New Holland Uprising

The New Holland Uprising was a short uprising by the citizens of the New Holland Colony -also known as Dutch North America- against their colonial mother nation, Holland. The uprising was inspired by the American Revolution, and many New Hollanders wanted to join the new United States of America.

During the meeting of the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, delegates from the New Holland colonies of Newfoundland and New Friesland attended, but could not get any progress on their mission for independence. Many New Holland Militias fought with the Americans during the Revolution.

On July 3, 1787, delegates from New Friesland, New Limburg, New Brabant, and Newfoundland travelled to Philadelphia -then the American capital city- and requested to enter Liberty Hall. They were permitted, and welcomed, but forbidden from signing any documents as the infant United States feared that the Dutch may attack if they assisted the New Hollanders.

From then on, three factions emerged in the New Holland Colonial Staaten General, one faction, the "Joiners", wanted to join the United States, the "Nationers" wanted to form an independent New Holland nation, and the "Royalists" or "Imperialists" wanted to remain within the Dutch Empire. The Joiners quickly became the largest and many militias began arming themselves to prepare for a fight against the Dutch, while many New Holland delegates travelled to the United States attempting to convince American leaders to support them. They were often successful, and while support for the New Hollanders went up, fear of Dutch retaliation was still high.

On November 3 of 1792, the New Holland Staaten General met and formally adopted the Proclamation of Freedom from the Dutch. Soon, a panic rose in the United States over possible Dutch response. Nonetheless, many American militias joined the fight against Holland, and Americans generally supported their New Holland neighbors. By January of 1793, America's close ally France was worried, and King Louis assured his American allies that France would protect them against the Dutch. This terrified the Dutch, as a war against France would be a certain defeat. The war was on the losing side for the Dutch, and a huge embarrassment was suffered when on February 5, 1793, barely trained New Holland-American Militias captured the Newfoundland Colonial Governor, Adolf Daan. The war was quickly draining the Dutch economy, and on March 12, 1793, the Dutch formally recognized New Holland as independent.

Secretly, many Dutch government officials believed they'd be able to re-conquer their lost colony in a matter of months. These hopes were crushed when, on April 25, New Holland formally joined the United States.