The paper presents a new synthesis to understanding the westward expansion of sugar production and trade in the seventeenth century Atlantic world by linking Amsterdam's expanding sugar market to the Sephardic Jewish merchant network. The Dutch seventeenth century Golden Age is often presented as the age of capitalism and speculation about the role of Jewish merchants in the capitalist order as expressed by Werner Sombart in "The Jews and Modern Capitalism" still abounds in some quarters. But, so is Max Weber's 'The Protestant Ethic' considered a major contributing factor to the emergence of the capitalist state.
The author will offer an analysis which ties Amsterdam as emerging staple market to a network of merchants of the "Portuguese Nation" conducting trade from the Iberian Peninsula to Madeira, São Tomé and Brazil to Antwerp in the sixteenth and Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, including trade with Barbados and other English colonies. By "Portuguese Nation" I refer to the emigres from the Portuguese Jewish communities who settled elsewhere under the pressures of anti-Semitism and the Catholic Inquisition, and that included both practicing Jews and “conversos,” Jews who had converted to Christianity due to the pressures they faced but still retained elements of Jewish identify, family connections, and practices. Merchants from the "Portuguese Nation" brought colonial wares (sugar and tobacco) to market in Amsterdam which were processed and distributed throughout Europe greatly enhancing the status of the city as a city of wealth and influence in the emerging early-modern European world. Amsterdam with its growing trade connections welcomed Sephardic Jewish merchants with their experience in long-distance trade and wide-spread international connections. They proved useful in financial services and diplomatic negotiations as well. As a result the Sephardic Jewish networks, operating under the aegis of Holland, pioneered the development of the international sugar trade in the 17th century and cemented Amsterdam’s role as a central European port.