Study Abroad Blog
Reflections on a visit to Amsterdam's Maritime Museum
By Ricardo Hariguchi,
During my trip to the Netherlands, I visited the National Maritime Museum. In this museum I was able to board recreations of Dutch ships and witness art connecting to the history of Dutch sailing. A large portion of the museum was dedicated to the atrocities committed by the Dutch in its history of colonization. I was able to see the differences in how the Dutch versus the United States talk about their colonial past. In the museum, the Dutch took full responsibility for the massacres and slavery that happened on its watch. They also bemoaned how capitalist elements like trade and the Dutch East Indies Company amplified the distraught in Indonesia. This is in contrast to the United States where as a country we are still somewhat in denial about our colonial past. We do not talk as much about our occupation of the Philippines from 1898-1946, or our occupation of Japan and South Korea after WWII. We do not talk about these occupations due to our view of the USA as a world good and as the enemies of colonial rule, due to our rebellion against another colonial power, Great Britain.
