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159-416: Before the fort was constructed, it was the scene where the purchase of Manhattan Island occurred. In its subsequent history, the fort was known under various names such as Fort James , Fort Willem Hendrick and its anglicized Fort William Henry , Fort Anne , and Fort George . The fort changed hands eight times in various battles, the first episode involving Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant , who surrendered

318-562: A Saw mill on East 74th Street and the East River, where a 13,710-meter (8.52 mi) long stream that began in the north of today's Central Park, which became known as the Saw Kill or Saw Kill Creek, emptied into the river. Later owners of the property George Elphinstone and Abraham Shotwell replaced the sawmill with a leather mill in 1677. The Saw Kill was later redirected into a culvert, arched over, and its trickling little stream

477-445: A sawmill was located in the northern forest at what was later the corner of East 74th Street and Second Avenue , at which African slaves cut lumber. The New Amsterdam settlement had a population of approximately 270 people, including infants. In 1642 the new director 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

636-561: A battery was erected at the southernmost shore of the island and fitted out with artillery. In 1668 Nicolls resigned the governorship and returned to England, where he resumed his service to the Duke of York. He was replaced as governor by Francis Lovelace on 28 August 1668. Beginning in the spring of 1672, the Third Anglo-Dutch War broke out. The following year, two Dutch fleets, commanded by Admiral Cornelis Evertsen aboard

795-565: A century before the arrival of the Dutch, the site that would later become New Amsterdam was named Nouvelle Angoulême by the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano , to commemorate his patron King Francis I of France , whose family consisted of the Counts of Angoulême . The first recorded exploration by the Dutch of the area around what is now called New York Bay was in 1609 with the voyage of

954-544: 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 in the Hudson Valley led the company to relocate even more settlers to the vicinity of the new Fort Amsterdam. In the end, colonizing

1113-466: A code of military law for members of the garrison while on duty, which included stiff fines for blasphemy, slandering, intoxication or failure to appear for duty. The code was read aloud by a corporal every time the soldiers appeared for duty. After four years of fighting with the Indians a peace was finally reestablished in 1645. Under Kieft, however, public revenues overall were not forthcoming, smuggling

1272-510: A father his children," and began the task of rebuilding the physical and moral state of the colony. In September 1647 he appointed the Nine Men , an advisory council composed of representatives of the colonists, to help rebuild relationships with them, temper his rule with their guidance, and restore New Netherland to the kind of well-run place that the Dutch preferred. In 1648 a conflict began between him and Brant Aertzsz van Slechtenhorst,

1431-523: A formal Remonstrance, persuaded Stuyvesant to stand down in the face of overwhelming odds. On September 8, Stuyvesant raised the white flag of surrender and subsequently, after much protest and deliberation, he signed the colony over without any blood-shed during the Second Anglo–Dutch War . At the behest of the James II, Duke of York , Nicoll's was appointed governor whose objective was to oversee

1590-541: A great expansion for the settlement of New Amsterdam beyond the southern tip of Manhattan . Among the projects built by Stuyvesant's administration were the protective wall on Wall Street , the canal that became Broad Street , and Broadway . Stuyvesant, himself a member of the Dutch Reformed Church , opposed religious pluralism and came into conflict with Lutherans , Jews , Roman Catholics , and Quakers as they attempted to build places of worship in

1749-410: A house and stable, a bakery, a goat-stable, and a large storage shed to accommodate the ship builders. Twiller, however, was generally disliked by the Dutch settlers. His financial management and accounting were poorly conducted and he neglected to report regularly to Amsterdam and had acquired a reputation for drunkenness. For this he was sharply and openly criticized by Borgardus from the pulpit and by

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1908-624: A mindset that resembles the American Dream were already present in the first few years of this colony. Writers like Russell Shorto argue that the large influence of New Amsterdam on the American psyche has largely been overlooked in the classic telling of American beginnings, because of animosity between the English victors and the conquered Dutch. The original 17th-century architecture of New Amsterdam has completely vanished (affected by

2067-828: A number of conflicts, the fort was finally torn down in 1790 after the American Revolution . After the fort's demolition, the Government House was constructed on the site as a possible house for the United States President. The site is now occupied by the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House , which houses a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian ; Bowling Green is nearby. The construction of

2226-484: A penniless soldier of the East India Company . He started out in the trade business and soon married a rich merchant's widow, and by 1689 he achieved prosperity and respectability. As acting governor of New York, he represented the common people against a group of wealthy leaders represented by Pieter Stuyvesant and others and enacted a government of direct popular representation as well as bringing reform to

