How the Dutch Acquired Suriname: The Treaty of Breda (1667)

The Netherlands gained Suriname through the Treaty of Breda (1667), which ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The terms were a straight territorial swap:

• England ceded the colony of Suriname (captured from the Dutch in 1667) to the Netherlands.
• The Netherlands ceded New Netherland (including New Amsterdam — today's New York City) to England.

At the time, Suriname was seen as the more valuable prize due to its booming sugar plantations (worked by enslaved Africans). New Netherland was considered a marginal fur-trading outpost. History proved otherwise, but the deal stood. Suriname remained Dutch until independence in 1975.