Dutch Angola

So in OTL the Dutch occupied Luanda from 1641-1648. They had the support of Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and a formal alliance with the Kingdom of Kongo. The local Africans were very upset with the Portuguese for their warmongering and treaty breaking earlier in the century.

The Portuguese did hang on though from their port at Benguela and from their plantations and local allies of the interior. They were doomed considering they were entirely diplomatically isolated.

But the Dutch didn't want to engage itself with a campaign to wipe out all the Portuguese in Angola. What if the Ndongo and the Kongo are even more successful in their battles against the Portuguese. Perhaps the Dutch would be more willing to help with the final assault to clear the interior.

Then the Dutch would also have to properly defend Luanda from eventual counter attack from Portugal. But lets say that all this works out, what would Dutch Angola mean in the long run.

Firstly the Dutch had just taken the largest slave markets in west Africa. The only other major source still available to the Portuguese and Spain would be São Tomé.

So what would the Dutch do with all those slaves. They would definitely be able to supply their South American and Caribbean Islands, but I wonder if it would also mean slaves being sent to New Amsterdam?

What kind of use would New Amsterdam have for so many slaves?

What about in the Cape colony?
 

yourworstnightmare

Banned
Donor
So in OTL the Dutch occupied Luanda from 1641-1648. They had the support of Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and a formal alliance with the Kingdom of Kongo. The local Africans were very upset with the Portuguese for their warmongering and treaty breaking earlier in the century.

The Portuguese did hang on though from their port at Benguela and from their plantations and local allies of the interior. They were doomed considering they were entirely diplomatically isolated.

But the Dutch didn't want to engage itself with a campaign to wipe out all the Portuguese in Angola. What if the Ndongo and the Kongo are even more successful in their battles against the Portuguese. Perhaps the Dutch would be more willing to help with the final assault to clear the interior.

Then the Dutch would also have to properly defend Luanda from eventual counter attack from Portugal. But lets say that all this works out, what would Dutch Angola mean in the long run.

Firstly the Dutch had just taken the largest slave markets in west Africa. The only other major source still available to the Portuguese and Spain would be São Tomé.

So what would the Dutch do with all those slaves. They would definitely be able to supply their South American and Caribbean Islands, but I wonder if it would also mean slaves being sent to New Amsterdam?

What kind of use would New Amsterdam have for so many slaves?

What about in the Cape colony?

First of all, the Dutch lost in Angola because the Portuguese knew the land better and had more local allies. Even with the Kongo and the Ndongo on the Dutch side, the Portuguese had much more Allies. The key for a Dutch victory in Angola would have to be Portugal not having any support from the local tribes and kingdoms, but that'd be hard, since no Colonial power would have survived in Angola in the 15-1600s without local support.

Also the Dutch did became the dominating slave trader of the 1600s even without any large African harbors. In the end you didn't have to control a harbor to trade there. The Dutch supplied their own Colonial Empire and even the Spanish Colonies with slaves (and supplied the French and British before they started on their own). The Dutch were even able to compete with Portuguese traders in supplying Portuguese Brazil.
 
Top