GWC Dutch West India Company flag

VOC Dutch East India Company flag.

The Dutch West India Company (Dutch: Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie; English: Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company (known as the “GWC”) of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx (1567–1647) and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was granted a charter for a trade monopoly in the Dutch West Indies by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and given jurisdiction over Dutch participation in the Atlantic slave trade, Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America.