Creolization and Contraband: Curaçao in the Early Modern Atlantic World

When Curaçao came under Dutch control in 1634, the small island off South America’s northern coast was isolated and sleepy. The introduction of increased trade (both legal and illegal) led to a dramatic transformation, and Curaçao emerged as a major hub within Caribbean and wider Atlantic networks. It would also become the commercial and administrative seat of the Dutch West India Company in the Americas.

The island’s main city, Willemstad, had a non-Dutch majority composed largely of free b...