Summary 2.19 and 2.20
2.19
For hundreds of years the Dutch made the best maps in the world. Amsterdam had many mapmakers, most of them lived in the same neighborhood, they made maps on demands of the sea captains and merchants.
Willem Blaeu and his family business.
Willem Blaeu was born in 1571. He opened his own workshop in Amsterdam in 1599. Later on he started printing maps and atlases. The first one was a map of Holland. In 1605, he printed his first world map. His maps were becoming famous for their accuracy and beauty, the maps were very expensive. Blaeu also made plans of towns and other geographical features. In 1635, for example he produced a plan of the new Schermeer Polder. He became the official mapmaker of the VOC in 1633. Willem Blaeu died in 1638. His sons, Joan and Cornelis carried on mapmaking. Joan produced the famous New Atlas and the Atlas Major.
Willem Janszoon
Nova totius terrarum orbis geographica ac hydrogra...
English: , man who bought Manhattan for 24 dollarsThe Atlas Major was very big and very detailed, which the people loved. Joan became the official mapmaker to the VOC when his father died. He was a mapmaker all his life. In 1672 there was a fire in the workshop and it destroyed all the maps and much of the equipment. Joan died the following year.
2.20
Trade was one of the most important things of the Republic. Merchants paid high taxes and contributed to the economy of their country. They gave money and spent it. Amsterdam was at the heart of the trade system, 315 people were paying the highest tax, which 253 were merchants. The most profitable trade route was the Baltic route. Later on traders began to trade in Asia and later in the Caribbean. The VOC and the WIC helped this trade to grow. The Republic set up...