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94-668: Once believed to be among the most polluted watercourses in the United States, it staged a modest revival by the late 2000s. The river is divided into the upper river, north of the Oradell Reservoir and Oradell Dam , and lower river, south of the reservoir and dam. The Hackensack River rises in southeastern New York, in Rockland County , in the Sweet Swamp, located in the hamlet of New City just west of

188-709: A meandering course southward through the suburban communities of New Jersey. Near Oradell , it is impounded to form Oradell Reservoir , where it is surrounded primarily by Oradell, Haworth , and Emerson , and joined by several streams, including the Dwars Kill , the Cherry Brook, and Pascack Brook . Van Buskirk Island , a man-made island and site of the New Milford Plant of the Hackensack Water Company , lies in this area. South of

282-620: A Dutch company. The term New Netherland Dutch generally includes all the Europeans who came to live there, but may also refer to Africans, Indo-Caribbeans , South Americans, and even the Indians who were integral to the society. Dutch was the official language and likely the lingua franca of the province, although other languages were also spoken. There were various Algonquian languages ; Walloons and Huguenots tended to speak French, and Scandinavians and Germans brought their own tongues. It

376-545: A charter for a utopian society that included equal education of all classes, joint ownership of property, and a democratically elected government. Pieter Corneliszoon Plockhoy attempted such a settlement near the site of Zwaanendael, but it was largely destroyed in 1664 by the British. A few Dutch settlers to New Netherland made their home at Fort Goede Hoop on the Fresh River . As early as 1637, English settlers from

470-536: A colonist was murdered in an act of revenge for some killings that had taken place years earlier and the Indians refused to turn over the perpetrator. Kieft suggested that they be taught a lesson by ransacking their villages. In an attempt to gain public support, he created the Citizens Commission the Council of Twelve Men . The Council did not rubber-stamp his ideas, as he had expected them to, but took

564-579: A fleet of 21 ships led by Vice Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest and Commodore Jacob Binckes , then the largest ever seen in America. They chose Anthony Colve as governor and renamed the city New Orange, reflecting the installation of William of Orange as Stadtholder of Holland in 1672; he became King William III of England in 1689. Nevertheless, the Dutch Republic needed money after

658-641: A government from which they had formerly fled. On 27 August 1664, four English frigates led by Richard Nicolls sailed into New Amsterdam's harbor and demanded New Netherland's surrender. They met no resistance to the capture of New Amsterdam , since requests for troops to protect the Dutch colonists from their English neighbors and Native Americans had been ignored. This left New Amsterdam effectively defenseless, but Stuyvesant negotiated good terms from his "too powerful enemies". Article VIII of these terms confirmed that New Netherlanders "shall keep and enjoy

752-570: A map drawn in 1616. Hendricksz made his voyages aboard the IJseren Vercken (Iron Hog), a vessel built in America. Despite the survey, the company was unable to secure an exclusive patent from the States General for the area between the 38th and 40th parallels. The States General issued patents in 1614 for the development of New Netherland as a private, commercial venture. Soon after, traders built Fort Nassau on Castle Island in

846-468: A passage to China with the yachts Craen and Vos , captained by Jan Cornelisz Mey and Symon Willemsz Cat respectively. Adriaen Block , Hendrick Christiaensen , and Cornelius Jacobsen Mey explored, surveyed, and mapped the area between Maryland and Massachusetts in four voyages made between 1611 and 1614. These surveys and charts were consolidated in Block's map, which used the name New Netherland for

940-460: A primary goal. The legislators preferred the formula of trading posts with small populations and a military presence to protect them, which was working in the East Indies, versus encouraging mass immigration and establishing large colonies. The company did not focus on colonization in America until 1654 when it was forced to surrender Dutch Brazil and forfeit the richest sugar-producing area in

1034-882: Is fed by the Upper Hackensack River, the Pascack Brook and Dwars Kill . The reservoir feeds the Lower Hackensack River via the Oradell Dam . Upstream from the Oradell Reservoir are three other reservoirs: Woodcliff Lake Reservoir , also in Bergen County; Lake DeForest in Rockland County in New York ; and Lake Tappan , traversing the borders of Bergen and Rockland counties across the state line. The Oradell Dam

