New Amsterdam
Encyclopedia
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial
settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland
. It later became New York City
.
The settlement, outside of Fort Amsterdam
on Manhattan Island in the New Netherland
territory (1614–1664), was situated between 38 and 42 degrees latitude and was as a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic
as of 1624. Situated on the strategic, fortifiable southern tip of the island of Manhattan, the fort was meant to defend the Dutch East India Company
's fur trade
operations in the North River (Hudson River). Fort Amsterdam was designated the capital of the province in 1625.
The 1625 date of the founding of New Amsterdam is now commemorated in the official Seal of New York City
(formerly, the year on the seal was 1664, the year of the provisional Articles of Transfer, ensuring New Netherlanders that they "shall keep and enjoy the liberty of their consciences in religion", negotiated with the English by Petrus Stuyvesant and his council).
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was in 1609 with the voyage of the ship Halve Maen
or "Half Moon", captained by Henry Hudson
, in the service of the Dutch Republic, as the emissary of Holland's stadholder Maurits. Hudson named the river the Mauritius River and was covertly attempting to find the Northwest Passage
for the Dutch East India Company
. Instead, he brought back news about the possibility of exploitation of beaver
pelts
in the area, leading to private commercial interest by the Dutch who sent commercial, private missions to the area the following years.
At the time, beaver pelts were highly prized in Europe
, because the fur
could be felted to make waterproof hats. A by-product of the trade in beaver pelts was castoreum
—the secretion of the animals' anal glands—which was used for its supposed medicinal properties. The expeditions by Adriaen Block
and Hendrick Christiansz in 1611, 1612, 1613 and 1614 resulted in the surveying and charting of the region from the 38th parallel
to the 45th parallel. On their 1614 map, which gave them a four year trade monopoly under a patent of the States General, they named the newly discovered and mapped territory New Netherland for the first time. It also showed the first year-round trading presence in New Netherland, Fort Nassau
, which would be replaced in 1624 by Fort Orange, which eventually grew into the town of Beverwyck
, now Albany
.
The territory of Novo Belgio or New Netherland
, comprising the Northeast's largest rivers with access to the beaver trade, was originally a private, profit-making commercial enterprise focusing on cementing alliances and conducting trade with the diverse Indian tribes. They enabled the surveying and exploration of the region as a prelude to an anticipated official settlement by the Dutch Republic, which occurred in 1624.
In 1620 the Pilgrims attempted to sail to the Hudson River from England
. However, the Mayflower
reached Cape Cod
(now part of Massachusetts) on November 9, 1620, after a voyage of 64 days. For a variety of reasons, primarily a shortage of supplies, the Mayflower could not proceed to the Hudson River and the colonists decided to settle somewhere on or near Cape Cod.
was selected as the ideal place for initial settlement as it had easy access to the ocean while also securing an ice free lifeline to the beaver trading post near present day Albany, settled in 1614, and where American Indian hunters supplied them with pelts in exchange for European-made trade goods and wampum
, which was soon being made by the Dutch on Long Island
. In 1621 the Dutch West India Company
was founded. Between 1621 and 1623, orders were given to the private, commercial traders to vacate the territory, thus opening up the territory to Dutch settlers and company traders. It also allowed the laws and ordinances of the states of Holland to now apply. Previously, during the private, commercial period, only the law of the ship had applied.
In 1624 the first group of families arrived on Noten Eylandt to take possession of the New Netherland territory and to operate various trading post
s. They were spread out to Verhulsten Island (Burlington Island
) in the South River (now the Delaware River
), to Kievitshoek (now Old Saybrook, Connecticut
) at the mouth of the Verse River (now the Connecticut River
) and at the top of the Mauritius or North River (now the Hudson River
), around what is now Albany
.
Upon first settlement on Noten Eylant in 1624, a fort and sawmill
were built. The latter was constructed by Franchoys Fezard.
to formulate a plan to protect the entrance to the Hudson River
. In 1625, many settlers were moved from Noten Eylant
to Manhattan Island, where a citadel to contain Fort Amsterdam
was being laid out by Cryn Frederickz van Lobbrecht at the direction of Willem Verhulst
. By the end of 1625, the site had been staked out directly south of Bowling Green
on the site of the present U.S. Custom House
. The Mohawk
—Mahican
War at the top of the Hudson led the company to relocate even more settlers to the vicinity of the new Fort Amsterdam. In the end, colonizing was a prohibitively expensive undertaking, only partly subsidized by the fur trade. This led to a scaling back of the original plans. By 1628, a smaller fort was constructed with walls containing a mixture of clay and sand.
