At the meeting on April 6, 1634 the directors of the WIC approved the plan of conquest. An expedition force was formed, led by Johan van Walbeeck and Pierre Le Grand. The expedition consisted of 180 sailors and 225 soldiers. On July 29, 1634 they conquered Curacao.
The Netherlands, in order to obtain their independence, was engaged in a war with Spain from 1560 to 1640.
Partly because of this war, which required a lot of resources, ships, and men, the Dutch did not participate in the first exploration wave of the seas, like Portugal and Spain did. Their ships were not seen in the Caribbean before 1580. This changed when Spain conquered Portugal and the union with Portugal (1580-1640) was established in 1580. Portugal was not allowed to trade with the Netherlands, Spain’s enemy. The Portugal-Netherlands trade was mainly in salt and the Dutch were forced to look for other ways to get their salt. Salt was very important for the preservation of food, particularly fish in those days. In 1585 the first Dutch ships sailed off the Venezuelan coast, where they came to collect salt from the salt pans of Punto Araya, and they came close to island of Curaçao.
The option of Curaçao was on the table...
After the Dutch were expelled from St. Maarten, the “Heeren XIX”, the 19 directors of the WIC, began considering the possibility of maintaining an easy to defend base in the Caribbean; one from which all operations could take place. The option of Curaçao as such a base was on the table, because of its easy to defend natural harbors. The island was also conveniently positioned to Venezuela and the trade routes. It could be used as a marine base to attack the supply lines of the enemy, Spain.
On August 21, the capitulation was a fact.
At the meeting on 6 April 1634, the directors of the WIC approved the plan of conquest of the island of Curaçao. An expedition force was formed, led by Johan van Walbeeck and Pierre Le Grand. The expedition consisted of 180 sailors and 225 soldiers. On 29 July 1634 they conquered Curaçao. The Spaniards surrendered with the agreement that the majority of Indians, about 400 in numbers, and 32 Spaniards would be free to leave. They were sent to Coro, Venezuela. On 21 August the capitulation was a fact.
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