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1128-623: Is likely that the Africans in Manhattan spoke their mother tongues but were taught Dutch from 1638 by Adam Roelantsz van Dokkum. The arrival of refugees from New Holland in Brazil may have brought speakers of Portuguese, Spanish, and Ladino (with Hebrew as a liturgical language). Commercial activity in the harbor could have been transacted simultaneously in any of a number of tongues. The Dutch West India Company introduced slavery in 1625 with

1222-410: Is managed by United Water New Jersey, a unit of Suez North America , a private utility. It provides drinking water for an estimated 750,000 residents of Bergen and Hudson counties. Because of its environment, the Oradell Reservoir area is very susceptible to flooding. During many storms, such as Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Hurricane Ida in 2021, the reservoir as well as connecting streams flooded

1316-622: Is the Reformed Church in America. The colonists had to attract the Indians and other non-believers to God's word, "through attitude and by example" but not "to persecute someone by reason of his religion, and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience." In addition, the laws and ordinances of the states of Holland were incorporated by reference in those first instructions to the Governors Island settlers in 1624. There were two test cases during Stuyvesant's governorship in which

1410-600: Is transversed by a CSX Transportation bridge carrying crude oil. Construction on the Oradell Reservoir began in 1901 by the dredging of a mill pond. The mill pond dam was replaced in 1911 by a low timber-crib dam that increased reservoir storage. In 1921, a 22-foot (6.7 m) high concrete Oradell Reservoir Dam was built to expand reservoir storage even more. The reservoir was completed in 1923. The Oradell Reservoir and its tributaries are currently protected with Category 1 water purity status in New Jersey. The reservoir

1504-517: The Algonquian and Iroquois population, possibly at Schenectady , Esopus , Quinnipiac , Communipaw , and elsewhere. In 1624, New Netherland became a province of the Dutch Republic, which had lowered the northern border of its North American dominion to 42 degrees latitude in acknowledgment of the claim by the English north of Cape Cod. The Dutch named the three main rivers of the province

1598-678: The Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod . Settlements were established in what became the states of New York , New Jersey , Delaware , and Connecticut , with small outposts in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island . The colony was originally conceived by the Dutch West India Company (GWC) in 1621 to capitalize on the North American fur trade . Settlement initially stalled because of policy mismanagement by

1692-682: The Dutch Republic at the time, as well as by the character of those who immigrated to it. It was during the early British colonial period that the New Netherlanders actually developed the land and society that had an enduring impact on the Capital District , the Hudson Valley , North Jersey , western Long Island , New York City , Fairfield County, and ultimately the United States. The concept of tolerance

1786-608: The Hudson River and half a mile south of High Tor State Park . It flows briefly southeast, into the Lake DeForest reservoir, separated from the Hudson by less than 3 mi (5 km). South of the dam, it then flows south, diverging from the Hudson. Just across the New Jersey state line, in northern Bergen County , it is impounded to form the reservoir Lake Tappan near River Vale . South of Lake Tappan, it flows in

1880-603: The Iroquois Confederacy ) conquered the Mahicans, who retreated to Connecticut. The Mohawks gained a near-monopoly in the fur trade with the Dutch, as they controlled the upstate Adirondacks and Mohawk Valley through the center of New York. The Algonquin Lenape population around New York Bay and along the lower Hudson River were seasonally migrational people. The Dutch called the numerous band collectively

1974-585: The Lenape . After gaining support from the Queen of Sweden , Minuit chose the west bank of the Delaware River to establish a colony there in 1638, calling it New Sweden . As expected, the government in New Amsterdam took no action other than to protest. Small settlements centered on Fort Christina sprang up as the colony slowly grew, mostly populated by Swedes , Finns , and Dutch . In 1651,

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2068-627: The Manhattans ( Pavonia and Staten Island ) were attacked in an incident that is known as the Peach War . These raids are sometimes considered revenge for the murder of a Munsee woman attempting to pluck a peach, though it is possible that they were an attempt to disrupt the attack on New Sweden. A new experimental settlement on Delaware Bay was begun in 1663, just before the British takeover in 1664. Franciscus van den Enden had drawn up

2162-718: The Manhattoe , in exchange for traded goods worth 60 guilders , often said to be worth US$ 24. The figure of 60 guilders comes from a letter by a representative of the Dutch Estates General and member of the board of the Dutch West India Company , Pieter Janszoon Schagen, to the Estates General in November 1626. In 1846, New York historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted the figure of Fl 60 (or 60 guilders) to US$ 24 (he arrived at $ 24 = Fl 60/2.5, because