2385-521: A position he held until 1644. In April 1644, he coordinated and led an attack on the island of Saint Martin —which the Spanish had taken from the Dutch. Peter thought they had few men. When Peter raised the Dutch flag the Spanish fired. A cannonball hit Peter. They lost the battle and Peter had his lower leg amputated. Stuyvesant returned to the Netherlands for convalescence, where his right leg

2544-585: 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, 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, Mayflower could not proceed to the Hudson River, and

2703-403: A provision that the colony of New Netherland be returned to England, which ended the war (the Dutch got Suriname ). The fort was officially renamed Fort Willem Hendrick in honor of William III of England , who was Stadtholder and Prince of Orange , and changed the name from New Orange back to New York. After the treaty was secured, the English once again named the area "New York" and returned

2862-608: A set of documents that have survived from that period, untranslated. They are the administrative records of the colony, unreadable by most scholars. Since the 1970s, Charles Gehring of the New Netherland Institute has made it his life's work to translate this first-hand history of the Colony of New Netherland. The scholarly conclusion has largely been that the settlement of New Amsterdam is much more like current New York than previously thought. Cultural diversity and

3021-543: A squadron of ships from Zeeland. The commanders were Jacob Benckes (Koudum, 1637–1677) and Cornelis Evertsen de Jongste (Vlissingen, 1642–1706) under instruction of the States General of the Dutch Republic . Anthony Colve was installed as the first Dutch governor of the province. Previously there had only been West India Company Directors and a Director-General. Amidst the recapture, New York City would be again renamed, this time to New Orange . However, after

3180-569: A system of fire wardens and a volunteer fire watch that patrolled the streets to keep an eye on any fire, or potential fire, from nine o'clock in the evening until the morning drum-beat. As such Stuyvesant became the organizer and head of the first volunteer firemen in America The colony of New Netherland had severe external problems. The population was too small and contentious, and the Company provided little military support. The most serious

3339-582: A transcription of the text, see Schagenbrief and Transcriptie Schagenbrief 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 twenty-four dollars' worth of trinkets and beads, the guilder rate at the time being about two and a half to a Spanish dollar . The price of 60 Dutch guilders in 1626 amounts to around $ 1,100 in 2012 dollars. Further complicating

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3498-646: A world where the city remained Dutch until the Napoleonic Wars and retained its name also afterward. One of New York's Broadway theatres is the New Amsterdam Theatre . The name New Amsterdam is also written on the architrave situated on top of the row of columns in front of the Manhattan Municipal Building , commemorating the name of the Dutch colony. Although no architectural monuments or buildings have survived,

3657-720: The Dutch with the New Amsterdam Trail. The Dutch-American historian and journalist Hendrik Willem van Loon wrote in 1933 a work of alternative history entitled "If the Dutch Had Kept Nieuw Amsterdam" (in If, Or History Rewritten , edited by J. C. Squire , 1931, Simon & Schuster ). A similar theme, at greater length, was taken up by writer Elizabeth Bear , who published the " New Amsterdam " series of detective stories that take place in

3816-507: The Dutch Reformed Church remains an important part of the community, as well as shopping centers, yacht clubs and other buildings and facilities throughout the area where the Dutch colony once was. The Peter Stuyvesant Monument by J. Massey Rhind situated at Bergen Square in Jersey City was dedicated in 1915 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Dutch settlement there The World War II Liberty Ship SS  Peter Stuyvesant

3975-511: The Dutch West India Company in 1621. Before Fort Amsterdam was constructed, the Dutch settlers erected a large stone building on the future location of the fort that served as a meeting house. It was surrounded by some 30 makeshift dwellings made from timber and bark, as finished building materials were scarce. The structures were surrounded by red cedar palisades which served as a temporary fort. Manhattan Island at this time

4134-522: The East River and to erect a fortification. In 1653, a convention of two deputies from each village in New Netherland demanded reforms, and Stuyvesant commanded that assembly to disperse, saying: "We derive our authority from God and the company, not from a few ignorant subjects." In 1654, Stuyvesant signed a deed for an allotment of land 10,000 square feet (930 m ) that corresponds to

4293-667: The English and the French . Although its main function was military, it also served as the center of trading activity. It contained a barracks, a church, a house for the West India Company director, and a warehouse for the storage of company goods. The company appointed Cornelius Jacobsen Mey in 1624 as the first (provisional) director of the New Netherland colony, and who was stationed at New Amsterdam at

