Founding of Singapore in 1819 page 4,5

1. Why Singapore was chosen

1.1. “In Singapore I found advantages that other Islands did not have. It is located at the Southern entrance of the Straits of Melaka, thus, in a commanding position to protect our ships as they sail from India to China. It has also been my good fortune to discover one of the safest harbours in the area {for protecting ships from stormy winds}. Singapore is everything we desire. It will soon rise in importance and break the Dutch monopoly of trade in the Archipelago.} ----- Raffles Letter

1.2. Raffles thought, and believed that Singapore was the ideal place for the British to start a new trading settlement.

1.3. Raffles learnt from some Orang Laut that there was no dutch, and Raffles delight.

2. February 6, 1819 a small crowd gathered at the Pandang to witness an important event. {Page 4}

3. After everybody was seated Raffles, Tengku Hussein and the Temenggong signed a treaty allowing the British to set up a trading settlement int the southern part of singapore.

4. In return of the British settlements the Sultan would receive $5,000 a year, and the Temenggong would receive $3,000 a year.

5. The last page of the Treaty was signed februrary 6, 1819

6. The Dutch Monopoly of Trade page 5, 6

6.1. At the time of the early 19th century the dutch got control of most of the Archipelago trade. They we able to because they occupied some areas in the Archipelago trade such as Java, and Melaka.

6.2. The Dutch did not like the idea of letting europeans countries joining the Archipelago trade. They did not allow the British or the European ships to trade at any of the Dutch-controlled ports except Batavia in Java.