Publisher's Synopsis
In both the New World and the Old World, the 1992 quincentennial of Columbus's landfall led to controversies and heated debates as to whether this anniversary called for celebration, commemoration or condemnation.;Without underestimating the destructive results of European intrusion and colonization, this study focuses on the more positive effects of the transatlantic exchange between the Netherlands and the Americas. Even though the emigration from the Netherlands to the Americas has always been modest, the impact of the Dutch on North and even South America was considerable in the 18th and 19th centuries, and since the New World has begun to influence the former metropolis.;The 16 essays in this volume are organized around two related themes: the first part deals with the migration and transportation of people, covering a wide variety of aspects such as 17th-century colonization, the infrastructural links, the transportation of emigrants, the motives for migration and the assimilation of Dutch migrant women; and the second part focuses on cultural and intellectual exchanges, including political ideas, literature and science.
