- 3 months ago
Capitalism birth in three countries formed new world order. Best opinion watch and enjoy video
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:07Four hundred years ago, a village by the name of Amsterdam set out to conquer the world,
00:12invented capitalism as we know it, and became the richest city on the European continent.
00:17There was this sense among the Dutch that whoever you were, you could have a piece of
00:22the action.
00:23You could be involved in this great economic activity of your society.
00:31One hundred years later, London, its main rival, took its place.
00:40The greatest trading power in the world, London endured terrific hardships, but went on to
00:47become the world's largest city, and invented the megalopolis of tomorrow's world.
00:52When the railways crashed through the poorer areas of London, people were just dispersed.
00:58They were swept aside, you might say.
01:03Meanwhile, New Amsterdam had now become New York.
01:07It was under British rule.
01:09The city cut itself free and entered the fray.
01:13At the outposts of technical revolution, New York became the vertical city and created a
01:19whole new horizon for itself.
01:21You watched day by day as this stone structure was being built in the middle of the river,
01:29and it got bigger, and bigger, and bigger.
01:53Today, we admire the beauty of the city's houses and the charm of its canals.
01:58But there's much more to Amsterdam than that.
02:04It marks the starting point of a great adventure.
02:08That of the rise of liberal capitalism, the expansion of worldwide commerce, and the emergence
02:15of the global city.
02:18A combination of circumstances that has rarely been seen in human history, and one which
02:24changed the face of the world.
02:36Amsterdam was still just a small town of less than 30,000 inhabitants, a town of small consequence
02:42in terms of the European continent.
02:46On this spring morning of 1594, near Dam Square, which has been the heart of Amsterdam
02:52since its very origins, ten men held a meeting.
03:00The meeting took place in one of the participants' houses, a certain Martin Spill, a brewer by profession.
03:13Around the table sat men whose businesses traded wood, salt, and herring, products which Amsterdam
03:19had become a specialist in.
03:23Their ships were, however, excluded from the trade of pepper and spices with South Asia,
03:27the most lucrative products around.
03:35Because this form of trade was run by Portugal, which owned a huge number of trading posts along
03:40the route to Asia, serving as stopovers for its trading boats and as bases for its warships.
03:48On the day in question, it was this very monopoly that was at the heart of their discussion.
03:55And the idea is, we can attack the Portuguese monopoly on trade with the Far East.
04:02And they realized that by this time, the city of Amsterdam has developed, it's got money,
04:08it's got these people with this kind of expertise, they've been building ships.
04:12So in other words, all the ingredients are coming into place.
04:20Each of the men present that morning had already amassed a fair amount of capital.
04:28But it was nothing compared to what they'd soon known, and the veritable empire they'd
04:32contribute towards founding.
04:37Among them was Dirk van Oss, one of the city's most dynamic traders.
04:44Originally from Antwerp, he was a refugee, like many of the men who attended this meeting.
04:51They moved to Amsterdam following a conflict that had been ravaging this part of Europe
04:55for the past 25 years.
05:03On one side was William the Silent, who was championing the cause of the Dutch Protestants.
05:12On the other side was Philip II of Spain, an uncompromising Catholic, and one of the
05:17most powerful men on the continent.
05:22When the northern provinces revolted, he put them to fire and sword.
05:28But Amsterdam and the Netherlands finally gained their independence, whereas Antwerp and Flanders
05:34remained under his control.
05:40Antwerp was, at that point, the main commercial city in Europe, the richest city in the continent,
05:46a primordial source of taxation for Philip II and his kingdom.
05:52However, the king of Spain made a bet, which would cost him dearly.
05:58They knew that one way or another, you couldn't lock up all the merchants.
06:04Money is mobile.
06:06So they perhaps uniquely said to the inhabitants of Antwerp, there is a choice.
06:15You can either stay with us, you have to convert to Catholicism if you're not yet a Catholic,
06:22but you could also leave, and you have three years to liquidate your assets and take them
06:28with you.
06:32Half of the inhabitants of Antwerp, who were often more enterprising, chose to leave.
06:40Many of them left for London or Germany, but ultimately chose to settle just 200 kilometers
06:45from their city of origin, in Amsterdam.
06:53The richest among them bought themselves a house in the small medieval town.
06:59But those who couldn't afford to do so built their own homes outside the city walls,
07:03on agricultural land.
07:08There would soon be dozens of thousands of people here, waiting for a better solution.
07:21For these refugees, it was the start of a new life.
07:24And when a chance presented itself, they weren't going to miss it.
07:30They sit down with their cartographer, they've got all the people there,
07:34and they work out a system of how they're going to do this,
07:36a route they're going to go, what ships they'll need.
07:39And they form a company, which they call the Compagnie Fanfare,
07:43which translates as something like the company for faraway lands.
07:47It's fair to say that this small group were well prepared.
07:53A man named Cornelis de Hauptmann was sent to Lisbon in Portugal,
07:57where he would work for several years, and spy on the leading market players.
08:04He knew what he was doing, and despite his lack of experience,
08:08he was designated by the group as the leader of this expedition.
08:16The total amount invested was 300,000 Dutch guilders, an enormous amount.
