the Dutch in South Africa vs. NE Brazil in the 1600s (country, culture)

[yofie]

Is it my understanding that the Dutch who came to South Africa in the 1600s and 1700s (many of the ancestors of the modern Afrikaners) were mostly from the lower classes in the Netherlands, whereas those Dutch who came to northeast Brazil in the 1620s, 1630s, and 1640s, when the area was under Dutch control, came more from the middle and upper classes in the Netherlands (which was, at the time, the world's most prosperous country and one of the most tolerant)?

I guess that would go some way in explaining why many Afrikaners have tended to be more on the conservative side whereas the Dutch in Recife and other areas in the Brazilian northeast (as well as the Dutch today, of course) have tended to be more liberal and more in tune with the original Dutch culture?

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by yofie

Is it my understanding that the Dutch who came to South Africa in the 1600s and 1700s (many of the ancestors of the modern Afrikaners) were mostly from the lower classes in the Netherlands, whereas those Dutch who came to northeast Brazil in the 1620s, 1630s, and 1640s, when the area was under Dutch control, came more from the middle and upper classes in the Netherlands (which was, at the time, the world's most prosperous country and one of the most tolerant)?

I guess that would go some way in explaining why many Afrikaners have tended to be more on the conservative side whereas the Dutch in Recife and other areas in the Brazilian northeast (as well as the Dutch today, of course) have tended to be more liberal and more in tune with the original Dutch culture?

It could be. It could also be the religion of the persons who went there. I might theorize that those who went to South Africa had a more Calvinistic faith. Brazil is a Catholic nation, and the Catholic faith is not as conservative as Calvinism. Among the Dutch who went to Brazil, there was also a Jewish presence. The first synagogue in the Americas was in Recife. In addition, there have been Catholic Dutch immigrants who have moved to Brazil.

Another difference is this. The Dutch cultural presence in South Africa was long-lasting. The Dutch cultural presence was more brief in Brazil, as the Portuguese would be more dominant.