Willem Verhulst, who with his council was responsible for the selection of Manhattan as permanent place of settlement and situating Fort Amsterdam
, was replaced as the company director-general of New Amsterdam by Peter Minuit
in 1626.
To legally safeguard the settlers' investments, possessions and farms on Manhattan island, Minuit negotiated the "purchase" of Manhattan from the Manahatta band of Lenape
for 60 guilders worth of trade goods. The deed itself has not survived, so the specific details are unknown. A textual reference to the deed became the foundation for the legend
that Minuit had purchased Manhattan from the Native Americans for 24 dollars' worth of trinkets and beads. However, the actual price of 60 guilders in 1626 amounts to around $1,000 in 2006 dollars.
The New Amsterdam settlement had a population of approximately 270 people, including infant
s. In 1642, the new director-general Willem Kieft
decided to build a stone church within the fort. The work was carried out by recent English immigrants, the brothers John and Richard Ogden. The church was finished in 1645 and stood until destroyed in the Slave Insurrection of 1741.
A pen-and-ink view of New Amsterdam, drawn on-the-spot and discovered in the map collection of the Austrian National Library
of Vienna
in 1991, provides a unique view of Nieuw Amsterdam as it appeared from Capske (small Cape) Rock in 1648. Capske Rock was situated in the water close to Manhattan between Manhattan and Noten Eylant, which signaled the start of the East River roadstead.
New Amsterdam received municipal rights on February 2, 1653 thus becoming a city, (Albany, then named Beverwyck, received its city rights in 1652).
On August 22, 1654, the first Ashkenazic Jews arrived with West India Company passports from Amsterdam to be followed in September by a sizable group of Sephardic Jews, without passports, fleeing from the Portuguese reconquest
of Dutch possessions in Brazil. The legal-cultural foundation of toleration as the basis for plurality in New Amsterdam superseded matters of personal intolerance or individual bigotry. Hence, and in spite of certain private objections (including that of director-general Peter Stuyvesant
), the Sephardim were granted permanent residency on the basis of "reason and equity" in 1655. Nieuw Haarlem (now known as Harlem
) was formally recognized in 1658.
On August 27, 1664, while England and the Dutch Republic were at peace, four English frigates sailed into New Amsterdam's harbor and demanded New Netherland's surrender, whereupon New Netherland was provisionally ceded by director-general Peter Stuyvesant
. This resulted in the Second Anglo-Dutch War
, between England
and the Dutch Republic
. In June 1665, New Amsterdam was reincorporated under English law as New York City
, named after the Duke of York
(later King James II
). He was brother of the English King Charles II
, who had been granted the lands.
In 1667 the Treaty of Breda ended the conflict. The Dutch did not press their claims on New Netherland
. In return, they were granted the tiny Island of Run
in North Maluku
, rich in nutmeg
s and the guarantee for the factual possession of Suriname
, that year captured by them.
In July 1673, During the Third Anglo-Dutch War
, the Dutch occupied New York City and renamed it New Orange. Anthony Colve
was installed as the first Governor
. Previously there had only been West India Company Directors. After the signing of the Treaty of Westminster
in November 1674, the city was relinquished to the English and the name reverted to "New York". Suriname
became an official Dutch possession in return.
New Amsterdam's beginnings, unlike most other colonies in the New World, were thoroughly documented in city map
s. During the time of New Netherland colonization, the Dutch were Europe's pre-eminent cartographers. Moreover, as the Dutch West India Company's delegated authority over New Netherlander was threefold, maintaining sovereignty on behalf of the States General, generating cash flow through commercial enterprise for its shareholders and funding the province's growth, its directors regularly required that censuses be taken. These tools to measure and monitor the province's progress were accompanied by accurate maps and plans. These surveys, as well as grassroots activities to seek redress of grievances, account for the existence of some of the most important of the early documents.
There is a particularly detailed city map called the Castello Plan
. Virtually every structure in New Amsterdam at the time is believed to be represented, and by a fortunate coincidence it can be determined who resided in every house from the Nicasius de Sille List of 1660, which enumerates all the citizens of New Amsterdam and their addresses.