08:21Even the richest traders in Amsterdam didn't have these kinds of sums available in cash.
08:26A house in Amsterdam cost around 5,000 Dutch guilders,
08:29and that would get you a very beautiful house.
08:32So they needed to involve a lot of traders in order to raise such a sum of money.
08:35Certainly, dozens of traders were involved as investors in this initial campaign of Hauptmann's.
08:42Three ships, 249 crew members.
08:50Nobody in Holland had ever undertaken a voyage this far.
08:55Moreover, should they cross into hostile territory,
08:58the Portuguese could at any moment intercept the expedition and destroy their ships.
09:04Plagued with scurvy and rebellions, the voyage did not go well,
09:08and Hauptmann had to stop over for several months in Madagascar,
09:13before setting sail for Asia and ultimately reaching Bantam, on the island of Java.
09:26Nothing was left to chance.
09:29During his stay in Lisbon, Hauptmann realised that this was somewhere
09:32where he'd be able to buy pepper and spices.
09:38But when he reached his destination, he was met with disappointment.
09:44The sultan, who initially greeted him warmly, took him prisoner.
09:58Houtmann escaped, and after several journeys, on August the 14th, 1597,
10:05he returned to Amsterdam.
10:10More than two years later, about 80 of the original 200 and some people make it back.
10:16They looked like skeletons.
10:18And they've got just a few, really, a few sacks of pepper and spices in their hold.
10:24So, by any logical means, this is a complete disaster.
10:29Except, those, that handful of men who backed the voyage,
10:34realised they had done it.
10:35They'd actually gone the whole way there,
10:37somehow or other, gotten their hands on some of the spices and came back.
10:40So, they'd beaten the Portuguese.
10:42And they realised then, that this was an opportunity.
10:46This was, this was going to work.
10:54Amsterdam now needed to gather enough resources
10:57that it would need for its global ambitions.
11:00It needed ships, lots of ships,
11:02and as quickly as possible.
11:07And it just so happened that, in 1594,
11:10that is to say, three years before Houtmann's return to Amsterdam,
11:14one man found the answer.
11:18His name was Cornelius Cornelizun,
11:20and he owned several mills in the village of Outgeist, near Amsterdam.
11:28Cornelius Cornelizun was a great inventor.
11:31He helped Holland harness wind power.
11:40Until this point,
11:41soaring planks of wood required several men and lots of patience.
11:48But this all changed when Cornelius Cornelizun developed the crankshaft.
11:54This revolutionised shipbuilding production.
12:03The crankshaft is actually a very simple invention
12:06that converts a circular movement into a vertical movement.
12:17With this new technique,
12:19it was possible to produce planks of wood,
12:22which were mostly used for shipbuilding,
12:2430 times faster than before.
12:28This considerably lowered production costs
12:30and sped up the shipbuilding process,
12:32which made the production of ships,
12:34large ships, much cheaper.
12:36And you have to remember,
12:38this was happening at the end of the 16th century.
12:41The patent dates back to around 1592 to 1594.
12:45In other words,
12:45exactly at the time
12:47when the Dutch set off on their huge explorations.
12:54At first,
12:56the invention met a lot of opposition,
12:58and many shipyard workers refused this piece of innovation.
13:06But within a few years,
13:07its usage became more widespread,
13:10and Holland's advantage over its foreign competitors
13:12was overwhelming.
13:21Amsterdam was now the leading shipyard in Europe,
13:24and that's where they mass-produced
13:26the best trade ship of its time.
13:34The five years that followed were full of excitement.
13:38More and more expeditions were launched,
13:40and many shipping companies were founded.
13:4475 ships were sent to Asia.
13:53And the ships start coming back loaded
13:55with these incredibly valuable spices,
13:57and this is really the moment
13:59that the Dutch Golden Age takes off.
14:06There's a scene that's described
14:08by several writers where
14:09when these first ships come back,
14:11all the church bells are ringing
14:13because this is just this, you know,
14:15awareness that something really big has happened.
14:21These expeditions brought back
14:23nine million Dutch guilders,
14:25which equated to the total sum
14:27of Holland's national debt.
14:29The debt amassed during the war against Spain.
14:37They couldn't carry on this way forever
14:39because all these companies
14:40would eventually start competing.
14:42They all wanted to travel to Asia and buy spices.
14:45The prices in Asia started climbing,
14:47which nobody was happy about.
14:49And the second problem was the Portuguese and Spanish,
14:52who didn't want to relinquish
14:54their spoils to the Dutch.
14:55They needed to be a well-organized
14:57and centralized company
14:58with a monopoly of the market
15:00and one that would be able to defend itself
15:02against the Spanish and Portuguese.
15:05And so the Dutch East India Company,
15:08the VOC, was created.
15:22It's a key date in the history of capitalism,
15:25as well as that of Amsterdam.
15:30One morning, in April 1602,
15:32Dirk van Os transformed a room of his house
15:35into a temporary office
15:36for the Dutch East India Company,
15:38of which he'd just been nominated a director.
15:43Whoever wished to,
15:44could buy shares of this new company.