4452-545: The Hudson River ), near what is now Albany. A fort and sawmill were soon erected at Nut Island. The windmill was constructed by Franchoys Fezard and was taken apart for iron in 1648. The threat of attack from other European colonial powers prompted the directors of the Dutch West India Company to formulate a plan to protect the entrance to the Hudson River. In 1624, 30 families were sponsored by Dutch West India Company moving from Nut Island to Manhattan Island, where

4611-577: The Nicasius de Sille List of 1660, which enumerates all the citizens of New Amsterdam and their addresses, it can be determined who resided in every house. 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 two outlying areas of development on Manhattan along the top of the plan. The work was created for James (1633–1701),

4770-613: The Stuyvesant Town housing complex; the site of the original Stuyvesant High School , still marked Stuyvesant on its front face, on East 15th Street near First Avenue, Stuyvesant Square , a park in the area; and the Stuyvesant Apartments on East 18th Street. The new Stuyvesant High , a premier public high school, is on Chambers Street near the World Trade Center. His farm, called the "Bouwerij" –

4929-526: The Treaty of Hartford , to settle the border between New Amsterdam and the English colonies to the north and east. The border was arranged to the dissatisfaction of the Nine Men, who declared that "the governor had ceded away enough territory to found fifty colonies each fifty miles square." Stuyvesant then threatened to dissolve the council. A new plan of municipal government was arranged in the Netherlands, and

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5088-640: The United States Constitution 's provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights . In 1664, King Charles II of England ceded to his brother, the Duke of York, later King James II , a large tract of land that included all of New Netherland . This came at a period of considerable conflict between England and the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch Wars . Four English ships bearing 450 men, commanded by Richard Nicolls , seized

5247-518: The University of Franeker , where he studied languages and philosophy, but several years later he was expelled from the school after he seduced the daughter of his landlord. He was then sent to Amsterdam by his father, where Stuyvesant – now using the Latinized version of his first name, "Petrus", to indicate that he had university schooling – joined the Dutch West India Company (GWC). In 1630,

5406-511: The fires of 1776 and 1835 ), leaving only archaeological remnants. The original street plan of New Amsterdam has stayed largely intact, as have some houses outside Manhattan. The presentation of the legacy of the unique culture of 17th-century New Amsterdam remains a concern of preservationists and educators. In 2009 the National Park Service celebrated the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson 's 1609 voyage on behalf of

5565-633: The Amsterdam Chamber of the GWC in 1654, he hoped that "the deceitful race, — such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ, — be not allowed to further infect and trouble this new colony." He referred to Jews as a "deceitful race" and "usurers", and was concerned that "Jewish settlers should not be granted the same liberties enjoyed by Jews in Holland, lest members of other persecuted minority groups, such as Roman Catholics, be attracted to

5724-593: The Articles of Capitulation. The Dutch settlers mainly belonged to the Dutch Reformed church, a Calvinist denomination, holding to the Three Forms of Unity (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dordt). The English were Anglicans, holding to the 39 Articles , a Protestant confession, with bishops. In 1665, Stuyvesant went to the Netherlands to report on his term as governor. On his return to

5883-692: The Battery. Eventually a new fort, Castle Clinton , was built on Lower Manhattan to the southwest, shortly before the outbreak of the War of 1812 with Britain. The site of Fort James was redeveloped for the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House . Prior to landfilling and the creation of Battery Park , it was located at the shoreline of the Hudson River but is now a few blocks away. 40°42′15″N 74°00′49″W  /  40.7042°N 74.0137°W  / 40.7042; -74.0137 Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant ( c.  1610 – August 1672)

6042-561: The British finally pulled out. In 1788, the government ordered the razing of Fort George (as it was then known). Its materials were used as landfill to add to the shore and expand the Battery. The fort was torn down in 1790, and the Government House , intended as the presidential residence, was built on the site. The need for new fortifications soon became apparent, especially as tensions started rising again with France and Great Britain. In 1798, guns were placed in temporary fortifications on

6201-425: The Duke of York and Albany, after whom New York , New York City , and New York's Capital – Albany , were 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

6360-472: The Dutch colony. On 30 August 1664, George Cartwright sent the governor a letter demanding surrender. He promised "life, estate, and liberty to all who would submit to the king's authority." On 6 September 1664, Stuyvesant sent Johannes de Decker , a lawyer for the West India Company, and five others to sign the Articles of Capitulation. Nicolls was declared governor, and the city was renamed New York . Stuyvesant obtained civil rights and freedom of religion in

