The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

50 THE FREEMAN JanuaryDutch Wa.r...."11 It was not simplyincidental, either, that duringthis conflict the English gainedcontrol of the Middle Colonies inAmerica. A third war br0ke outin 1672. "Although a Dutch fleetrecaptured New Amsterdam inAugust 1673 the treaty of peace in1674 once more restored it to England- an act which marked thepassing of the Dutch menace toEngland's North Americantrade."12Impact on the ColoniesUnfortunately, it did not endthe rivalry in North America northe train of mercantilistic wars.France was now emerging in thelatter part of the seventeenth centuryas a major power under theaggressive leadership of LouisXIV. Louis courted English monarchsso that they would allow himroom to operate to fulfill his ambitionson the continent of Europe.The courtship may have been theundoing of Charles II and James II ;at any rate, it came to an end withthe Glorious Revolution in 1688.A Dutchman, William of Orange,became William III of Englandand joint ruler with his wife Maryduring the rest of her lifetime. Invery short order, Britain went towar with France (King William'sWar) and by so doing began a se-11 Ibid., p. 283.12 Ibid., p. 284.ries of conflicts with that nationwhich did not finally end until theCongress of Vienna in 1815. Sinceother nations and their possessionswere usually involved inthese conflicts between Englandand France, these wars may wellbe called world wars.While King William's War ofthe 1690's was ostensibly foughtto maintain a balance of power inEurope, the colonies were at stake,also, at least potentially. One historyindicates that in issuing hisdeclaration of war "William tookcognizance of the offenses of Louis'subjects in America against theEnglish colonies there - in Newfoundland,in Hudson Bay, in theWest Indies, in New York, and inNova Scotia."13 Though there wasconsiderable fighting in America,there were no significant territorialchanges as a result of thatwar.Maps of North America showingterritorial possessions of Europeanpowers and changes inthem from 1700-1763 indicatesomething of the bearing of thecolonial situation on the greatwars of this period. In 1700, theEnglish held only a relatively narrowstrip of the eastern coast ofNorth America from New Eng-13 Max Savelle and Robert Middlekauff,A History of Colonial America(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,1964, rev. ed.), p. 261.