New Netherland

When we think of our nation's colonial beginnings we will invariably assume that they were all English Puritan colonies that were established. We think of New England, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and so on. Until recently there wasn't many records that would contradict this belief, beyond the fact that for some reason it is our Puritan past that people seem to take pride in. In the 70s this all changed.

A vast quantity of records that went through a tremendous amount of conflict and strife and overcame disasters were finally beginning to be translated accurately. What it showed was that New Netherland was a very prominent colony that covered parts of 5 of the 13 original states, and predated the original 13 colonies. Its importance in our history is much more than anyone thought.

It all started when Henry Hudson navigated the river that flowed around what would be called Manhattan for the Dutch West India Company in 1624. They quickly recognized its importance and established New Netherland with Manhattan as its center. Soon enough forts were built and trade was formalized with the Native Americans. Beaver furs were the currency.

New Netherland was not without its conflict. Beyond the fact that other colonies were established above and below by the English and the Swedish, there was the typical bureaucratic power struggle among the leaders of the colony and the West India Company. The third director-general of the colony was Peter Minuit, who orchestrated the purchase of Manhattan from the Native Americans, as well as, once removed from his appointed position, helped Sweden form New Sweden on the southern border of New Netherlands. He was replaced by Willem Kieft who had a harsh rule and alienated the colony from its Indian allies, culminating in Kieft's War against the Native American tribes, which ultimately caused his forced replacement by Petrus Stuyvesant, a one legged general of the West India Company.

Stuyvesant was the most contentious rule as he ruled with a firm hand, but he also furthered the interests of the colony the most and solidified the administration and running of Manhattan. He also forcefully wrested control of and took over New Sweden and expanded the Dutch colony. Ultimately the people tried to wrest control of the colony from Stuyvesant and the West India Company and make New Netherlands a sanctioned province of the Dutch Republic. This faction was led by Adriaen van der Donck who was the first learned man in law to reside in, quite possibly, all of North America. This conflict eventually led van der Donck to travel to the Hague and press for Stuyvesant's removal and he was successful. Just as he was about to set sail for America with the news of the new status of New Netherland word came of Oliver Cromwell and the English Civil War and everything returned to Stuyvesant's favor as any inclination of insurrection was promptly handled, and van der Donck certainly fell into this category.

Ultimately James, Duke of York, set his sites on the Cromwellian empire that was envisioned and set about wresting control of New Netherland from the Dutch Republic. Stuyvesant, without the support of the colony's residents or of the West India Company, could do nothing to stop the navy of England and so had to turn over the colony without a shot fired, much as he took over New Sweden 9 years previous. There were a few more minor skirmishes between England and the Dutch Republic, one resulting in the recapture of New Netherlands (and renamed from New York to New Orange), but ultimately the Dutch colony would be known as New York and seemingly forever associated with the English.

The ultimate thesis of the book is how much the Dutch colony has affected America as it is today. That the United States is referred to as a melting pot is accredited to the the Dutch Colony because of the great variety of nationalities that flocked to New Netherland because of the freedom of religion and non-conformist way of government. Once the English took over they noted this in the 18th century how very many nationalities there were compared to how many English there were. Additionally, much of the New York area was established by the Dutch the remnants of which can still be seen today. Jonas Bronck (Bronx), Breuckele (Brooklyn), van der Donck was known as "the Jonker" and his land was known as "Jonker's Land" (Yonkers), colors of the Dutch flag of the 17th century were adopted by New York City in 1915, Roode Eylandt (Rhode Island), Nieuw Haarlem (Harlem), Greenwyck (Greenwich Village) among others.

The first district attorney can trace its origins back to New Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, as van der Donck was the first as he held the position of schout, which was the colonies law officer.

Wall Street gets its name because the street was bordered on one side by a wall built by the Dutch in order to keep the English out (and not the Native Americans as generally mis-attributed). Broadway Street was named because of the Dutch street that was, obviously, broad.

Other trivial origins are the Dutch koeckjes, which we have come to know and love as cookies. Or in New Amsterdam the Dutch women started making Koolsla, which is the very American BBQ food we have come to call cole slaw.

What it all boils down to is that much of how the United States came to be what we are today and much of the history of New York, and thus the center of much of the culture of America (since this was the hub and major port that immigrants came in to), should be attributed its fair share to the Dutch colony of New Netherlands. Without them our country would most assuredly be a much different country.

Russell Shorto has done a great job in capturing the essence of this important North American colony through the translations made by Charles Gehring, as well illustrating the overall history of the time period in how it relates to North America as well as the greater politics of the corresponding European countries.