The Dutch first settled Paarden Baai (English: Bay of Horses) on the island of Aruba as an intermediate harbour between Curaçao and Venezuela.In 1796, a Comité Militaire (English: Army Committee) was established in Curaçao under acting governor Johann Rudolf Lauffer to build fortifications on the islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire to defend against pirates and other enemies. The fort on Aruba was named after Dutch Rear Admiral John Arnold Zoutman who fought in the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War and the American Revolutionary War, though he had never been to the island. It was completed in 1798 at what was then the shoreline of the island, and was initially armed with four cannons. The surrounding area developed through economic growth into the capital city of Oranjestad.
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