2256-482: The Massachusetts Bay Colony began to settle along its banks and on Lange Eylandt , some with permission from the colonial government and others with complete disregard for it. The English colonies grew more rapidly than New Netherland as they were motivated by a desire to establish communities with religious roots, rather than for trade purposes. The wal or rampart at New Amsterdam ( Wall Street )

2350-670: The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission , was established by the state in 1968 to manage development and habitat preservation. The commission was merged into the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority in 2015. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed designating the Lower Hackensack as a Superfund site, which would make it eligible for environmental remediation partially funded by original polluters. In September 2022,

2444-678: The Second Anglo-Dutch War , surrendered New Netherland to the English following the capture of New Amsterdam . In 1673, the Dutch retook the colony but relinquished it under the Treaty of Westminster (1674) that ended the Third Anglo-Dutch War . The inhabitants of New Netherland ( New Netherlanders ) were European colonists, Native Americans , and Africans imported as slave laborers. Not including Native Americans,

2538-432: The Treaty of Westminster concluded the war. It took until 10 November 1674 for the new English governor Edmund Andros to take over from governor Anthony Colve. New Netherland grew into the largest metropolitan area in the United States, and it left an enduring legacy on American cultural and political life, "a secular broadmindedness and mercantile pragmatism" greatly influenced by the social and political climate in

2632-749: The Zuyd Rivier ( South River ), the Noort Rivier ( North River ), and the Versche Rivier ( Fresh River ). Discovery, charting, and permanent settlement were needed to maintain a territorial claim. To this end in May 1624, the GWC landed 30 families at Fort Orange and Noten Eylant (today's Governors Island ) at the mouth of the North River. They disembarked from the ship Nieu Nederlandt , under

2726-548: The patroons of Zwaanendael , Samuel Blommaert and Samuel Godijn was destroyed by the local Indigenous population soon after its founding in 1631 during the absence of their agent, David Pietersen de Vries . Peter Minuit , who had obtained a deed for Manhattan from the Lenape (and was soon after dismissed as director), knew that the Dutch would be unable to defend the southern flank of their North American territory and had not signed treaties with or purchased land there from

2820-470: The 1950s, and more treatment capacity was added in the region in the following decades. Water quality studies in the late 1980s indicated that the river continued to be impaired with low oxygen levels and nutrient pollution . In the 21st century many communities in the watershed continue to be drained by combined sewers , which discharge untreated sewage during large rainstorms. Development of new drinking water supplies also had major environmental impacts on

2914-449: The 1960s, much of the lower river was essentially a turbid hypoxic dead zone, with only the hardiest of species, such as the mummichog , able to survive in its waters. Chemical companies dumped large volumes of waste into Berry's Creek during the 20th century, resulting in the highest concentrations of methyl mercury of any fresh-water sediment in the world, as well as extensive residues of PCBs and other chemicals. Three sites along

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3008-775: The Anglican government as in old England". The Dutch West India Company directors concluded that the religious freedom they offered in New Netherland would dissuade English colonists from working toward their removal. They wrote to Director-General Peter Stuyvesant : [W]e are in hopes that as the English at the north (in New Netherland) have removed mostly from old England for the causes aforesaid, they will not give us henceforth so much trouble, but prefer to live free under us at peace with their consciences than to risk getting rid of our authority and then falling again under

3102-826: The Dutch Government came down against the GWC, granting the colony a measure of self-government and recalling Stuyvesant in April 1652. However, the orders were rescinded with the outbreak of the First Anglo-Dutch War a month later. Military battles were occurring in the Caribbean and along the South Atlantic coast. In 1654, the Netherlands lost New Holland in Brazil to Portugal, encouraging some of its residents to emigrate north and making

3196-489: The Dutch dismantled Fort Nassau and constructed Fort Casimir on the west bank in an attempt to disrupt trade and reassert control. Three years later, Fort Casimir was seized by the Swedes, who renamed it Fort Trinity. In 1655, Stuyvesant led a military expedition and regained control of the region, naming its main settlement " New Amstel " ( Nieuw-Amstel ). While Stuyvesant was conquering New Sweden, some villages and farms at