15:49There was this sense among the Dutch
15:51that whoever you were,
15:52you could have a piece of the action.
15:54You could be involved
15:55in this great economic activity
15:58of your society.
16:031,143 people seized this opportunity.
16:08Not just traders,
16:10but also joiners,
16:12bronsmiths,
16:13and all sorts of craftspeople,
16:15and even seven people
16:16who worked as housekeepers.
16:19It was a sample of society
16:21in Amsterdam at that time.
16:24A total of 3,680,000 Dutch guilders
16:28were invested
16:29in this new shipping company,
16:30a huge success
16:32for the first operation of its kind
16:33in the history of the economy.
16:36Dirk van Os and his house
16:37in this moment
16:38when these ordinary people
16:39came walking into his house
16:41to buy shares of stock
16:42might have an outsized place in history
16:45because this is, you could say,
16:46the moment that capitalism was born.
16:55But there was a problem.
16:57The investors were used
16:58to investing in a single voyage.
17:00They had to wait,
17:01and when the ships returned,
17:03they'd get their money back
17:04and could either choose
17:05to continue or stop investing.
17:07But with the VOC in 1602,
17:09they were told,
17:10you can invest,
17:11but for 10 years,
17:12your money will be held
17:14for 10 years.
17:17And 10 years was much too long
17:19for many small investors.
17:23The VOC found the solution
17:25on a small bridge,
17:26which can now be found
17:28outside the exit
17:29of Amsterdam Station.
17:34This area,
17:35in the early 17th century,
17:37was home to the city's port
17:39and its many ships,
17:40which were ready
17:41to set sail out to sea.
17:44On the old bridge,
17:46the one nearest the sea,
17:47those who wanted to sell
17:48their shares of the VOC
17:50would meet those
17:51who wanted to buy them.
17:57But the weather in Amsterdam
17:59wasn't always accommodating.
18:01And on rainy days,
18:02people would meet
18:03inside the St. Olaf Church,
18:05a Catholic church
18:07that had been abandoned
18:08during the Protestant victory
18:09and since left
18:10to the traders of Amsterdam
18:11who'd come from
18:12Scandinavian countries.
18:18This place,
18:19to some extent,
18:20became the first stock exchange
18:21to exist in human history.
18:28The process was,
18:30you did your exchange
18:32on the bridge
18:33or in the church
18:34and then you walked
18:35to the headquarters
18:36of the Dutch East India Company
18:38and you had to get
18:39signatures and stamps.
18:40And so that sealed the deal,
18:43that made it official.
18:47The Dutch East India Company
18:49headquarters are now part
18:50of the University of Amsterdam.
18:56It was the first headquarters
18:57in the world
18:58with its offices,
18:59managers and board of directors.
19:05The edifice is the work
19:07of Hendrik de Kaiser,
19:09the leading architect
19:10at that time.
19:12He's the one they called
19:13when a stock trading
19:15activity increased,
19:16they decided to build
19:17a proper stock exchange.
19:22Hendrik de Kaiser
19:24had two models
19:24to work with.
19:27The stock exchange
19:28in Antwerp
19:29and its copy
19:31the stock exchange
19:32in London.
19:34But Antwerp
19:35was in enemy territory
19:36so Hendrik de Kaiser
19:37went to England.
19:40Here only merchandise
19:42was traded,
19:43company shares
19:43did not yet exist.
19:46But the architecture
19:48was interesting
19:48and Hendrik de Kaiser
19:50used it for inspiration.
19:54Once back in Amsterdam
19:55he built an edifice
19:57based on the same model.
20:00It's location
20:01is no coincidence.
20:03The new stock exchange
20:04was built right
20:04in the centre of Amsterdam,
20:06a stone's throw
20:07from the city hall.
20:09A sign that finance
20:11and politics
20:11would work hand in hand.
20:16In Amsterdam,
20:17unlike London,
20:18merchandise
20:19was being exchanged.
20:20but so were shares
20:21of the Dutch East India Company.
20:24In this regard,
20:26the Amsterdam Stock Exchange
20:27became the first
20:28in the history
20:28of global economics.
20:37The Stock Exchange
20:38was inaugurated in 1611.
20:40Meanwhile,
20:41a truce was being signed
20:42between the Dutch Republic
20:43and Spain.
20:46Temporarily relieved
20:47of the burden
20:48of its war debts,
20:49the city would finally
20:50have the resources
20:50to expand.
20:59In the space
21:00of 30 years,
21:0110 square kilometres
21:02were dug up,
21:03around 100 bridges
21:04were constructed
21:05and 3,000 houses
21:07were built.
21:10With 30,000 inhabitants
21:12in 1585
21:13and 105,000
21:1530 years later,
21:16Amsterdam would soon
21:17be the third largest city
21:18on the European continent.
21:32The next part
21:33of this story
21:34took place in London,
21:35at the heart of the city,
21:37the business district.
21:40Back then,
21:41much like now,
21:42it was a city
21:43of traders too.
21:46In the early 17th century,
21:49London had not yet
21:50undergone its urban revolution.
21:53It was still a city
21:54in the Middle Ages.
21:58Well, it was actually
21:59a very small place
22:01compared to London
22:02we know now.
