A Forgotten Event

Americans seem to cherish many events in their short history, especially events of a military nature. Oddly, one of the most significant events occurred in 1667 but awareness of it has become rare.

From June 9-14, the Dutch fleet under Michiel de Ruyter sailed into the Thames Estuary and attacked the British warships anchored at Chatham, capturing three capital ships of the line, including the British flagship, the Royal Charles, and destroying ten others.

 The Royal Charles at Medway


The Dutch raid on the Medway was the greatest defeat in British naval history, one more disaster in the unlucky life of Stuart king, Charles II, and the impetus for the signing of the Treaty of Breda at that Dutch city on July 31. In this agreement the English agreed to give up any claim to the lucrative "spice islands" of the East Indies in exchange for the minor Dutch holdings on the east coast of North America. These colonies became New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Later, in 1674, both countries signed the Treaty of Westminster, which further delineated the terms of the previous accord.

In the absence of these happenings it's quite likely that the population of at least the eastern area of North America would be a Dutch-speaking land and very much different than it is today.