The Dutch began their colony 400 years ago, but it would not last long. While other imperial powers accumulated colonies, the Dutch found power through a different method, and it was one that would greatly assist the new country of America. The incidental arrival of one statesman ensured the United States received what it needed, while also establishing a first for the nation.

Recommended reading: Papers of John Adams: Volume 13 - May to October 1782

Cited sources:

Date of recognition - https://history.state.gov/countries/netherlands#:~:text=Dutch%20Recognition%20of%20U.S.%20Independence,Adams%20on%20April%2019%2C%201782.

Brief on Adams - https://nl.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulate/the-hague/history/

Adams and Dutch - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/john-adams-was-united-states-first-ambassador-well-its-second-president-180962891/

Dutch colony - https://www.nps.gov/mava/learn/historyculture/new-netherland.htm#:~:text=The%20first%2031%20families%20arrived,Amsterdam%E2%80%9D%20began%20to%20be%20formed.

Adams revisits Netherlands 1786 - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-18-02-0228 

The Adams in Dutch Republic - https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/en/dutch-american-stories-johnny-goes-dutch

Adams Hague info - https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-01-03-01-0005

Early Dutch - https://academic.oup.com/book/11024/chapter-abstract/159364830?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Amsterdam finance capital - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/financial-history-review/article/abs/amsterdam-and-london-as-financial-centers-in-the-eighteenth-century1/8B23F8D271B1BCD05594064523600E85

Dutch in the Am Revolution - https://blog.dar.org/dutch-influence#:~:text=On%20May%2017%2C%20Adams%20secured,million%20guilders%2C%20or%20%2412%20million.

Dutch in the Am Rev - https://www.amrevmuseum.org/the-netherlands-and-the-american-revolution

80 Years War - https://historischmuseumdenbriel.nl/en/collection/stories/eighty-years-war/

Dutch Republic map - https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/dutch-navy-of-the-seventeenth-and-eighteenth-centuries/map-of-the-dutch-republic/623E8313B8AC2DF0C9D67841F2775B7F

New Amsterdam surrender - https://www.mcny.org/petrus-stuyvesant

Richard Nicoll - https://history.nycourts.gov/figure/richard-nicoll/

Adams diplomacy - https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/adams-diplomatic-missions/

Treaty of Alliance - https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/treaty-of-alliance-with-france#:~:text=According%20to%20this%20first%20military,behalf%20of%20the%20American%20Colonies.

Adams influence - https://www.mass.gov/guides/john-adams-architect-of-american-government

Charles Gravier - https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/charles-gravier

Adams appointed Dutch minister - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-10-02-0258

Proposed Treaty of Amity and Commerce - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-10-02-0260