22:06A tiny fraction
22:08of the scale
22:09of the city
22:10as it exists
22:11in the 21st century,
22:12even in the 19th century.
22:17The city
22:18is currently
22:19a crucial financial hub
22:20and not many people
22:22live there.
22:24But back at this time
22:25in history,
22:26most of the population
22:27of London
22:27was still
22:27mostly living here.
22:31and the city
22:32was the area
22:33confined to the old
22:34medieval walls
22:35which had been built
22:36on top of the old
22:37Roman walls.
22:38So really,
22:38a very small space,
22:40what we call
22:40a square mile.
22:49a place that was made
22:51up of medieval houses
22:53packed very closely together,
22:55essentially of timber.
22:57There are some new structures
22:59amongst them,
23:00but it was very much
23:01a medieval city,
23:03very old-fashioned.
23:09The city was separate
23:10from the royal power.
23:13The sovereigns needed money
23:14lent to them
23:15by traders
23:15who would,
23:16in return,
23:17receive a certain degree
23:18of freedom.
23:22England's great fortunes
23:23had their home there.
23:29In 1534,
23:30when Henry VIII
23:31split from the Roman church,
23:33he seized
23:33all the Catholic monasteries.
23:38Until this point,
23:40they occupied
23:4160% of the city's space.
23:45The king redistributed
23:46this among his courtiers.
23:54And so when the king
23:56appropriates that wealth
23:58for himself,
23:59you have a change
24:00in ownership
24:01of the property
24:02of more than half
24:04of the buildings
24:04in the city of London.
24:06And they move
24:06from conservative landlords
24:09who are the churchmen
24:11to go-ahead entrepreneurs,
24:14the merchants,
24:15who are buying
24:16the church property
24:17as investments.
24:22In a period
24:23of maybe 50 years,
24:26London becomes
24:26a place
24:27which is actually
24:28filled with
24:29extremely wealthy people
24:31living in
24:32their own
24:33very large houses.
24:35And these people
24:37spent the winter months
24:39in London
24:40with their wives
24:42and their wives
24:43wanted to go shopping.
24:46And shopping
24:47is absolutely the key
24:48to what happens
24:49to London.
24:50It becomes
24:50this extraordinary
24:52emporium
24:53where people
24:54come and buy
24:55and sell
24:55and buy
24:56and sell
24:57high-value
24:57luxury goods.
25:04At the start
25:05of the 17th century,
25:07the city of London
25:08was therefore
25:08a rapidly developing
25:09commercial centre.
25:11But it was still
25:12far behind Amsterdam.
25:16and when the two cities
25:17came up against each other,
25:18the city of London
25:19would come up short.
25:27Back then,
25:28much like now,
25:28in the city,
25:29business people
25:29often have confidential information
25:31disclosed to them.
25:35Especially in pubs
25:36where eavesdroppers
25:37would often overhear conversations.
25:41pubs are places
25:43where people meet.
25:44Pubs are the social hubs
25:46and business centres
25:47need social hubs
25:48as much as residential areas.
25:51Work is primarily
25:52a social activity.
25:58The British,
26:00unlike most other nationalities,
26:01drink standing up
26:02rather than sitting down.
26:04If you're sitting at a table
26:05in a French cafe,
26:07all you hear
26:08is the gossip
26:08of your friends.
26:09You can never quite hear
26:11what's being said
26:12on the next table,
26:13which is always
26:13far more interesting
26:15than what your friends
26:15are saying.
26:17In a British pub,
26:18no such problem.
26:20Because you're standing up,
26:21you can easily
26:21get close enough
26:22to the other group
26:23to hear what they're saying
26:24and you can switch off
26:25from what your friends
26:26are saying,
26:27which you already know anyway.
26:30Strategic information
26:31could fall
26:32into the wrong hands.
26:33which is exactly
26:35what happened
26:35in late summer
26:36of 1608.
26:38And this changed
26:39the fate of London,
26:41Amsterdam
26:42and even
26:43the whole of America.
26:49That morning,
26:50a certain Henry Hudson
26:52had a meeting
26:53in the offices
26:53of the Muscovy Company
26:54in a little street
26:56of the city
26:56called Budge Row.
27:01The Muscovy Company
27:02was specialised
27:03in trading with Russia.
27:06And it's not the first time
27:07Henry Hudson
27:08had put himself
27:08in their service.
27:10Henry Hudson
27:11had spent many years
27:13undertaking many voyages
27:14to try to find
27:15a short route to Asia.
27:18On two occasions,
27:19Hudson tried to find
27:20the right route.
27:21The first one
27:22went via the North Pole,
27:24which obviously
27:25didn't work.
27:27and the second attempt
27:28went via the far
27:29north coast of Russia
27:30and wasn't successful
27:32either.
27:36I think of him
27:37as kind of like a,
27:38I don't know,
27:39a Steve Jobs
27:40or someone like that
27:41of his era
27:42who, you know,
27:43people started
27:43to look at,
27:44to him
27:45as someone
27:46who knows.
27:47Whether or not
27:48he did know,
27:49and we know today
27:50that he did not,
27:51but he, you know,
27:52what you had to do
27:53was you had to guess.
