- ISSN: 0167-0441
- E-ISSN: 3051-3634
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oa Dopers in de Windhandel: De Doopsgezinde Gemeente Utrecht en de Provinciale Utrechtse Geoctroyeerde Compagnie (1720-1752)
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: Doopsgezinde Bijdragen, Volume 51, Issue 1, Sep 2025, p. 111 - 129
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- 01 Sep 2025
Abstract
This article tells the story of the involvement of certain prominent members of the Anabaptist congregation of Utrecht in the great financial stock craze of 1720, the world’s first speculative bubble. This was a larger phenomenon that stretched itself over Western Europe, originating in Paris and then spreading to London, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and eventually, Utrecht. In the latter city, this speculative craze had as goal, besides the quick enrichment of its investors, the founding of the Provincial Utrecht Chartered Company. The profitability of this commercial venture was largely based on colonial trade, made possible by the coerced labour of enslaved people in Suriname and elsewhere.
Based on recent publications on the topic and well as his own research at the Utrecht Archive (HUA) on the history of the Anabaptist community in the city, the author lists by name which members of the congregation were involved in the speculative scheme, what their roles were, and what effects their involvement had on the communal life of the congregation. Attention is also given to the human stories on the other side of the Atlantic, and the suffering endured by the enslaved as a result of their subjection to systems of exploitation. Finally, this essay illustrates the continuity of the effects borne by the transatlantic trade on this particular religious congregation throughout the centuries, thereby providing a broader longue durée sketch of how colonialism shaped the history of communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