The city map known as the Duke's Plan probably derived from the same 1660 census as the Castello Plan. The Duke's Plan includes the earliest suburban development on Manhattan (the two outlined areas along the top of the plan). The work was created for James (1633–1701), the duke of York and Albany, after whom New York City and New York State's capital Albany
was named, just after the seizure of New Amsterdam by the English. After that provisional relinquishment of New Netherland, Stuyvesant reported to his superiors that he "had endeavored to promote the increase of population, agriculture and commerce...the flourishing condition which might have been more flourishing if the now afflicted inhabitants had been protected by a suitable garrison...and had been helped with the long sought for settlement of the boundary, or in default thereof had they been seconded with the oft besought reinforcement of men and ships against the continual troubles, threats, encroachments and invasions of the English neighbors and government of Hartford Colony, our too powerful enemies."
The existence of these city maps has proven to be very useful in the archaeology of New York. For instance, the excavation of the Stadthuys (City Hall
) of New Amsterdam had great help in finding the exact location of the building from the Castello map.
The presentation of the legacy of the unique culture of 17th century New Amsterdam remains a concern of preservationists
and educators. The National Park Service
celebrated in 2009 the 400th anniversary of the Henry Hudson's
1609 voyage on behalf of the Dutch
with the New Amsterdam Trail.
Writer Elizabeth Bear
published the New Amsterdam Series, detective stories taking place in an alternative history where the city remained Dutch until the Napoleonic Wars and retained its name also afterwards.
Dutch colonization of the Americas
Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas precede the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. Whereas the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo river in Guyana and on the Amazon date from the 1590s...
settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
. It later became New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The settlement, outside of Fort Amsterdam
Fort Amsterdam
For the historic fort on the island of Saint Martin, see Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan that was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then British rule of New York from...
on Manhattan Island in the New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
territory (1614–1664), was situated between 38 and 42 degrees latitude and was as a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
as of 1624. Situated on the strategic, fortifiable southern tip of the island of Manhattan, the fort was meant to defend the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
's fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
operations in the North River (Hudson River). Fort Amsterdam was designated the capital of the province in 1625.
The 1625 date of the founding of New Amsterdam is now commemorated in the official Seal of New York City
Seal of New York City
The seal of the city of New York, adopted in an earlier form in 1686, bears the legend SIGILLUM CIVITATIS NOVI EBORACI which means simply "The Seal of the City of New York": Eboracum was the Roman name for York, the titular seat of James II as Duke of York....
(formerly, the year on the seal was 1664, the year of the provisional Articles of Transfer, ensuring New Netherlanders that they "shall keep and enjoy the liberty of their consciences in religion", negotiated with the English by Petrus Stuyvesant and his council).
History
Early Settlement (1609–1625)
The first recorded exploration by the Dutch of the area around what is now called New York BayNew York Bay
New York Bay is the collective term for the marine areas surrounding the entrance of the Hudson River into the Atlantic Ocean. Its two largest components are Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay, which are connected by The Narrows...
was in 1609 with the voyage of the ship Halve Maen
Halve Maen
The Halve Maen was a Dutch East India Company vlieboot which sailed into what is now New York harbor in September 1609. It was commissioned by the Dutch Republic to covertly find an eastern passage to China...
or "Half Moon", captained by Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
, in the service of the Dutch Republic, as the emissary of Holland's stadholder Maurits. Hudson named the river the Mauritius River and was covertly attempting to find the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
for the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
. Instead, he brought back news about the possibility of exploitation of beaver
American Beaver
The North American Beaver is the only species of beaver in the Americas, native to North America and introduced to South America. In the United States and Canada, where no other species of beaver occurs, it is usually simply referred to as "beaver"...
pelts
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
in the area, leading to private commercial interest by the Dutch who sent commercial, private missions to the area the following years.
At the time, beaver pelts were highly prized in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, because the fur
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
could be felted to make waterproof hats. A by-product of the trade in beaver pelts was castoreum
Castoreum
Castoreum is the exudate from the castor sacs of the mature North American Beaver Castor canadensis and the European Beaver Castor fiber. Within the zoological realm, castoreum is the yellowish secretion of the castor sac in combination with the beaver's urine, used during scent marking of territory...
—the secretion of the animals' anal glands—which was used for its supposed medicinal properties. The expeditions by Adriaen Block
Adriaen Block
Adriaen Block was a Dutch private trader and navigator who is best known for exploring the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during four voyages from 1611 to 1614, following the 1609 expedition by Henry Hudson...
and Hendrick Christiansz in 1611, 1612, 1613 and 1614 resulted in the surveying and charting of the region from the 38th parallel
38th parallel north
The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean...
to the 45th parallel. On their 1614 map, which gave them a four year trade monopoly under a patent of the States General, they named the newly discovered and mapped territory New Netherland for the first time. It also showed the first year-round trading presence in New Netherland, Fort Nassau
Fort Nassau
The name Fort Nassau was used by the Dutch in the 17th century for several fortifications, mostly trading stations, named for the House of Orange-Nassau...