6519-460: The Dutch fleet, the Dutch burghers and 400 Dutch colonists had grown impatient and resentful with English rulership as their appeals for rights and liberties were constantly ignored, and conveyed this sentiment to the Dutch upon their arrival. Manning sent an envoy of three men from the fort to Admiral Evertsen's ship with a message asking why the Dutch had arrived "in such a hostile manner". Evertsen replied that they had come to take back what he felt

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6678-520: 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 medicinal properties and for perfumes. The expeditions by Adriaen Block and Hendrick Christiaensen in 1611, 1612, 1613 and 1614, resulted in

6837-817: The English Connecticut Colony were strained, with disputes over ownership of land in the Connecticut valley, and in eastern Long island. The treaty of Hartford of 1650 was advantageous to the English, as Stuyvesant gave up claims to the Connecticut Valley while gaining only a small portion of Long island. In any case, Connecticut settlers ignored the treaty and steadily poured into the Hudson Valley, where they agitated against Stuyvesant. In 1664, England sent an expeditionary force to capture New Netherland. The colony's settlers refused to fight, forcing Stuyvesant to surrender and demonstrating

6996-480: The English garrison into surrendering the fort. On August 2, with New Amsterdam once again under Dutch rule, the Council of War appointed Colve as military governor-general of the province and Fort Orange, who in turn appointed Cornelius Steenwyk as Councillor of State, with executive privileges. In 1674, the fort and New Orange were turned back over to the English in the Treaty of Westminster (1674) which included

7155-430: The English occurred on September 6, I664. Nichols' first official act was to rename the city from New Amsterdam to New York, in recognition of James's title as Duke of York , while the fort was renamed Fort James, in honor of James II of England . Designed primarily as a defense against Indians the fort was considered almost useless for guarding the entry to the Hudson River or repelling a military siege, and subsequently

7314-594: The Fort James name. Edmund Andros was appointed governor and served from 9 February 1674, to 18 April 1683. On 10 November 1674, Andros received the surrender of the town, while their religious and other rights and property were not lost or compromised. In September 1682, James, Lord Proprietor of the Province of New York , appointed Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick , an Irishman and staunch Catholic, who had arrived at New York on 25 August 1863, as Vice-admiral in

7473-458: The GWC in 1651. Stuyvesant did not tolerate full religious freedom in the colony, and was strongly committed to the supremacy of the Dutch Reformed Church . In 1657 he refused Lutherans the right to organize a church. When he also issued an ordinance forbidding them from worshiping in their own homes, the directors of the GWC, three of whom were Lutherans, told him to rescind the order and allow private gatherings of Lutherans. The Company position

7632-577: The Munsee were fired upon as they were preparing to depart. This triggered attacks on Pavonia and Staten Island . Stuyvesant reported 28 farms destroyed, 40 deaths and 100 captives taken in what later became known as the Peach War . In 1661, the Communipaw ferry was founded and began a long history of trans-Hudson ferry and ultimately rail and road transportation. In 1664, Jan van Bonnel built

7791-579: The Navy and provincial governor (1683–1688) to replace Edmund Andros . Dongan organized the first representative assembly of New York Province at Fort James, on 14 October 1683. Dongan had served in the French army for many years, which made him familiar with French customs and diplomacy. His service in the Low Countries had given him a first-hand knowledge of the Dutch language. Upon his arrival, Dongan

7950-708: The New World, were thoroughly documented in city maps . During the time of New Netherland's colonization, the Dutch were the pre-eminent cartographers in Europe. The delegated authority of the Dutch West India Company over New Netherland required maintaining sovereignty on behalf of the States General, generating cash flow through commercial enterprise for its shareholders, and funding the province's growth. Thus its directors regularly required that censuses be taken. These tools to measure and monitor

8109-565: The Stamp Act. Reports of violent riots occurring in Newport, Boston, and elsewhere continued to reach Cadwallader's desk. Jared Ingersoll , stamp agent from Connecticut, and William Franklin , Governor of New Jersey, under extreme pressure not to enforce the Stamp Act had their supplies of stamped paper transported to Fort George for safe keeping. During the early morning hours of November 2, engineers and workers worked earnestly to strengthen

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8268-400: The acting governor of the Province of New York , and commander of the fort, who was accompanied by a company of regular infantry. Brockholls exclaimed to Dongan that he had great difficulty maintaining order, and that he was relieved over his arrival. At the time of his appointment, the province was bankrupt and in a state of rebellion. Dongan was able to restore order and stability. He was also

8427-548: The archaeology of New York City. For instance, the Castello map aided the excavation of the Stadthuys ( City Hall ) of New Amsterdam in determining the exact location of the building. The maps enable a precise reconstruction of the town. Fort Amsterdam was located at the southernmost tip of the island of Manhattan, which today is surrounded by Bowling Green. The Battery is a reference to its battery of cannon. Broadway