3290-529: The Dutch. The massacre left 130 dead. Within days, the surrounding tribes united and rampaged the countryside, in a unique move, forcing settlers who escaped to find safety at Fort Amsterdam. For two years, a series of raids and reprisals raged across the province, until 1645 when Kieft's War ended with a treaty, in a large part brokered by the Hackensack sagamore Oratam . The colonists were disenchanted with Kieft, his ignorance of Indigenous peoples, and

3384-749: The European continent. The Dutch Republic had become a home to many intellectuals, international businessmen, and religious refugees. In the Americas , the English had a settlement at Jamestown, Virginia , the French had small settlements at Port Royal and Quebec , and the Spanish were developing colonies in South America and the Caribbean. In 1609, English sea captain and explorer Henry Hudson

3478-542: The Fresh River, and Fort Wilhelmus on the South River. Many of the settlers were not Dutch but Walloons , French Huguenots , or Africans (most as enslaved labor, some later gaining "half-free" status). Peter Minuit became Director of the New Netherland in 1626 and made a decision that greatly affected the new colony. Originally, the capital of the province was to be located on the South River, but it

3572-572: The GWC and conflicts with Native Americans . The settlement of New Sweden by the Swedish South Company encroached on its southern flank, while its eastern border was redrawn to accommodate the English colonies of an expanding New England Confederation . The colony experienced dramatic growth during the 1650s and became a major center for trade across the North Atlantic . The Dutch conquered New Sweden in 1655 but, during

3666-658: The GWC, the States General, and the New Netherlanders. The English were nibbling at Dutch territory to the north and the Swedes to the south, while in the heart of the province, the Esopus were trying to contain further Dutch expansion. Discontent in New Amsterdam led locals to dispatch Adriaen van der Donck back to the United Provinces to seek redress. After nearly three years of legal and political wrangling,

3760-451: The Hackensack River comes from the Lenape word Achinigeu-hach , or Ackingsah-sack , meaning flat confluence of streams or stony ground. Conflicts with the Lenape prevented the early Dutch settlers of the New Netherland colony from expanding westward into the valley into late in the 17th century. The river furnished both the Native Americans and the European settlers with abundant runs of herring , shad and striped bass . At

3854-448: The Indians did not intend to leave or give up access. This misunderstanding and other differences led to violent conflict later. At the same time, such differences marked the beginnings of a multicultural society. Like the French in the north, the Dutch focused their interest on the fur trade . To that end, they cultivated contingent relations with the Five Nations of the Iroquois to procure greater access to key central regions from which

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3948-428: The Indians. The Dutch West India Company would offer a land patent, and the recipient would be responsible for negotiating a deal with representatives of the local tribes, usually the sachem or high chief. The Indians referred to the Dutch colonists as Swannekins , or salt water people ; they had vastly different conceptions of ownership and use of land than the colonists did, and difficulties sometimes arose concerning

4042-435: The Institute for Social History of Amsterdam. Based on the price of silver , " The Straight Dope " newspaper column calculated an equivalent of $ 72 in 1992. Historians James and Michelle Nevius revisited the issue in 2014, suggesting that using the prices of beer and brandy as monetary equivalencies, the price Minuit paid would have the purchasing power of somewhere between $ 2,600 and $ 15,600 in current dollars. According to

4136-483: The Lower Hackensack was declared a federal Superfund site, triggering the process. Oradell Reservoir The Oradell Reservoir is a reservoir formed by the Oradell Dam on the Hackensack River in Bergen County, New Jersey , United States. The Oradell Reservoir Dam is located primarily in the borough of Oradell , but the reservoir also extends across the borders of the nearby boroughs of Haworth , Emerson , Closter , and Harrington Park . The reservoir

4230-486: The Narrows into the Upper New York Bay . Hudson believed that he had found the continental water route, so he sailed up the major river that now bears his name. He found the water too shallow to proceed several days later at the site of Troy, New York . Upon returning to the Netherlands, Hudson reported that he had found fertile land and amicable people willing to engage his crew in small-scale bartering of furs, trinkets, clothes, and small manufactured goods. His report

4324-411: The North American colonies more appealing to some investors. The Esopus Wars are so named for the branch of Lenape that lived around Wiltwijck, today's Kingston , which was the Dutch settlement on the west bank of Hudson River between Beverwyk and New Amsterdam . These conflicts were generally over settlement of land by New Netherlanders for which contracts had not been clarified, and were seen by