, which would be replaced in 1624 by Fort Orange, which eventually grew into the town of Beverwyck
Beverwyck
Beverwijck was a fur-trading community north of Fort Orange on the Hudson River in New Netherland that was to become Albany, New York, when the English took control of the colony in 1664....
, now Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
.
The territory of Novo Belgio or New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
, comprising the Northeast's largest rivers with access to the beaver trade, was originally a private, profit-making commercial enterprise focusing on cementing alliances and conducting trade with the diverse Indian tribes. They enabled the surveying and exploration of the region as a prelude to an anticipated official settlement by the Dutch Republic, which occurred in 1624.
Pilgrims attempt to settle in the Hudson River area
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. However, the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
reached Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
(now part of Massachusetts) on November 9, 1620, after a voyage of 64 days. For a variety of reasons, primarily a shortage of supplies, the Mayflower could not proceed to the Hudson River and the colonists decided to settle somewhere on or near Cape Cod.
The Dutch return
The mouth of the Hudson RiverHudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
was selected as the ideal place for initial settlement as it had easy access to the ocean while also securing an ice free lifeline to the beaver trading post near present day Albany, settled in 1614, and where American Indian hunters supplied them with pelts in exchange for European-made trade goods and wampum
Wampum
Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. Wampum include the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell; and the white and purple beads made from the quahog, or Western North Atlantic...
, which was soon being made by the Dutch on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. In 1621 the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
was founded. Between 1621 and 1623, orders were given to the private, commercial traders to vacate the territory, thus opening up the territory to Dutch settlers and company traders. It also allowed the laws and ordinances of the states of Holland to now apply. Previously, during the private, commercial period, only the law of the ship had applied.
In 1624 the first group of families arrived on Noten Eylandt to take possession of the New Netherland territory and to operate various trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
s. They were spread out to Verhulsten Island (Burlington Island
Burlington Island
Burlington Island is a island located in the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the United States. Burlington Island is officially part of the city of Burlington, New Jersey. It is an uninhabited scenic landmark in the Delaware River...
) in the South River (now the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
), to Kievitshoek (now Old Saybrook, Connecticut
Old Saybrook, Connecticut
Old Saybrook is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,367 at the 2000 census. It contains the incorporated borough of Fenwick, as well as the census-designated places of Old Saybrook Center and Saybrook Manor.-History:...
) at the mouth of the Verse River (now the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
) and at the top of the Mauritius or North River (now the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
), around what is now Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
.
Upon first settlement on Noten Eylant in 1624, a fort and sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
were built. The latter was constructed by Franchoys Fezard.
Fort Amsterdam (1625)
The threat of attack from other European colonial powers prompted the directors of the Dutch West India CompanyDutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
to formulate a plan to protect the entrance to the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
. In 1625, many settlers were moved from Noten Eylant
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
to Manhattan Island, where a citadel to contain Fort Amsterdam
Fort Amsterdam
For the historic fort on the island of Saint Martin, see Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan that was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then British rule of New York from...
was being laid out by Cryn Frederickz van Lobbrecht at the direction of Willem Verhulst
Willem Verhulst
Willem Verhulst was the second director of the Dutch West India Company. In 1625, Verhulst oversaw the decision to locate the company's main fortress and town on the tip of Manhattan Island in the colony of New Netherland. The settlement, which was given the name New Amsterdam, was the first...
. By the end of 1625, the site had been staked out directly south of Bowling Green
Bowling Green (New York City)
Bowling Green is a small public park in Lower Manhattan at the foot of Broadway next to the site of the original Dutch fort of New Amsterdam. Built in 1733, originally including a bowling green, it is the oldest public park in New York City and is surrounded by its original 18th century fence. At...
on the site of the present U.S. Custom House
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House is a building in New York City, built 1902–1907 by the federal government to house the duty collection operations for the port of New York. It is located near the southern tip of Manhattan, next to Battery Park, at 1 Bowling Green...
. The Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
—Mahican
Mahican
The Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley . After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin...
War at the top of the Hudson led the company to relocate even more settlers to the vicinity of the new Fort Amsterdam. In the end, colonizing was a prohibitively expensive undertaking, only partly subsidized by the fur trade. This led to a scaling back of the original plans. By 1628, a smaller fort was constructed with walls containing a mixture of clay and sand.