8586-473: The area of present-day Westchester County to barter beaver skins. When they reached the Kolck , a pond near what is now Chinatown , they were set upon by three farmhands, and one of the two adults was killed. When the young boy who was with them grew older, he took his revenge for the murder of his uncle, which act served as a pretext for Kieft's War . At the direction of the Dutch West India Company, Verhulst

8745-466: The arrival of the stamps brought to and held at Fort George. Cadwallader Colden , the acting governor of the Province of New York from 1763 to 1765, was residing at the fort at the time, but admitted that he had no real authority outside its gates. On 1 November 1765, the garrison was put on alert and manned the walls of the fort, and was soon greeted by the approaching colonists. A courier emerged from

8904-499: The calculation is that the value of goods in the area would have been different from the value of those same goods in the developed market of the Netherlands. The Dutch introduced windmills first at Noten Eylandt for a sawmill, to exploit the stand of hardwoods found there. Later they exploited the hydropower of existing creeks by constructing mills at Turtle Bay (between present-day East 45th–48th Streets) and Montagne's Kill, later called Harlem Mill Creek (East 108th Street). In 1639

9063-429: The carriages that mounted the cannons had fallen into decay, while the farms in the area had become neglected. About 1640 conflicts with the Indians, who were robbing and murdering settlers for their fur and other goods, had increased into war. The garrison at Fort Amsterdam in 1643 consisted of only fifty to sixty soldiers, who were lacking in discipline and were often disorderly. The situation prompted Kieft to establish

9222-644: The city and practice their faiths. Stuyvesant was in particular antisemitic , loathing both the Jewish ethnicity and religion . Peter Stuyvesant was born around 1610 in Peperga or Scherpenzeel , Friesland , in the Netherlands , to Balthasar Stuyvesant, a Reformed Calvinist minister, and Margaretha Hardenstein. He grew up in Peperga, Scherpenzeel, and Berlikum . At the age of 20, Stuyvesant went to

9381-454: The city became very crowded with overall poor living conditions for many of its inhabitants. After the British occupation of Manhattan Island was completed, the fort was not involved in any further military engagements for the remainder of the war. After peace was established with Britain in 1783, Washington received word that the British would soon evacuate New York. As Washington and his army marched south on Manhattan Island, Washington noted

9540-437: The cleats and by greasing the pole, all as measures taken to hinder the Americans from raising their flag at the fort. After a brief reception at Cape's Tavern, Washington, Governor Clinton and the cavalcade entered the fort. After an extended effort the flagpole was repaired and its missing parts replaced, after which John Van Arsdale ascended the pole and attached the American flag, on Evacuation Day , 25 November 1783, after

9699-413: The colonists decided to settle near Cape Cod, establishing the Plymouth Colony . The mouth of the Hudson River 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. Here, Indigenous hunters supplied them with pelts in exchange for European-made trade goods and wampum , which

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9858-481: The colony had left the colony in terrible condition. Only a small number of villages remained after Kieft's wars, and many of their inhabitants had been driven away and returned home, leaving only 250 to 300 men able to carry arms. Kieft himself had accumulated a fortune of over 4,000 guilders during his term in office, and become an alcoholic. Certain that righting New Netherland was the work which God had saved him for, Stuyvesant told its people "I shall govern you as

10017-422: The colony stopped sheltering runaways from New Netherland. In 1657, the GWC's directors wrote to Stuyvesant, telling him that they were not going to be able to send him all the tradesmen that he requested and that he would have to use slaves as well. Although it is commonly thought that Stuyvesant was New Netherland's largest slaveholder, he only owned two slaves, purchasing them as part of the farm he bought from

10176-419: The colony, he spent the remainder of his life on his farm, Stuyvesant Farm , of sixty-two acres outside the city, called the Great Bouwerie, beyond which stretched the woods and swamps of the village of Nieuw Haarlem . A pear tree that he reputedly brought from the Netherlands in 1647 remained at the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue until 1867 when it was destroyed by a storm, bearing fruit almost to

10335-432: The colony." Stuyvesant's decision was again rescinded after pressure from the directors of the company. As a result, Jewish immigrants were allowed to stay in the colony as long as their community was self-supporting. However, Stuyvesant would not allow them to build a synagogue, forcing them to worship instead in a private house. In 1657, the Quakers , who were newly arrived in the colony, drew his attention. He ordered