4418-496: The River Indians, known the exonyms associated with place names as the Wecquaesgeek , Hackensacks , Raritans , Canarsee , and Tappans . These groups had the most frequent contact with the New Netherlanders. The Munsee inhabited the Highlands , Hudson Valley, and northern New Jersey , while the Susquehannocks lived west of the Delaware River along the Susquehanna River, which the Dutch regarded as their boundary with Virginia. Company policy required land to be purchased from

4512-423: The US dollar was erroneously equated with the Dutch rijksdaalder having a standard value of 2.5 guilders). "[A] variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars," as authors Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace remarked in their history of New York. In 1626, sixty guilders were valued at approximately $ 1,000 in 2006 and $ 963 in 2020, according to

4606-409: The United Provinces. Still, the Dutch could not populate or militarily defend their territorial claim and, therefore, could do nothing but protest the growing flood of English settlers. With the 1650 Treaty of Hartford , Stuyvesant provisionally ceded the Connecticut River region to New England, drawing New Netherland's eastern border 50 Dutch miles (approximately 250 km ) west of Connecticut's mouth on

4700-447: The area and caused many roads to flood and be closed. The bridge that carries Old Hook Road ( CR 502 ) across is considerably low to the surface, and so is often flooded, resulting in closures to the road. New Netherland New Netherland ( Dutch : Nieuw Nederland ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States . The claimed territories extended from

4794-461: The area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The economic development and population increases in the watershed led to extensive water pollution in the river, both from municipal sewage and industrial wastewater . In the 20th century untreated sewage discharges from the various towns and cities began to contribute significant amount of pollutants to the river. The first sewage plant with secondary treatment technology did not open until

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4888-498: The area of Albany up Hudson's river. The fort was to defend river traffic against interlopers and to conduct fur trading operations with the Indians. The location of the fort proved to be impractical, however, due to repeated flooding of the island in the summers, and it was abandoned in 1618 when the patent expired. The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands granted a charter to the Dutch West India Company (GWC) ( Geoctroyeerde Westindische Compagnie ) on 3 June 1621, which gave

4982-420: The award. The New Netherland Company was an alliance of trading companies, and they used Adrian Block 's map to win a patent that expired on 1 January 1618. The New Netherland Company also ordered a survey of the Delaware Valley , and Cornelis Hendricksz of Monnickendam explored the Zuyd Rivier (South River) in 1616 from its bay to its northernmost navigable reaches. His observations were preserved in

5076-459: The boundary between Bergen County to the west and Hudson County to the east. Opposite Secaucus it is joined by Berry's Creek , then flows past the western edge of Jersey City , which overlooks the river's valley from the ridge of the Palisades, before forming Newark Bay at its confluence with the Passaic River between Jersey City and Kearny . As it flows through the Meadowlands it is traversed by numerous rail and road bridges . The name of

5170-503: The colonial population, many of whom were not of Dutch descent, was 4,301 in 1650 and 8,000 to 9,000 at the time of transfer to England in 1674. During the 17th century, Europe was undergoing expansive social, cultural, and economic growth, known as the Dutch Golden Age in the Netherlands. Nations vied for domination of lucrative trade routes around the globe, particularly those to Asia. Simultaneously, philosophical and theological conflicts were manifested in military battles throughout

5264-467: The colony fell, the company freed the slaves, establishing early on a nucleus of free blacks. The Union of Utrecht is the founding document of the Dutch Republic, signed in 1579, and it stated "that everyone shall remain free in religion and that no one may be persecuted or investigated because of religion". The Dutch West India Company , however, established the Reformed Church as the official religious institution of New Netherland. Its successor church

5358-457: The command of Cornelis Jacobsz May , the first Director of the New Netherland . He was replaced the following year by Willem Verhulst . In June 1625, 45 additional colonists disembarked on Noten Eylant from three ships named Horse , Cow , and Sheep , which also delivered 103 horses, steers, cows, pigs, and sheep. Most settlers were dispersed to the various garrisons built across the territory: upstream to Fort Orange , to Kievits Hoek on

5452-401: The company the exclusive right to operate in West Africa (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Cape of Good Hope ) and the Americas. Willem Usselincx was one of the founders of the GWC, and he promoted the concept that the company's main goal should be to establish colonies in the New World. In 1620, Usselincx made a last appeal to the States General, which rejected his principal vision as