27:54You had to say,
27:55I'm going to put
27:55all this information
27:56together and my next
27:57guess is that
27:58this is the best way.
28:00This time,
28:01Hudson had a new idea.
28:03Instead of travelling
28:04towards the east,
28:05they'd have to cross
28:06the Atlantic
28:06and the American continent.
28:09That's what he was
28:10explaining to his employers.
28:14However,
28:14inside the building,
28:15nothing happened
28:16as he'd expected.
28:17Not only did they
28:18refuse his offer,
28:19but they showed him
28:20to the door.
28:25That said,
28:26this incident
28:27didn't go unnoticed.
28:29A 62-year-old man,
28:31Emmanuel van Metteren,
28:33quickly seized
28:34the opportunity.
28:37As the Dutch consul
28:39in London,
28:40he'd look for
28:41every piece
28:41of information.
28:42And he had spies.
28:45He paid people
28:46to find out information.
28:47One of the things
28:48that he was following
28:49was Henry Hudson.
28:50And he found out
28:52very quickly
28:52that the Muscovy Company
28:53had fired Henry Hudson.
28:55And so he approached him
28:58and said,
28:59come to Amsterdam.
29:00We'll fund you.
29:03London had just missed
29:04an amazing opportunity
29:05because Hudson
29:06was quickly persuaded.
29:10And a month later,
29:12he sailed to Amsterdam.
29:20He comes to Amsterdam
29:22and there are
29:23different accents,
29:24there are different
29:25languages,
29:27there's different dress.
29:34It's the very moment
29:36when they are
29:37building their first
29:38stock exchange
29:39and starting the idea
29:40of expanding
29:41this canal grid.
29:42so it's all just
29:43happening in this
29:46multi-ethnic
29:47polyglot society
29:48is something
29:49that would have
29:49been very strange.
29:54Hudson discovered
29:55a new world,
29:56a mixed population
29:57with many refugees
29:59unlike his city of birth.
30:02In Europe,
30:04intolerance is official policy.
30:06And if you're in London,
30:09basically you're English.
30:10You know,
30:11this is still that moment
30:12when, you know,
30:12that kind of identity
30:16is intensified
30:17and codified
30:19by law almost.
30:22Here,
30:22there was no king
30:23or absolute power,
30:24but a republic
30:25formed of seven provinces.
30:27They all had to reach
30:29a compromise
30:29for any big decision.
30:33When the city
30:34became Protestant,
30:35the Catholic churches
30:36were converted
30:37into the general
30:38places of worship.
30:41But there were still
30:42many Catholics
30:43in the city.
30:43They represented
30:44a third of the population
30:46and their faith
30:47had not been banned.
30:51Their churches
30:52were simply
30:53no longer visible.
30:56They were now
30:57in individual homes.
31:00there were 66 churches
31:02like this
31:03during the Dutch
31:03Golden Age.
31:07Everyone knew
31:08that services
31:08were held every Sunday,
31:10but they were tolerated.
31:14At a time
31:14where Europeans
31:15were killing each other
31:16for religious reasons,
31:17this was proof
31:18of a greater openness.
31:23And it's a legacy
31:24that Amsterdam
31:25passed on
31:25throughout the Golden Age
31:27across the entire world.
31:32So Hudson
31:33goes into the
31:35courtyard
31:36of this
31:37now legendary
31:38building,
31:39which was the
31:40headquarters
31:41of the East India Company,
31:43meets with the directors,
31:44and they
31:45hammer out
31:46an agreement
31:47by which
31:48they will fund
31:48his voyage.
31:51On one condition,
31:52however,
31:53Hudson would not
31:54head west
31:55as he'd proposed,
31:56but would find
31:57a shortcut
31:57to Asia
31:58through Russia.
32:02They,
32:03for their own reasons,
32:04insisted that he
32:05try a northeast passage.
32:07He had tried that
32:08and failed.
32:09He was convinced
32:10that wouldn't work.
32:12But from one line
32:13in the contract,
32:14we know that
32:15there was tension
32:16and the line
32:16says something like,
32:18Hudson will think
32:20of taking
32:21no other route
32:22than
32:23a northeast passage,
32:26which suggests
32:26that he was saying,
32:27no, no, no,
32:27we want to go northwest,
32:28we want to go northwest,
32:29and they were saying,
32:30no, no, no,
32:30we want you to do northeast.
32:34In May 1609,
32:36as he set sail for Russia,
32:38the seafarer
32:38was under no illusions
32:39as to his chances
32:40of success.
32:44But he had
32:45other intentions.
32:48Having only just arrived
32:49in Norway
32:50and facing the difficulties
32:51they'd encountered,
32:52he persuaded his crew
32:54to do a U-turn
32:57and to head towards America.
33:02The Indians,
33:03so we're told,
33:04mentioned a waterway
33:05that wound its way
33:06far into the depths
33:07of the continent.
33:09Hudson looked for it
33:10along the north side,
33:12turned round
33:14and finally found
33:15the river mouth.
33:18He made his way
33:19down this river,
33:20which would later
33:20take his name,
33:22the Hudson River.
