were easily divided into two basic groups based on religious affiliation--Protestants and Catholics. The Protestants were the first to arrive in Wisconsin and settled mainly in Sheboygan, Fond do Lac, Columbia and La Crosse counties. The Catholics preferred the Fox River Valley. The first general influx of Dutch began in 1844 with the "Seceders," Dutch who had broken from the Reformed Church of the Netherlands and came to Wisconsin seeking religious freedom. This first group established the town of Alto in 1845, one of the first Dutch communities in the Midwest. Until the 1850s, few Dutch lived in Milwaukee as the city was seen as a temporary stop on the way to agricultural lands further west. Father Theodore Johannes Van den Brock was an early promoter of Dutch Catholic immigration to Wisconsin and beginning in 1848, he helped to bring 40,000 Catholic Dutch to Wisconsin. Most Dutch immigrants to the Fox River Valley followed the Erie Canal-Great Lakes route, landing in Green Bay where many chose to remain. Later Dutch settlements in Wisconsin were generally small agricultural communities. [Source: Wisconsin's Cultural Resource Study Units, Wisconsin Historical Society] The Dutch Settlers Society of Albany Founded in Albany, New York in 1924 300 years after the Dutch settled in Fort Orange (Now Albany, New York.) New Netherland Project An attempt to complete the transcription, translation, and publication of all Dutch documents in New York repositories relating to the seventeenth-century colony of New Netherland. The New Netherland Museum The museum operates the Half Moon, a reproduction of the ship that Henry Hudson sailed from Holland to the New World in 1609. The Netherland-America Foundation The NAF seeks to maintain and strengthen the ties of friendship between the Netherlands and the USA. It does so primarily through support of educational and cultural exchange. The Olive Tree Genealogy's section on NEW NETHERLAND A great source of information on the Dutch in the New World by Mrs. Lorine McGinnis Schulze. Dutch coinage circulating in the colonies. Not only did the Dutch settle the colony of New Netherland, but coins from both the United Provinces of the Netherlands and the Flemish area held by Spain, which we now call Belgium, circulated in America. Dutchmen in the Civil War Silas Coster, private in the 2nd Wisconsin. Pennsylvania Dutch Are Of German Heritage, Not Dutch! The people known to the tourist business as the Pennsylvania Dutch, often falsely depicted in the travel advertisements with images of a little Holland Dutch girl with wooden shoes, are not Dutch. In the early years of the eighteenth century, nearly all the first settlers in Eastern Pennsylvania came from the Palatinate in Germany. They selected pieces of land, built loghouses and began to clear and cultivate the soil. Though these people came from Germany, they came to be known as "Dutch". These same settlers developed a language, a mixture of their mother tongue in the old world and that spoken in their new homeland, America, which came to be known as Pennsylvania Dutch instead of Pennsylvania Deutsch. They are more correctly described as Pennsylvania Germans Who were the Black Dutch?? The "Black Dutch" have long been an enigma in American genealogy. Their descendants are widely reported, yet no authoritative definition exists for this intriguing term. Many claims are made about the Black Dutch, but are any valid? Clues to this genealogical mystery were sought by contacting their descendants. Who were the Black Dutch?
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