5546-417: The conclusion of the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672–1674, the historic "disaster years" in which the French simultaneously attacked the republic under Louis XIV , the English, the Prince-Bishop of Münster , and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne . The States of Zeeland had tried to convince the States of Holland to take on the responsibility for the New Netherland province, but to no avail. In February 1674,

5640-475: The confiscated property. In addition, a Mennonite settlement led by Pieter Corneliszoon Plockhoy near Lewes, Delaware was destroyed. The 1667 Treaty of Breda ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War ; the Dutch did not press their claims on New Netherland, and the status quo was maintained, with the Dutch occupying Suriname and the nutmeg island of Run . Within six years, the nations were again at war. The Dutch recaptured New Netherland in August 1673 with

5734-430: The construction of Fort Amsterdam at its southern tip, around which grew the heart of the province called The Manhattoes in the vocabulary of the day, rather than New Netherland. According to a letter by Pieter Janszoon Schagen, Peter Minuit and Walloon colonists of the West India Company acquired the island of Manhattan on May 24, 1626, from unnamed native people, who are believed to have been Canarsee Indians of

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5828-463: The consumption of fish caught in the river. Urban runoff pollution, municipal sewage discharges from sanitary sewer overflows and combined sewer overflows, and runoff from hazardous waste sites continue to impair the river's water quality . The future of the wetlands around the lower river has been an ongoing controversy between development and preservation groups in recent decades. The Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission, later called

5922-480: The creek are federally-designated Superfund sites and require major cleanup operations, which are ongoing as of 2022. The river recovered somewhat by the late 2000s following the decline in manufacturing in the area, as well as from enforcement of Clean Water Act regulations and from the efforts of local conservancy groups. Recreational fishing has staged a modest comeback, although catch and release may be advisable, as there are continuing health advisories against

6016-454: The east side of the Hudson. It later served as a protective barrier that allowed Washington's army to encamp in the nearby hills near Morristown . Human alterations to land in the Hackensack meadowlands increased in the 19th century, including clearing forests; building roads, railroads and ditches; and filling wetlands. The Second Industrial Revolution led to construction of heavy manufacturing, storage tanks, and chemical processing plants in

6110-412: The expectations on both sides. The colonists thought that their proffer of gifts in the form of sewant or manufactured goods was a trade agreement and defense alliance, which gave them exclusive rights to farming, hunting, and fishing. Often, the Indians did not vacate the property or reappeared seasonally according to their migration patterns. They were willing to share the land with the colonists, but

6204-511: The first time; it was also called Nova Belgica on maps. During this period, there was some trading with the Native American population. Fur trader Juan Rodriguez was born in Santo Domingo of Portuguese and African descent. He arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–1614, trapping for pelts and trading with the Indians as a representative of the Dutch. He was the first recorded non-native inhabitant of New York City. The immediate and intense competition among Dutch trading companies in

6298-457: The importation of 11 black slaves who worked as farmers, fur traders, and builders. They had a few basic rights and families were usually kept intact. They were admitted to the Dutch Reformed Church and married by its ministers, and their children could be baptized. Slaves could testify in court, sign legal documents, and bring civil actions against whites. Some were permitted to work after hours earning wages equal to those paid to white workers. When

6392-409: The liberty of their consciences in religion" under English rule. The Articles were largely observed in New Amsterdam and the Hudson River Valley, but were violated in another part of the conquest of New Netherland along the Delaware River, where Colonel Sir Robert Carr expropriated property for his own use and sold Dutch prisoners of war into slavery. Nicolls eventually forced Carr to return some of

6486-477: The mainland and just west of Oyster Bay on Long Island. The Dutch West India Company refused to recognize the treaty but failed to reach any other agreement with the English, so the Hartford Treaty set the de facto border. Connecticut was mostly assimilated into New England. In March 1664, Charles II of England , Scotland, and Ireland resolved to annex New Netherland and "bring all his Kingdoms under one form of government, both in church and state, and to install

6580-412: The natives as an unwanted incursion into their territory. Previously, the Esopus, a clan of the Munsee Lenape, had much less contact with the River Indians and the Mohawks . According to historian Eleanor Bruchey: New Netherlanders were not necessarily Dutch, and New Netherland was never a homogeneous society. Governor Peter Minuit was a Walloon born in Germany who spoke English and worked for

