The Restoration government of Charles II negotiated a new treaty with the Dutch Republic in 1661, concluding the treaty by 1662. By 1664, however, English ships had begun provoking Dutch ships, and the English invaded the Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America on 24 June 1664, and had control of it by October. This Second Anglo-Dutch War was to cost Clarke his life. In the winter of 1666 the Dutch created a strong anti-English alliance. On 26 January, Louis declared war. In February Frederick III of Denmark did the same after having received a large sum. By the spring of 1666, the Dutch had rebuilt their fleet with much heavier ships — thirty of them possessing more cannon than any Dutch ship in early 1665 — and threatened to join with the French.