De Kaap in de zeventiende eeuw was een wild en onontgonnen, maar uitgestrekt en zeer vruchtbaar gebied. Gedurende de zeventiende eeuw werd de ecologie van Zuid-Afrika radicaal veranderd door de...Show moreDe Kaap in de zeventiende eeuw was een wild en onontgonnen, maar uitgestrekt en zeer vruchtbaar gebied. Gedurende de zeventiende eeuw werd de ecologie van Zuid-Afrika radicaal veranderd door de toenemende scheepvaart en kolonisering van het gebied. In 1652 stichtte Jan van Riebeeck de Kaapkolonie, waardoor deze verandering in een stroomversnelling kwam. Rond 1700 was de Kaap bijna onherkenbaar veranderd door de vestiging van Europese kolonisten en de introductie van nieuwe planten, gewassen en dieren. In dit onderzoek wordt deze verandering beschreven aan de hand van primaire bronnen en secundaire literatuur.Show less
This thesis adds a new chapter to the environmental history of Dutch Essequibo and Demerara in the second half of the eighteenth century. Mainly using Dutch maps, plans and reports, this paper...Show moreThis thesis adds a new chapter to the environmental history of Dutch Essequibo and Demerara in the second half of the eighteenth century. Mainly using Dutch maps, plans and reports, this paper studies how Dutch knowledge of hydraulic engineering was reflected in their construction projects in the wet tropical Guianas. It examines the construction processes, structure and layout of canals, plantations, fortifications and towns. The hydraulic engineering of these projects is compared to practices in the Netherlands, Europe and European colonies, to determine whether it was as typically Dutch and unique as scholars often assume. The paper concludes that although the construction projects were planned in such a way that these fit well with the wet natural environment of the Guianas, the hydraulic engineering was neither unique nor typically Dutch. Instead, the projects resembled practices in other European colonies more closely than Dutch practices. The hydraulic engineering was therefore not the result of Dutch experience in water management, but rather the result of the environment of Essequibo and Demerara that forced the British, French and Dutch inhabitants to adapt to it.Show less
