The Invasion of Surinam was a Dutch attempt to capture the English held colony of Surinam in February 1667. The Dutch under the command of

Abraham Crijnssen Abraham Crijnssen (died 1 February 1669) was a Dutch naval commander, notable for capturing the English colony in Suriname in 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, resulting in the establishment of a long-term colony under Dutch control. T ...

captured the colony without much resistance.

Background

Following the outbreak of the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War, began on 4 March 1665, and concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Breda (1667), Treaty of Breda on 31 July 1667. It was one in a series of Anglo-Dutch Wars, naval wars between Kingdom of England, England and the D ...

, the Dutch deployed a force under Admiral Abraham Crijnssen to capture Surinam. Crijnssen's force arrived at the mouth of the

Suriname River The Suriname River ( Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is long and flows through the country of Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where it is kn ...

on 25 February 1667.

Invasion

When he arrived he started bombarding Surinam. After a while William Byam, surrendered after a brief skirmish. Following the surrender, the English colonists in the region were required to pay a sum of 100,000 pounds of sugar as a form of

ransom Ransom refers to the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release. It also refers to the sum of money paid by the other party to secure a captive's freedom. When ransom means "payment", the word ...

. Subsequently, they were given the choice of leaving or pledging their allegiance to the States of Zealand, a Dutch province. The majority of the English colonists opted to swear allegiance to the Dutch authorities. Many of the English colonists had grown weary of the stringent rule imposed by the English, and

, offered a different approach. He assured them that his intention was not to destroy but to rebuild. As part of his efforts, Crijnssen renamed the town of

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

as Nieuw-Middelburg and Fort Willoughby as Fort Zeelandia. To transport the significant amount of sugar collected as part of the ransom, Crijnssen arranged for it to be shipped to Zealand using the vessel Aardenburg.

References

{{Reflist Paramaribo Conflicts in 1667 Battles involving England Battles involving the Dutch Republic Second Anglo-Dutch War Dutch colonisation of the Guianas Cayenne 17th century in South America 1667 in South America 1667 in the British Empire 1667 in the Dutch Empire Naval battles of the Second Anglo-Dutch War