6674-405: The newly charted areas led to disputes in Amsterdam and calls for regulation. The States General was the governing body of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, and it proclaimed on 17 March 1614, that it would grant an exclusive patent for trade between the 40th and 45th parallels. This monopoly would be valid for four voyages, and all four voyages had to be undertaken within three years of

6768-464: The only governor of the colony to be called Director-General . Some years earlier, land ownership policy was liberalized, and trading was somewhat deregulated, and many New Netherlanders considered themselves entrepreneurs in a free market . The population had reached about 15,000, including 500 on Manhattan Island. During the period of his governorship, the province experienced exponential growth. Demands were made upon Stuyvesant from all sides:

6862-400: The opportunity to mention grievances that they had with the company's mismanagement and its unresponsiveness to their suggestions. Kieft thanked and disbanded them and, against their advice, ordered that groups of Tappan and Wecquaesgeek be attacked at Pavonia and Corlear's Hook , even though they had sought refuge from their more powerful Mohican enemies per their treaty understandings with

6956-471: The outset of the colonial era the river's watershed was home to Lenape groups now known as the Rumachenanck (or Haverstraw) , Tappan , and Hackensack , the latter exonym taken from an encampment near the confluence of the tributary Overpeck Creek . European settlement began in the mid 17th century as part of New Netherland when the region was called Achter Kol , meaning "rear pass" or "behind

7050-608: The reservoir, it flows through the Oradell Dam through River Edge , Hackensack , Teaneck , Bogota , and Ridgefield Park , once again approaching within 3 mi (5 km) of the Hudson, and separated from it by the ridge of the Palisades. At Little Ferry , it is joined by the broad Overpeck Creek , then flows southward, widening in a broad meandering tidal estuary through the Meadowlands, forming extensive side streams and wetlands . South of North Bergen , it forms

7144-589: The reservoir. Directly to the south is the Oradell Avenue road bridge that crosses the Hackensack River. There is only one bridge to cross the reservoir, which carries CR 502 (Old Hook Road) over from Harrington Park to Closter. It is located in the northern part of the lake and is very important because it saves drivers from having to drive around the reservoir, avoiding the need to drive through towns and residential neighborhoods. The reservoir

7238-542: The ridge", to describe the valleys west of the Hudson Palisades which afforded passage to trapping grounds in the northern hinterlands. The river and the surrounding Meadowlands presented a formidable difficulty in transportation and communication. The wetlands helped allow the escape of the Continental Army under George Washington in 1776 after several defeats at the hands of the British army on

7332-557: The river. The construction of the Oradell Reservoir dam in 1921 essentially changed the lower river from a free-flowing stream into a brackish estuary , allowing the encroachment of marine species. Urbanization in the region intensified after World War II , with the expansion of roads and highways, including the New Jersey Turnpike (1952), as well as the Meadowlands Sports Complex (1970s). By

7426-481: The rule prevailed: the official granting of full residency for both Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews in New Amsterdam in 1655, and the Flushing Remonstrance involving Quakers in 1657. It was located in areas of Canada all the way to Delaware Apart from the second Fort Nassau , and the small community that supported it, settlement along the Zuyd Rivier was limited. The settlement sponsored by

7520-665: The second at Cape Cod . Hudson believed that the passage to the Pacific Ocean was between the St. Lawrence River and Chesapeake Bay , so he sailed south to the Bay, then turned northward, traveling close along the shore. From Delaware Bay , he began to sail upriver looking for the passage. This effort was foiled by sandy shoals, and the Halve Maen continued north along the coast. After passing Sandy Hook , Hudson and his crew entered

7614-603: The skins came. The Dutch encouraged a kind of feudal aristocracy over time to attract settlers to the region of the Hudson River in what became known as the system of the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions . Further south, a Swedish trading company that had ties with the Dutch tried to establish its first settlement along the Delaware River three years later. Without resources to consolidate its position, New Sweden

7708-454: The title came with powerful manorial rights and privileges , such as the creation of civil and criminal courts and the appointing of local officials. In return, a patroon was required by the Company to establish a settlement of at least 50 families within four years who would live as tenant farmers. Of the original five patents given, the largest and only truly successful endeavor

7802-526: The unresponsiveness of the GWC to their rights and requests, and they submitted the Remonstrance of New Netherland to the States General . This document was written by Leiden-educated New Netherland lawyer Adriaen van der Donck , condemning the GWC for mismanagement and demanding full rights as citizens of the province of the Netherlands. Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam in 1647,

