Protestant Work Ethic And The Dutch East India Company

Europe was the strongest Economic power in the 1500s because of the Age of exploration, Protestant work ethic and the Dutch east India Company . The Age of exploration began when the west European people were being heavily taxed on all imports coming from the silk through the ottoman empire, So the Europeans saw only one solution find another route to the silk road. The most influential naval Explorers at this time were the Portuguese and the Spanish or at that time know as the kingdom of castile. By the 1500s Portugal was occupying much of costal Africa they had even circumnavigated the continent of Africa where they began the slave trade giving them copious amounts of money. When both these countries reached the shores of the Americas

Protestant work ethic came from 2 very prominent figures of the 15th century Martin Luther and John Calvin. They both believed that the catholic did not need all the money it was receiving and squandering on unholy activities or that no priest should not be able to nullify your sins by paying to absolve them. Martin Luther believed that the truth lies in the scripture and everyone should be able to read it and see god through their own eyes. In 1517 Luther left his 95 theses for the world to see, this lead to a counter reformation by the catholic church trying to burn Luther's work but it was too late as many different schisms of Christianity rose.( Lutherans, Calvanists, Anglicans) The V.O.C. is a Dutch acronym that stands for "the Dutch East India Company" this company was very important because it was one the first charter companies in the world in 1602. A Chartered company is company that is built upon the investments of others who then own a piece of what they invested in, because the journey modern day Indonesia was a treacherous one with many ships sailing without ever