10494-399: The commissary of the patroonship Rensselaerwijck , which surrounded Fort Orange (present-day Albany). Stuyvesant claimed he had power over Rensselaerwijck, despite special privileges granted to Kiliaen van Rensselaer in the patroonship regulations of 1629. When Van Slechtenhorst refused, Stuyvesant sent a group of soldiers to enforce his orders. The controversy that followed resulted in

10653-439: The company assigned him to be their commercial agent on a small island just off of Brazil , Fernando de Noronha , and then five years later transferred him to the nearby Brazilian state of Pernambuco . In 1638, he was moved again, this time to the colony of Curaçao , the main Dutch naval base in the West Indies , where, just four years later, aged 30, he became the acting governor of that colony, as well as Aruba and Bonaire ,

10812-467: The company's treasurer, Lubbertus Van Dincklagen, for which Twiller dismissed him and sent him back to Holland. Van Dincklagen immediately drew up a formal complaint and submitted it to the States General . After confirmed reports of Twiller's performance reached Holland it was decided that he be replaced as Director General of New Netherland. William Kieft was subsequently appointed as the new Director in September 1637, arriving at New Amsterdam in March of

10971-406: The construction of Fort Amsterdam . A fortification was completed in 1626. The families were then dispersed to Fort Wilhelmus on 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 further north at Fort Nassau on the Mauritius or North River (now

11130-414: The construction of the fort, clearing land, farming and other such work. Attitudes about slavery varied among the colonists. Some of the slaves were converted to Christianity, and later some of them were given their freedom and grants of land. The fort became the nucleus of the New Amsterdam settlement and its mission was protecting New Netherland colony operations in the Hudson River against attack from

11289-405: The crowd and approached the gate, bearing a message for Cadwallader, which he handed to the sentry. Addressed to Cadwallader specifically, its message was the culmination of over a year's frustration and anger over the proposed imposition of the Stamp Act, which ultimately gave Cadwallader, now 77 years of age, an ultimatum, threatening in pointed language that he not participate in the enforcement of

11448-436: The devastation, lack of trees, shrubs, and the many buildings that were left in ruins. Washington's advance came to a halt at the barrier enclosing the inner city and Fort George. A volley of cannon signaled that the British had departed New York. While waiting for the American army to secure the island, Washington received word that the British had sabotaged the flag pole inside Fort George, by removing its ropes, knocking off its

11607-481: The dilemma of domestic dissatisfaction, small size, and overwhelming external pressures with inadequate military support from the Company that was fixated on profits. Stuyvesant became involved in a dispute with Theophilus Eaton , the governor of English New Haven Colony , over the border of the two colonies. In September 1650, a meeting of the commissioners on boundaries took place in Hartford, Connecticut , called

11766-507: The early instruction of youth." In 1661, New Amsterdam had one grammar school, two free elementary schools, and had licensed 28 schoolmasters. As director-general of New Netherland, Stuyvesant greatly increased the colony's involvement with slavery . During the late 1640s, authorities in the neighboring English colonies of Connecticut and Maryland encouraged New Netherland slaves to escape there, refusing to return them. In 1650, Stuyvesant threatened to offer freedom to Maryland slaves unless

11925-606: The face of growing numbers of angry colonists, General Gage and the Governor's Council, wanting to spare New York's Loyalist families from what seemed like imminent ruin, insisted that Colden strike a compromise and surrender the stamped paper. After initially delaying, Colden, now acting as an official stamp distributor, knowing he could not stand alone on matters, ultimately convinced the Common Council to pay for all surrendered and destroyed stamps. The subsequent surrender of

12084-486: The first to establish batteries of cannon to the south of the fort. In 1689, following the Glorious Revolution (English Revolution of 1688), in which William and Mary acceded to the throne, German-born colonist Jacob Leisler seized Fort James in what was called Leisler's Rebellion , replacing deposed Francis Nicholson who had fled New York City. Leisler arrived at New Amsterdam from England in 1660,

12243-473: The flagship Swaenenburgh , and Commodore Jacob Binckes , had combined their fleets and were plundering English shipping in the Caribbean and Chesapeake Bay , before they arrived at Fort James on 7 August 1673, which was Evertsen's ultimate objective before he departed Holland which at the time was almost defenseless in the face of such a force. The fleet, consisting of twenty-three ships, carrying 1,600 men,

12402-405: The following winter. The British soon occupied the entire city and ruled New York from the fort throughout the war. The British occupied the city and ruled New York from Fort George throughout the remainder of the war. Having been subjected to a large fire in 1776, the city experienced another great fire in 1778, with the subsequent destruction of many dwellings, and along with the British presence,