33:24But after a few days
33:25of sailing,
33:26he had to face facts.
33:27It was a dead end.
33:31So Hudson turned
33:33back on himself.
33:35Along the route,
33:36he met some Indian tribes,
33:38some hostile,
33:40others happy to trade.
33:43And he saw lots
33:45of beavers,
33:46whose fur was worth
33:47a fortune in Europe.
33:53Amsterdam had not found
33:55the sea route
33:55it had been looking for.
33:58But the city had set foot
33:59on the American continent.
34:12The year Hudson returned
34:13was also the year
34:15Amsterdam underwent
34:16its transformation.
34:21Amsterdam until that time
34:22was still this little
34:24medieval city.
34:25But from that moment,
34:26they undertake this vast
34:28urban expansion program.
34:32A few years earlier,
34:34a new district
34:35had popped up
34:35in the northeast
34:36of the medieval city.
34:38Many refugees
34:39from Antwerp
34:40had settled there.
34:43The less wealthy
34:44were living on top
34:45of each other
34:46in the 3,300 small homes
34:48built outside
34:49the city walls.
34:50They lay out a plan
34:52for a belt of canals,
34:55a kind of U of canals
34:56that will wrap around
34:57the medieval center
34:59of the city.
34:59And the canals
35:00will be used
35:02to take the problem
35:04of water
35:04and convert it
35:05to an advantage.
35:09A team was put together
35:11to carry out
35:11this ambitious project,
35:13and Hendrik de Kaiser
35:14was one of the men
35:15in charge.
35:20At the start
35:22of the 17th century,
35:23this construction company
35:25was formed
35:25of around 150 people.
35:28Specialists,
35:29craftspeople
35:29from various fields,
35:31masons,
35:32carpenters,
35:33sculptors,
35:33and this number
35:34just kept growing.
35:35And we know
35:36that in the mid-17th century,
35:37it had between
35:38600 to 700 employees.
35:43There were huge difficulties
35:45because Amsterdam
35:46is built on marshy land,
35:48whereas each building
35:49needs a solid foundation.
35:54As such,
35:55hundreds of ships
35:56travelled back and forth
35:57to the Swedish port
35:58of Stavanger
35:59to bring dozens
36:00of thousands
36:00of tree trunks
36:01to Amsterdam.
36:07Amsterdam was transforming
36:08itself into a huge,
36:10bristling construction
36:10site of wooden triangles,
36:13on top of which
36:13heavy loads
36:14were being hoisted.
36:16And so,
36:17this is how the posts
36:18necessary for the foundation
36:19of such construction
36:20were buried
36:21into the ground,
36:22one post per metre
36:23across the entire city.
36:29So I have often thought
36:31that, you know,
36:31if you were
36:33walking through
36:35Amsterdam
36:35in its golden age,
36:37I think, really,
36:38you would have been struck
36:39by this sound
36:40of hammering
36:41and of the piles
36:42being driven and driven
36:43because that was going on
36:44all through the century
36:45as this belt of canals
36:48was dug
36:48and these roads
36:49and bridges
36:50and houses
36:51were being built.
36:53The perimeter
36:54of the city wall
36:55was extended.
36:56The refugee homes
36:57were demolished
36:58and two new districts
36:59and two new districts
37:04A residential district
37:06and on the outside
37:08was a commercial
37:08and residential area
37:09for those with fewer means.
37:13It was the first town
37:14planning scheme
37:15in the history
37:15of European cities.
37:21In the commercial area,
37:22each profession
37:23had its own area.
37:30Whereas in the residential areas,
37:32it was forbidden
37:33to make noise
37:34and no polluting forms
37:35of industry
37:36were tolerated.
37:41Here, everybody was free
37:42to build the house
37:43of their choice
37:43to the size
37:44and style
37:45of their pleasing.
37:50There was only one restriction.
37:53The house
37:53could only occupy
37:54half the surface
37:55of the plot of land.
38:01And what's unique
38:03about the houses
38:04in Amsterdam
38:05along the canals
38:06is that each of them
38:07has a garden.
38:18The inhabitants
38:19of Amsterdam
38:20who lived in these houses,
38:22the wealthy traders,
38:23the bankers
38:24and men in power,
38:25were passionate gardeners
38:26and wanted to create
38:27palatial gardens
38:28at the heart of the city.
38:31And the Dutch way
38:32of designing
38:33these urban gardens
38:34was characterized
38:35by their different designs.
38:38There were boxwood hedges,
38:40plant beds,
38:41topiary,
38:42original plants.
38:45There were also statues,
38:46benches,
38:47garden pavilions.
38:49Everything you'd find
38:50in a palace garden
38:51could be found here,
38:53but on a smaller scale
38:54in a smaller space.
39:07On the ground floor
39:08of the house,
39:08there'd be a reception area.
39:13Next door would be the office
39:15where one's business
39:16would be run
39:17with one or two employees.
39:22Upstairs was the family space.
39:25Family in the strict sense
39:27of the term
39:27as we know it today.
39:31Before that,
39:33European homes tended to be
39:34much more mixed.
39:37You may have extended family.
