Last time we checked, Aruba was under Spanish rule, which at the time was the world’s most powerful empire. Aside from occasional pirate or buccaneer raids, there wasn’t much of note happening on the island. According to most historical records, Aruba became part of the Dutch empire around 1636. But before we jump ahead, let’s rewind and explore the events that led to this shift.

The Netherlands, as we know it today, didn’t exist in the early 1600s. During that period, it was part of the Spanish Empire in Europe. We use “they” because what we now call The Netherlands was a collection of regions, or provinces: Holland, Friesland, Groningen, Utrecht, Zeeland, Gelderland, and Overijssel. Around 1568, these regions launched a rebellion, sparking what became known as the Eighty Years’ War. This long conflict ended in 1648, giving rise to a new nation: the Republic of the Netherlands. It’s important to note that the Dutch Kingdom as we know it today hadn’t yet formed; that came later.

During this war, however, a Dutch trading company was established that would forever alter Aruba’s future: the “Verenigde West-Indische Compagnie” (WIC), or Dutch West India Company. One of the main goals of the WIC was to wage war and piracy against Spain in order to weaken its economic power and disrupt its ability to continue fighting. The WIC also aimed to engage in maritime trade and claim its share of the wealth in the Americas. While their initial focus was on Brazil, the Dutch soon expanded into other regions, including the Lesser Antilles—and, of course, Aruba.

One of the primary missions of the Dutch West India Company (WIC) was the search for salt, a crucial ingredient for preserving herring, one of the Netherlands’ most profitable exports. Around 1590, Dutch merchants from the regions of Holland and Zeeland began exploring the Caribbean in search of this “white gold.” One of their main destinations was the coastal area of Punta de Araya, which held vast salt flats. Since the Spanish had minimal defenses in the area, the Dutch were able to harvest salt here for many years without interference.

However, by 1623, the Spanish retaliated, and the Dutch were expelled from Punta de Araya. Today, visitors can still see the remnants of the Spanish fort built to protect the region from further Dutch incursions.

Source: http://www.gehm.es/edad-moderna/la-batalla-de-punta-araya-1622-ii/

If you scroll and zoom out on the following map, you can see how vast the salt-pans were and still are.

This forced the Dutch to look for alternative locations to harvest salt. This is when they started considering the Islands of Curaçao, Bonaire,  St. Maarten and Aruba. Besides salt, the Islands were also of strategic importance for a couple of reasons:

• they were excellent bases for piracy against Spanish merchant ships (especially laden with gold and silver)
• the Dutch wanted a piece of the Caribbean pie, which was being dominated by the British and the French

We have to remember, the 7 Dutch regions were still at war with Spain, as part of the 80 year war. The Kingdom of The Netherlands still did not exist.

The take-away here is that Aruba became Dutch because of:

• the need for salt,
• piracy bases
• the prestige race of colonising the Caribbean Islands
• The war with Spain

Additional sources:

• Nederlanders overzee; Leonard Blusse & Jaap de Moor; ISBN 90 6135 361 0 
• First Forts: Essays on the Archaeology of Proto-colonial Fortifications; edited by Eric Klingelhofer; ISBN 978 90 04 18754 2