12561-465: The following year, effectively replacing Twiller. Conditions in and about the fort by 1638 had deteriorated and were not promising, with incompetent governmental management contributing to a decline in trade, and making the prospect of farming bleak. Director Kieft upon inspection of the fort and surrounding area, found the fort in a ruinous condition, with its dilapidated walls which allowed the fort to be entered without difficulty from various points. All

12720-503: The fort marked the official founding date of New York City as recognized by its seal . In October 1683, what would become the first session of the New York legislature convened at the fort. Artillery guns outside the fort overlooking the harbor formed a battery that would later be the namesake of nearby Battery Park . Starting with the founding and establishment of Fort Amsterdam in 1626, the fort, with its strategic location, overlooking

12879-601: The fort to Richard Nicolls of England in 1664. In the 18th century, the fort was at the center of the Stamp Act riots in New York when it was used to store shipments of stamped paper brought over from England, while serving as a safe haven for a number of stamp tax collectors. During the American Revolution , it was involved in the Battle of Brooklyn , when volleys were exchanged between the fort and British emplacements on Governor's Island . After 165 years of service, involving

13038-477: The fort used the triangle between the Heerestraat and what came to be known as Whitehall Street for marching drills. Verhulst, with his council, was responsible for the selection of Manhattan as a permanent place of settlement and for situating Fort Amsterdam. He was replaced as the company director of New Netherland by Peter Minuit in 1626. According to the writer Nathaniel Benchley, to legally safeguard

13197-467: The fort, Jogues observed and wrote an account of the condition of the fort, its repairs, and the activity on Manhattan, noting the various religions and languages spoken. As the population of Manhattan was increasing the West India Company sent out another minister, Domine Samuel Drisius, to assist Megapolensis who had served the Dutch congregation in England and could preach in Dutch, English and French. At

13356-565: The fort, serving until 1625. Mey was soon replaced by Willem Verhulst , who arrived in January 1625. Verhulst served as the second director in 1625–1626. His term as director was marked with harsh and inconsistent punishment which infuriated the settlers. Realizing that food staples were in short supply in the newly developed settlement, the Dutch West India Company had shipped over some cattle, various live stock, seeds and farming equipment. The animals were initially kept on Governor's Island but

13515-415: The fort, with its earthen walls, was intended more for a defense against Indians and was almost useless as a defense against a professional army or navy at that time. In 1625, after much deliberation, it was decided that the best location for the fort would be at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, with the idea that it would be able to defend against any ship attempting to ascend the Hudson River . The fort

13674-400: The fort. Fort George became the target of American riots following Parliament 's passage of the Stamp Act on 4 March 1765. The first shipment of stamps for New York and Connecticut arrived at New York on 23 October 1765. The ships were confronted by some 2000 angry colonists. Subsequently, the stamps had to be quietly unloaded in the middle of the night and brought into Fort George, which at

13833-413: The fort. Artillery office Major Thomas James was in command of the fort, who later testified before Parliament that he could have killed more than 900 of the rioters, but added that had he done so, the colonists could in little time have amassed 50,000 fighting men from New York alone, and that there would have been no chance in holding the fort. General Gage later said that had the colonists been fired on,

13992-410: The founding of the new settlement, Beverwijck . In an effort to remedy the neglect on the town, previously under Kieft's administration, Stuyvesant took measures to improve the appearance and safety of the town, with numerous regulations to achieve this end that were routinely issued by his office. Building codes were established for houses and other structures, including fences in an effort to control

14151-534: The gates of the fort and invited everyone in. In the American Revolution , the colonists under George Washington seized the fort in 1775, before the colonies formally seceded from the British Empire . During the Battle of Long Island , guns from the fort engaged British frigates starting on 12 July 1776. On July 12, the British ships HMS Phoenix and HMS Rose , with a few smaller vessels in attendance, sailed from Staten Island and began moving into

14310-466: The grazing proved inadequate so they were moved to a more fertile location on upper Manhattan Island. At the time, Manhattan was sparsely settled, as most of the Dutch West India Company operations were upriver along the Hudson in order to conduct trading operation for beaver pelts. According to John Romeyn Brodhead , while the fort was under construction, three Wechquaesgeek people traveled south from

14469-464: The harbor and the mouth of the Hudson River, and as a lucrative trade center, played a significant role in the history that followed, all the way through the American Revolution , frequently changing hands between the Dutch, British and the Americans, with corresponding changes in the fort's name. Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island , and the greater Dutch colony of New Netherland , was chartered by