39:39There might be servants
39:40or boarders who were renting rooms.
39:44The Dutch canal house,
39:46and this again,
39:46reinforces this new notion
39:48of what an individual is,
39:49and not just an individual,
39:51but what a family is.
39:52This new kind of sensibility,
39:54which I think most of us
39:55consider now, today,
39:57to be part of our lives.
40:01The Dutch canal house
40:02was intended to be
40:03for a man and his wife
40:05and their children.
40:10The Dutch have this word,
40:12cheselachayt.
40:13It means cozy, intimate,
40:15a place of domesticity.
40:24When you read the tales
40:27of foreigners
40:28who walked along the canals
40:30in the mid-18th century,
40:33they seem surprised
40:34that there are so many
40:36high-value houses
40:37and no sovereign.
40:40They are also surprised
40:42that this architecture
40:43is not solely used
40:45for the houses
40:45of rich individuals,
40:47but that even simple
40:48public buildings
40:49are built this way too.
40:53Orphanages,
40:54retirement homes.
40:59They thought
41:00it's really quite astonishing.
41:02And they even thought
41:04it's a bit excessive
41:06to design public buildings
41:08like palaces.
41:14Amsterdam would now start
41:15exporting this
41:16revolutionary societal design
41:18to the other side
41:19of the Atlantic.
41:271623 marked the creation
41:29of the Dutch West India Company,
41:31which had a monopoly
41:32over trade with the Americas.
41:35A year later,
41:36it invited volunteers
41:38to its headquarters
41:39in Amsterdam
41:39to join its new colony.
41:42It's the golden age
41:43in Holland,
41:45and it's hard
41:46to get settlers.
41:48So they are advertising,
41:50and they have
41:51this multi-ethnic society,
41:54and as you would imagine
41:58would happen,
41:59it's people who are
42:00at the bottom rung
42:01of the society
42:02who are willing to,
42:04you know,
42:04they're the ones
42:04who have nothing to lose,
42:05who say,
42:06okay,
42:06I'll join.
42:10Young people
42:11in their 20s,
42:12a boy for each girl,
42:14all from French-speaking
42:16Flanders,
42:17now Belgium.
42:19In 1624,
42:21a few dozen volunteers
42:22signed up
42:23for this American adventure.
42:25At that point,
42:27Amsterdam and the
42:28Dutch Republic
42:29were,
42:29without contest,
42:30the world's leading
42:31commercial power.
42:39However,
42:40on the other side
42:41of the North Sea,
42:42London was building
42:43up its forces.
42:45Its secret,
42:46textiles,
42:47a force born
42:48250 years earlier,
42:50in terrible circumstances.
43:06The greatest epidemic
43:08in European history,
43:09the Black Death.
43:12Half of the English
43:13population were wiped out
43:14in the space
43:15of a decade.
43:17But it was at this point
43:19that the English economy
43:20discovered sheep farming.
43:30Before the Black Death,
43:32there was a very
43:32high population.
43:34The economy was geared
43:36towards agricultural produce
43:38to feed this population.
43:40But after the Black Death,
43:41there was what they called
43:43a dearth of people.
43:45There were very few people
43:46and there was a lot of land.
43:48And so,
43:49the economy changed
43:51and they made use
43:52of the huge amount
43:52of land
43:53by switching the economy
43:55from this agricultural economy
43:56to sheep farming.
44:02Wool supplies
44:03were gathering in London
44:04and for the next two centuries,
44:06the city traders exported it,
44:08particularly to Amsterdam
44:09and Holland,
44:10where a great number
44:11of some of the best weavers
44:12on the continent
44:13were working.
44:18Now, this was all very well.
44:19Exporting wool was very good.
44:21It was a cargo
44:22that made good profit.
44:23But there was a way
44:24to make even more profit.
44:26And that was to
44:27not only send wool abroad
44:30to allow people
44:30to make cloth out of it,
44:31but to make the cloth yourself
44:33and then sell that
44:34with its increased added value.
44:40In the mid-17th century,
44:43London finally decided
44:44to take the next step.
44:48The weavers of Holland
44:50were invited to move
44:51to the English capital,
44:52as well as French Protestants,
44:54the Huguenots.
45:00Among them
45:01were many textile craftsmen.
45:04London thus sowed the seeds
45:06for its future industry.
45:13They settled in the east of London,
45:15near to the city of London
45:16and close to the port
45:18where they had arrived
45:19from the continent.
45:27They built houses
45:28with weaving lofts
45:30at the top of the houses
45:31with large windows
45:32and plenty of daylight
45:33to operate their looms
45:35for making cloth.
45:43And this early development
45:45of the cloth industry
45:46in the UK
45:46was what really allowed
45:49the economy of London
45:50to take off,
45:51which produced the great wealth
45:53that led to it
45:55becoming a financial centre.
46:00The weavers formed
46:01the initial hub
46:02of the future East End,
46:03the major industrial district
46:05of the 19th century.
46:09And the port in London
46:10saw its activity
46:11increase tenfold.
46:19In a space of 50 years,
46:21the population of London
46:22more than doubled.
46:24By the mid-17th century,
46:26it had amassed
46:26500,000 inhabitants.
