a
The republic itself
Open the map in 1650 on the Low Countries. Compare the Republic's size with France and Spain. What do you notice?
Open this view on the mapDutch Republic · 1588-1672
The Dutch Golden Age
A small republic becomes a world power through water, trade and ships. Students trace the trade network and discuss both the wealth and its dark side.
- Length
- 50 minutes
- Ages
- 11–14
- On the map
- 3 steps, AD 1650
- Live lesson
- 7 rounds, 4 on the map
- Homework
- The same rounds, a week long
- Worksheet
- Two A4 pages, with Classroom
- Slides
- 22 slides, with Classroom
- You need
- A projector; phones for live
A call from history · new
Jan Pieterszoon Coen is on the line. The class decides.
May 1619, after capturing Jayakarta
Jayakarta, Java (now Jakarta, Indonesia)
“You must decide whether to establish a new Dutch-controlled city on this site, which could serve as the main base for the VOC in Asia, or to continue using the existing local port under its old rulers. Building a new city could strengthen Dutch power and trade, but may cause conflict with local people and rulers.”
Should I order the construction of a new Dutch city here, or keep using the old port as it is? The caller speaks English, in their own voice, from a short brief of textbook facts, knows nothing of what came later and never tells the outcome; the screen does, after the call. On the live board the telephone rings the whole class: the teacher answers on the room's microphone, and students write to the caller from their phones.
Sign in to take the call
Calls come with Pro (5 a month) and Classroom (20 a month, ringing the whole class). How calls work
Live lesson · new in Classroom
Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.
Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.
€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.
- 7 rounds
- 4 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
- About 15 minutes
- Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
- A report
- Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
Or as homework · new
No lesson hour to spare? Set it as homework.
The same 7 rounds, without the board: each student walks through them alone on their phone, sees every answer at once with the explanation, and the report fills in as they go. Open for a week, with a code and a link you can paste anywhere.
Homework comes with Classroom, like the live lesson. The free lesson can be set as homework by everyone.
Dutch RepublicThe Dutch Golden Age
Slides · new
The whole lesson as a deck.
22 slides: the plate, the 3 map steps with their pictures and a link to the live map, the discussion questions, the quiz with the answer on the next slide, and the worksheet. Speaker notes carry what to say. It is a .pptx, so it opens in PowerPoint, Keynote and Google Slides, and you can change anything.
Preview: the first 4 slides
€19 per month: the deck of every lesson, every worksheet, every live lesson. Rome at its height comes whole for free.
Introduction
5 minRead aloud
A small republic becomes a world power through water, trade and ships. Students trace the trade network and discuss both the wealth and its dark side.
By the end of the lesson, students can
- Explain how a small country built a global trade network in the 1600s.
- Point out three places on the map where the Dutch Republic had trading posts.
- Name one positive and one negative consequence of that trade empire.
Explore the map
15 minProject the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.
a
b
A world of trade
Turn on the trade routes layer and zoom out to the world. Follow a Dutch route east. Which products came back on those ships?
Open this view on the map
c
The other side
Look at the Atlantic routes between Africa and the Americas. What was traded there, and who paid the price?
Open this view on the mapClass discussion
15 minPick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.
- Why could a country this small become this rich? Name at least two reasons.
- The VOC is sometimes called the first multinational. What made it different from a normal trading company?
- Amsterdam's canals were built in this period. What does a city's architecture tell you about its economy?
- The same century brought wealth to the Republic and slavery to its colonies. How should we remember such a period?
- What ended the Golden Age? Look at the map around 1672.
Game round
10 minRule History: rule as a Dutch stadhouder or VOC governor. Afterwards, discuss: which choices were profitable but wrong by today's standards?
Open Rule HistoryWorksheet
5 minThis worksheet comes with Classroom
€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, the slides of every lesson, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.