7896-582: The world. The first trading partners of the New Netherlanders were the Algonquins who lived in the area. The Dutch depended on the native nations to capture, skin, and deliver pelts to them, especially beaver. It is likely that Hudson's peaceful contact with the Mahicans encouraged them to establish Fort Nassau in 1614, the first of many garrisoned trading stations. In 1628, the Mohawks (members of

7990-699: The writer Nathaniel Benchley , Minuit conducted the transaction with Seyseys, chief of the Canarsee , who were willing to accept valuable merchandise in exchange for the island that was mostly controlled by the Weckquaesgeeks , a band of the Wappinger . The port city of New Amsterdam outside the fort walls became a major hub for trade between North America, the Caribbean, and Europe, and where raw materials were loaded, such as pelts, lumber, and tobacco. Sanctioned privateering contributed to its growth. It

8084-488: Was Rensselaerswyck , at the highest navigable point on the North River, which became the main thoroughfare of the province. Beverwijck grew from a trading post to a bustling, independent town in the midst of Rensselaerwyck, as did Wiltwyck , south of the patroonship in Esopus country. Willem Kieft was Director of New Netherland from 1638 until 1647. The colony had grown somewhat before his arrival, reaching 8,000 population in 1635. Yet it did not flourish, and Kieft

8178-421: Was constructed to supply potable water to northern New Jersey and has essentially separated the Hackensack River into two distinct components: the upper river (above the dam) and the lower river (below the dam). The dam ranges from 25 to 50 feet (7.6 to 15.2 m) from the top to the surface of the river, depending on tide, and it is 402 feet (123 m) long. The dam is primarily used for flood control to dam

8272-535: Was first published in 1611 by Emanuel van Meteren , the Dutch Consul at London. This stimulated interest in exploiting this new trade resource, and it was the catalyst for Dutch merchant-traders to fund more expeditions. Merchants such as Arnout Vogels sent the first follow-up voyages to exploit this discovery as early as July 1610. In 1611–1612, the Admiralty of Amsterdam sent two covert expeditions to find

8366-676: Was given its municipal charter in 1653, by which time the Commonality of New Amsterdam included the isle of Manhattan, Staaten Eylandt , Pavonia , and the Lange Eylandt towns. In the hope of encouraging immigration, the Dutch West India Company established the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions in 1629, which gave it the power to offer vast land grants and the title of patroon to some of its invested members. The vast tracts were called patroonships , and

8460-631: Was gradually absorbed by New Holland and later in Pennsylvania and Delaware. In 1613, temporary camp comprising a number of small huts was built by the crew of the " Tijger " ( Tiger ), a Dutch ship under the command of Captain Adriaen Block , which had caught fire while sailing on the Hudson. Soon after, the first of two Fort Nassaus was built at the confluence of the Hudson (North River) and Mohawk rivers, and small factorijen or trading posts went up, where commerce could be conducted with

8554-548: Was hired by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to find a Northeast Passage to Asia, sailing around Scandinavia and Russia. The ice of the Arctic turned him back in his second attempt, so he sailed west to seek a Northwest Passage rather than return home. He ended up exploring the waters off the northeast coast of North America aboard the flyboat Halve Maen . His first landfall was at Newfoundland and

8648-497: Was originally built due to fear of an invasion by the English. There initially was limited contact between New Englanders and New Netherlanders, but the two provinces engaged in direct diplomatic relations with a swelling English population and territorial disputes. The New England Confederation was formed in 1643 as a political and military alliance of the English colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth , Connecticut , and New Haven . Connecticut and New Haven were on land claimed by

8742-470: Was soon realized that the location was susceptible to mosquito infestation in the summer and the freezing of its waterways in the winter. He chose instead the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the river explored by Hudson , at that time called the North River . Minuit traded some goods with the local population and reported that he had purchased it from the natives, as was company policy. He ordered

8836-467: Was under pressure to cut costs. At this time, Indian tribes that had signed mutual defense treaties with the Dutch were gathering near the colony due to widespread warfare and dislocation among the tribes to the north. At first, he suggested collecting tribute from the Indians, as was common among the various dominant tribes, but his demands were simply ignored by the Tappan and Wecquaesgeek . Subsequently,

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