Which spice was so valuable in the 17th century that the Dutch traded Manhattan to the British in exchange for a single island that grew it?

Question

Accepted Answer

Nutmeg

In 1667, the Dutch and British signed the Treaty of Breda, finalizing one of history's most lopsided-looking trades. The Dutch handed over their North American settlement of New Amsterdam (modern-day Manhattan) in exchange for Run, a tiny speck in the Banda Islands of Indonesia barely two miles long. To modern eyes, this seems insane. But in the 17th century, Run was worth far more than a swampy colonial outpost at the edge of the known world.

Run was one of the precious few places on Earth where nutmeg grew naturally. The Banda Islands held a complete monopoly on the spice, and European demand was astronomical. Nutmeg was believed to cure plague, preserve meat, and serve as an aphrodisiac. A pound of nutmeg purchased in the Bandas for a few pennies could sell in London for £2—a markup of over 6,000 percent. Control of these islands meant control of unimaginable wealth.

The Dutch East India Company had already seized most of the Banda Islands through brutal conquest, massacring and enslaving much of the native population to secure their nutmeg monopoly. Run was the lone holdout under British protection, and the Dutch were determined to eliminate all competition. When they finally secured it through the treaty, they controlled the entire global supply.

The irony, of course, is that the monopoly didn't last. Within decades, nutmeg seedlings were smuggled to other tropical colonies, and the spice lost its extraordinary value. Meanwhile, Manhattan grew into one of the world's great cities. But judged by the economics and strategic thinking of 1667, the Dutch made a perfectly rational choice—one that reveals just how dramatically the world's priorities have shifted.

the everyday spice that caused three wars