46:30The medieval city
46:31grew beyond its confines
46:33and rapidly spread
46:34towards the west
46:35in the direction
46:36of Westminster.
46:39Westminster,
46:40where the king reigned
46:41and he saw urbanisation
46:43sprawl beyond control.
46:47There were real anxieties
46:49about the expansion
46:51of London
46:52because it was
46:53this place
46:54of disease,
46:55of vice,
46:56of crime.
46:57And the idea
46:58that the city
46:59might expand,
47:00might get bigger
47:01was an incredibly worrying
47:02thing for that reason.
47:05In his palace
47:06in Whitehall,
47:07the king dreamt
47:08of a different city,
47:10a city devoted
47:11to royal greatness.
47:16The example
47:17to follow,
47:18according to Charles I,
47:19is the banqueting house,
47:21one of the wings
47:21of his palace.
47:26With its classic design,
47:28the building was used
47:29for great royal ceremonies.
47:32It was built
47:33by his father,
47:34King James I.
47:40The king,
47:41featured in these
47:42ceiling paintings,
47:43done by Rubens
47:44in person,
47:45celebrate glory.
47:51The two sovereigns
47:53made life difficult
47:54in London.
47:55By imposing
47:56all sorts of regulations,
47:57they wanted
47:58to force it to change.
48:03But they had a problem.
48:05Unlike European monarchies,
48:08where the monarch,
48:09you know,
48:09genuinely had
48:10the power
48:12to completely
48:13remodel
48:14city centres,
48:15James I
48:16and Charles I
48:17were completely
48:18dependent upon Parliament
48:19and the city
48:20of London government
48:22had a complete
48:23stranglehold,
48:24complete control
48:25over the nature
48:26of the city.
48:28And so their hands
48:29were tied.
48:31London became
48:32one of the bones
48:33of contention
48:34between the king
48:34and Parliament.
48:36And the conflict
48:37contributed to the civil war
48:38which devastated
48:39England in the mid-17th century.
48:43Charles I
48:44was defeated.
48:45sentenced to death
48:47and decapitated
48:48on 30th of January
48:491649
48:50in front of the
48:52banqueting house,
48:53the palace he'd so dearly loved
48:55and recommended
48:56as an example
48:56to be followed.
49:07It was a terrible period.
49:09But the city emerged
49:11richer and more powerful
49:12than before.
49:20Because this is when
49:21the first banks
49:22set themselves up
49:22in London
49:23and financial business
49:24became a formal profession.
49:29Until this point,
49:31things had been done
49:31in an informal manner,
49:33mostly in settings
49:34like pubs.
49:37a rich tradesman
49:38would sit at a table
49:39from which he'd hold
49:41business meetings.
49:46A person who wanted
49:47to borrow money
49:47would come up to him,
49:49accompanied by another person
49:50who'd act as a guarantee.
49:54And the rich tradesman,
49:56if he deemed them suitable,
49:57would lend them the money
49:58they'd requested.
50:00But this practice changed
50:02after the death
50:03of Charles I.
50:10A few months
50:11after his execution,
50:13Oliver Cromwell
50:14became Lord Protector,
50:16a sort of dictator,
50:18and allowed Jews
50:19to return to England.
50:20They'd been deported
50:22several centuries beforehand.
50:31As such,
50:33Jewish bankers
50:34moved to London
50:34from Lombardy in Italy.
50:39They chose a street
50:41in the city centre,
50:42now called Lombard Street,
50:44and set up their offices there.
50:52These were the first
50:53office blocks
50:54such as we know them today.
51:01However,
51:02the newcomers
51:02still maintained
51:03a vestige
51:03of the old practices.
51:06This type of sign,
51:07which all English pubs
51:09worthy of this name
51:09would hang outside
51:10and would be named after.
51:17Pubs and coffee houses
51:19had done this
51:19for a long time.
51:20They'd always had
51:20a picture outside,
51:21a picture of the king
51:22or a picture of a castle
51:24or something more unusual.
51:27And so it is
51:28in Lombard Street
51:29that to this day
51:30we see a collection
51:31of signs hanging
51:31from buildings
51:32that look very much
51:33like pub signs.
51:38They don't have
51:39any words on them.
51:40They are the world's
51:41first logos.
51:45So when we see
51:46the cat and fiddle
51:47over a building
51:48in Lombard Street
51:49this is because
51:50it was the visual symbol
51:52of the company,
51:53the bank that operated
51:53within,
51:54very much as had been
51:56the case in the days
51:57of pub banking.
52:00In the space
52:01of 50 years
52:02the city had carried
52:03out its transformation.
52:04From a commercial centre
52:06it was now becoming
52:07a financial hub.
52:14England now had
52:15the means required
52:16for its ambitions
52:17and a first war
52:18soon broke out
52:19between London
52:20and Amsterdam
52:20to take control
52:21of certain sea channels.
52:26But Amsterdam
52:27continued to grow.
52:29An incredible success
52:31which aroused
52:32keen interest
52:32from all around.
52:33is the
52:34one
52:34of the
52:35the
52:35.
52:37The
52:55.
52:56You