1625–1674
Fort Amsterdam
For the historic fort on the island of Saint Martin, see Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan that was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then British rule of New York from...
, was replaced as the company director-general of New Amsterdam by Peter Minuit
Peter Minuit
Peter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit or Peter Minnewit was a Walloon from Wesel, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. He was the Director-General of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1633, and he founded the Swedish colony of...
in 1626.
To legally safeguard the settlers' investments, possessions and farms on Manhattan island, Minuit negotiated the "purchase" of Manhattan from the Manahatta band of Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
for 60 guilders worth of trade goods. The deed itself has not survived, so the specific details are unknown. A textual reference to the deed became the foundation for the legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
that Minuit had purchased Manhattan from the Native Americans for 24 dollars' worth of trinkets and beads. However, the actual price of 60 guilders in 1626 amounts to around $1,000 in 2006 dollars.
The New Amsterdam settlement had a population of approximately 270 people, including infant
Infant
A newborn or baby is the very young offspring of a human or other mammal. A newborn is an infant who is within hours, days, or up to a few weeks from birth. In medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in the first 28 days after birth...
s. In 1642, the new director-general Willem Kieft
Willem Kieft
Willem Kieft was a Dutch merchant and director-general of New Netherland , from 1638 until 1647. He formed the council of twelve men, the first representative body in New Netherland, but ignored its advice...
decided to build a stone church within the fort. The work was carried out by recent English immigrants, the brothers John and Richard Ogden. The church was finished in 1645 and stood until destroyed in the Slave Insurrection of 1741.
A pen-and-ink view of New Amsterdam, drawn on-the-spot and discovered in the map collection of the Austrian National Library
National library
A national library is a library specifically established by the government of a country to serve as the preeminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books...
of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1991, provides a unique view of Nieuw Amsterdam as it appeared from Capske (small Cape) Rock in 1648. Capske Rock was situated in the water close to Manhattan between Manhattan and Noten Eylant, which signaled the start of the East River roadstead.
New Amsterdam received municipal rights on February 2, 1653 thus becoming a city, (Albany, then named Beverwyck, received its city rights in 1652).
On August 22, 1654, the first Ashkenazic Jews arrived with West India Company passports from Amsterdam to be followed in September by a sizable group of Sephardic Jews, without passports, fleeing from the Portuguese reconquest
Dutch-Portuguese War
The Dutch–Portuguese War was an armed conflict involving Dutch forces, in the form of the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, against the Portuguese Empire. Beginning in 1602, the conflict primarily involved the Dutch companies invading Portuguese colonies in the Americas,...
of Dutch possessions in Brazil. The legal-cultural foundation of toleration as the basis for plurality in New Amsterdam superseded matters of personal intolerance or individual bigotry. Hence, and in spite of certain private objections (including that of director-general Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
), the Sephardim were granted permanent residency on the basis of "reason and equity" in 1655. Nieuw Haarlem (now known as Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
) was formally recognized in 1658.
On August 27, 1664, while England and the Dutch Republic were at peace, four English frigates sailed into New Amsterdam's harbor and demanded New Netherland's surrender, whereupon New Netherland was provisionally ceded by director-general Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
. This resulted in the Second Anglo-Dutch War
Second Anglo-Dutch War
The Second Anglo–Dutch War was part of a series of four Anglo–Dutch Wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes....
, between England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. In June 1665, New Amsterdam was reincorporated under English law as New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, named after the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
(later King James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
). He was brother of the English King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, who had been granted the lands.
In 1667 the Treaty of Breda ended the conflict. The Dutch did not press their claims on New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
. In return, they were granted the tiny Island of Run
Run (island)
Run is one of the smallest islands of the Banda Islands, which are a part of Indonesia...
in North Maluku
North Maluku
North Maluku is a province of northeastern Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, which are split between it and the province of Maluku. Maluku province used to cover the entire group...
, rich in nutmeg
Nutmeg
The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...
s and the guarantee for the factual possession of Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
, that year captured by them.
In July 1673, During the Third Anglo-Dutch War
Third Anglo-Dutch War
The Third Anglo–Dutch War or Third Dutch War was a military conflict between England and the Dutch Republic lasting from 1672 to 1674. It was part of the larger Franco-Dutch War...
, the Dutch occupied New York City and renamed it New Orange. Anthony Colve
Anthony Colve
Anthony Colve was a Captain and the Governor of New York during a brief restoration of rule by the Netherlands. He then became the third Governor of New Jersey....
was installed as the first Governor
Governor of New York
The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...
