During the century between the Third Anglo-Dutch war in 1674 and the start of the
American Revolution in 1775, the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) continued to
enrich itself especially from 1690 to 1753. Afterwards, as with the English East India
Company, corruption and increased competition started a decline that finally ended in
1789, about 70 years before the English East India Company. The decline of the Dutch
Golden Age provoked a loss of confidence in the Netherlands. In England, the rise of a
parliamentary government in 1679, and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, began the
decline of monarchial government. The first Declaration of Indulgence advocating
freedom of worship issued by James II in 1688, promotes tolerance and happiness as the
surest means of preserving government. The 1730s in Europe, however, marked the
gradual decline of the Dutch East India Company merchant enterprise and the suppression
of Italy?s rising middle class in Venice. Two contemporaneous dramatists, one a Venetian
and the other from Amsterdam, glorify homeland ideals and patriotism through their
theatrical works set on the island of Formosa.
