Dutch Republic
The denomination linked closely to the official States, and adopted as de facto state religion, was the Lower German Dutch Reformed Church, the later Reformed Church of the Netherlands. The public exercise of Catholicism was strictly forbidden, Catholics were viewed by the government with suspicion and were supervised, Catholic chapels and road-side crosses were all destroyed, shrines demolished, and even in the southern and utmost eastern parts of the country, which remained almost entirely Catholic during the whole period of existence of the Dutch Republic, public servants had to be Calvinist Protestants (or Jewish) and take an oath which ordered them to act against the "papist religion". However after the end of the 17th century the situation changed to a state of restricted toleration of Catholic worship, as long as it took place secretly in non-recognizable churches or in sheds. However until 1795 the Catholics of the Netherlands had to pay huge taxes and large sums of "recognition money" in order to make local government tolerate them. All ancient churches, monastery buildings and stripped cathedrals remained in the hands of the Protestants, even in entirely Catholic provinces and regions of the Netherlands.
Because of the enormous shortage of priests - most had fled, were expelled or defected to the Protestant religion - and the fact that the entire Dutch Republic's Catholics were very inefficiently governed by an Apostolic Vicariate as the so-called Dutch Mission, during the late 17th century and even onwards more and more badly catechized and economically discriminated Catholics in the north and west slowly fell away to the Protestant state church and even to Anabaptist communities. In the provinces of Holland and Zeeland, the majority however had become officially Calvinist, but in 1648 some regions in the northern and western parts of the country, and many in the centre and the centre-east, had very confused but still mostly Roman Catholic populations. By this also can be explained why during the Franco-Dutch War occupation (1670s) of huge parts of the Netherlands by Catholic troops of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster and France, and the temporary restoration of Catholicism in the parish churches and cathedrals, still huge masses of Dutch faithful attended the celebrations of Mass conducted by foreign priests, serving as chaplains in the invading armies. However by 1795 Calvinist Protestant policies dominating the country for almost two hundred years, had left their marks: vast previously Catholic regions - even during the Protestant Reformation - had been converted to Reformed Protestantism, while Catholic shrines, monasteries, abbeys and other cultural institutions associated with the papacy and Catholic doctrine, had been razed to the ground - mostly from 1630 to 1690.
The Dutch Republic did not allow public exercise of Anabaptism and Lutheranism either, except in foreign embassies and in isolated villages, like Giethoorn (Anabaptists) and among the German traders in major cities of the Republic. Public policy against non-Calvinist Protestants however was less harsh than policy towards native Dutch Catholics.
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Influence
The framers of the U.S. Constitution were influenced by the Constitution of the Republic of the United Provinces, though that influence was more as an example of things to avoid than of things to imitate.[2] In addition, the Oath of Abjuration, essentially the declaration of independence of the United Provinces, is strikingly similar to the later American Declaration of Independence[3] though concrete evidence that the former directly influenced the latter is absent.
John Adams went so far as to say that “the originals of the two Republics are so much alike that the history of one seems but a transcript from that of the other.”[4] The seven arrows in the lion's left claw in the Republic's coat of arms, representing the seven provinces, was a precedent for the thirteen arrows in the eagle's left claw in the Great Seal of the United States.[5]
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Decline
Long term rivalry between the two main factions in Dutch society, the Staatsgezinden (Republicans) and the Prinsgezinden (Royalists or Orangists) sapped the strength and unity of the country. Johan de Witt and the Republicans did reign supreme for a time at the middle of the Seventeenth century (the First Stadtholderless Period) until his overthrow and murder in 1672. Subsequently, William III of Orange became stadtholder, after a stadtholderless era of 22 years, and the Orangists regained power; his first problem was to survive the Franco-Dutch War (which was related to the Third Anglo-Dutch war), when France, England, Münster and Cologne ganged up against his country.
Wars to contain the expansionist policies of France in various coalitions, after the Glorious Revolution mostly including England, burdened the Republic with huge debts, although little of the fighting after 1673 took place on its own territory. The end of the War of Spanish Succession in 1713 marked the end of the Republic as a major military power.
Fierce competition for trade and colonies, especially from England, furthered the economic downturn of the country. The three Anglo-Dutch Wars and the rise of Mercantilism hurt Dutch shipping and commerce.
The establishment of the Bank of England, at a time when the Dutch were fighting against the French on Dutch soil, meant that money could be borrowed from London at lower interest rates[citation needed], and at greater reliability and protection. Gradually, London displaced Amsterdam as the leading European financial centre.
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See also
- History of the Netherlands
- Union of Utrecht
- Eighty Years' War
- Dutch Golden Age
- List of Grand Pensionaries
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Further reading
- Israel, J.I. The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806 Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995
- Reynolds, Clark G. Navies in History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998
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References
- ^ Pieter Geyl, History of the Dutch-Speaking Peoples, 1555-1648. Phoenix Press, 2001, p. 55.
- ^ Alexander Hamilton, James Madison (1787-12-11). Federalist Papers no. 20. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
- ^ Barbara Wolff. "Was Declaration of Independence inspired by Dutch?", University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998-06-29. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
- ^ http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/41982a.htm
- ^ Velde, François. Official Heraldry of the United States.
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