The History of Spices: The Island Traded for Manhattan

For centuries, spices were worth fortunes. From ancient Rome and the legendary spice routes to the Dutch East India Company, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper helped build empires, trigger wars, and shape the modern world. And one tiny island was once considered so valuable that the Dutch traded it for Manhattan. This is the hidden history of spices. Welcome to BEHIND EVERYTHING — where ordinary things reveal extraordinary histories. #SpiceHistory #HistoryOfSpices #Nutmeg #Pepper #Cloves #VOC #DutchEastIndiaCompany #ColonialHistory #WorldHistory #HistoryDocumentary #HiddenHistory #EuropeanHistory #ManhattanHistory #TradeHistory #BehindEverything 00:00 The ransom of Rome 00:13 Manhattan for a nutmeg island 00:46 The lie about cinnamon and the spice trade of Rome 01:32 Middlemen, Venice and the myth of rotten meat. Da Gama, Columbus, Magellan 03:08 The Dutch East India Company 05:36 The Banda massacre 07:31 Pierre Poivre and the broken monopoly 08:31 What spices teach us