. Previously there had only been West India Company Directors. After the signing of the Treaty of Westminster
Treaty of Westminster (1674)
The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 was the peace treaty that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Signed by the Netherlands and England, it provided for the return of the colony of New Netherland to England and renewed the Treaty of Breda of 1667...
in November 1674, the city was relinquished to the English and the name reverted to "New York". Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
became an official Dutch possession in return.
Maps of New Amsterdam
City map
A city map is a large-scale thematic map of a city created to enable the fastest possible orientation in an urban space. The graphic representation of objects on a city map is therefore usually greatly simplified, and reduced to generally understood symbology.Depending upon its target group or...
s. During the time of New Netherland colonization, the Dutch were Europe's pre-eminent cartographers. Moreover, as the Dutch West India Company's delegated authority over New Netherlander was threefold, maintaining sovereignty on behalf of the States General, generating cash flow through commercial enterprise for its shareholders and funding the province's growth, its directors regularly required that censuses be taken. These tools to measure and monitor the province's progress were accompanied by accurate maps and plans. These surveys, as well as grassroots activities to seek redress of grievances, account for the existence of some of the most important of the early documents.
There is a particularly detailed city map called the Castello Plan
Castello Plan
The Castello Plan is an early city map of Lower Manhattan from 1660, created by Jacques Cortelyou, surveyor of New Amsterdam at that time....
. Virtually every structure in New Amsterdam at the time is believed to be represented, and by a fortunate coincidence it can be determined who resided in every house from the Nicasius de Sille List of 1660, which enumerates all the citizens of New Amsterdam and their addresses.
The city map known as the Duke's Plan probably derived from the same 1660 census as the Castello Plan. The Duke's Plan includes the earliest suburban development on Manhattan (the two outlined areas along the top of the plan). The work was created for James (1633–1701), the duke of York and Albany, after whom New York City and New York State's capital Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
was named, just after the seizure of New Amsterdam by the English. After that provisional relinquishment of New Netherland, Stuyvesant reported to his superiors that he "had endeavored to promote the increase of population, agriculture and commerce...the flourishing condition which might have been more flourishing if the now afflicted inhabitants had been protected by a suitable garrison...and had been helped with the long sought for settlement of the boundary, or in default thereof had they been seconded with the oft besought reinforcement of men and ships against the continual troubles, threats, encroachments and invasions of the English neighbors and government of Hartford Colony, our too powerful enemies."
The existence of these city maps has proven to be very useful in the archaeology of New York. For instance, the excavation of the Stadthuys (City Hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
) of New Amsterdam had great help in finding the exact location of the building from the Castello map.
Legacy
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
and educators. The National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
celebrated in 2009 the 400th anniversary of the Henry Hudson's
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
1609 voyage on behalf of the Dutch
History of the Netherlands
The history of the Netherlands is the history of a maritime people thriving on a watery lowland river delta at the edge of northwestern Europe. When the Romans and written history arrived in 57 BC, the country was sparsely populated by various tribal groups at the periphery of the empire...
with the New Amsterdam Trail.
Writer Elizabeth Bear
Elizabeth Bear
Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky is an American author. Writing under the name Elizabeth Bear, she works primarily in the genre of speculative fiction, and was a winner of the 2005 John W...
published the New Amsterdam Series, detective stories taking place in an alternative history where the city remained Dutch until the Napoleonic Wars and retained its name also afterwards.
See also
- Director-General of New NetherlandDirector-General of New NetherlandThis is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland in North America...
- Roosevelt familyRoosevelt familyIn heraldry, canting arms are a visual or pictorial play on a surname, and were and still are a popular practice. It would be common to find roses, then, in arms of many Roosevelt families, even unrelated ones...
- New York: A Documentary FilmNew York: A Documentary FilmNew York: A Documentary Film is an eight-part, 17½ hour, American documentary film on the history of New York City. It was directed by Ric Burns and originally aired in the U.S. on PBS. The film was a co-production of Thirteen New York and WGBH Boston....
- Holland Society of New York
External links
- The New Amsterdam Trail, a downloadable audio walking tour of Lower Manhattan
- Nieuw Amsterdam to New York, an audio history from the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy
- New Amsterdam from the New Netherland ProjectNew Netherland ProjectThe New Netherland Project was created to translate and publish 17th century Dutch documents from the period of the Dutch colonization of New Netherland...
- From Van der Donck to Visscher: a 1648 view of New Amsterdam, discovered in Vienna in 1991
- Background on the Native Americans of the area