14628-523: The insistence of Stuyvesant, and with children in need of baptism and religious instruction, Megapolensis was persuaded to remain in Manhattan. As the population of the colony grew, there was a corresponding increase in the number of soldiers, and by 1650 the number of soldiers in New Netherland was roughly 250. By 1660, the population is estimated to have been around five-hundred, and by 1664 had grown to fifteen-hundred. That same year, Jacques Cortelyou

14787-606: The island, where a trade deal was made, which was gladly accepted by the Indians. Minuit promptly organized the first government of the colony, and was granted authority over its executive, legislative, and judicial functions. He also appointed a sheriff and a five-member advisory council, chosen from the most reputable men at the colony. On 27 July 1626, the Dutch ship, Arms of Amsterdam , arrived at Manhattan, commanded by captain Adriaen Joris, who in 1623 accompanied Captain May, and

14946-563: The last. The house was destroyed by fire in 1777. He also built an executive mansion of stone called Whitehall . In 1645, Stuyvesant married Judith Bayard ( c.  1610 –1687) of the Bayard family . Her brother, Samuel Bayard, was the husband of Stuyvesant's sister, Anna Stuyvesant. Petrus and Judith had two sons together: He died in August 1672 and his body was entombed in the east wall of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery , which sits on

15105-413: The law of the ship had applied. On May 20, 1624, the first settlers in New Netherland arrived on Noten Eylandt (Nut or Nutten Island, now Governors Island ) aboard the ship Nieu Nederlandt under the command of Cornelius Jacobsen May , who disembarked on the island with thirty families to take legal possession of the New Netherland territory. The WIC ordered engineer and surveyor Crijn Fredericxsz for

15264-624: The liberty of their consciences in religion", negotiated with the English by Peter Stuyvesant and his council.) Sometimes considered a dysfunctional trading post by the English who later acquired it from the Dutch, Russell Shorto , author of The Island at the Center of the World , suggests that the city left its cultural marks on later New York and, by extension, the United States as a whole. Major recent historical research has been based on

15423-490: The local population as a representative of the Dutch East India Company. He is the first recorded non-Indigenous inhabitant of what would eventually become New York City. The territory of New Netherland was originally a private, profit-making commercial enterprise focused on cementing alliances and conducting trade with the local Indigenous peoples. Surveying and exploration of the region was conducted as

15582-474: The loss of Fort Oswego during the French and Indian War , he sent one thousand regulars to strategically located New York City for winter quarters. The old barracks in Fort George were prepared for them, while the fort underwent repairs and major improvements to its structure. To aid in the defense of the harbor, a good number of heavy cannon were also added to the battery and other strategic locations near

15741-685: The many governmental provisions that previously existed. The people appealed to Stuyvesant to capitulate and accept the generous offers Leisler was providing, as they had already endured corruption, abuse, and other hardships under the previous rulership. At the direction of governor Henry Sloughter , Leisler and ten others were eventually arrested and imprisoned at the fort. After a long and involved trial, Leissler, along with Jacob Milborne , were found guilty of treason and executed on 16 May 1691. Leisler's rule ended in 1691, when British sovereign William's new governor (appointed in 1690) finally reached New York. The fort had earlier been named for Willem when he

15900-572: The modern-day Financial District of lower Manhattan . It was co-signed by land grantee and secretary of the New Netherland Council Cornelis van Ruijven (alternative spelling Ruyven). The lot was given and granted to van Ruijven. The deed conveys a tract of land on Manhattan island in the Sheep Pasture. It was bounded by present-day Broad Street to William Street , and Beaver Street to Exchange Place . In

16059-559: The motherland, while it favored the aristocratic class with grants of land and other special favors. As a result, the new English government was well received by most of the citizens, who were well rooted in Dutch and England culture and ideology, countries with strong democratic principles, derived from the Great Privilege and the Magna Carta , both documents of Catholic origin. The official capitulation of New Amsterdam to

16218-400: The mouth of the Hudson River , prompting alarm guns to sound in New York. The cannons from batteries at Red Hook and Governors Island commenced firing at the small British fleet. Artillery fire also commenced from Fort George, under the command of New York artillery captain Alexander Hamilton , who at the time was nineteen, but had little effect. Fearing that the British capture of the fort

16377-530: The name "New Amsterdam" was officially declared on 2 February 1653. Stuyvesant made a speech for the occasion, saying that his authority would remain undiminished. Stuyvesant was then ordered to the Netherlands, but the order was soon revoked under pressure from the States of Holland and the city of Amsterdam. Stuyvesant prepared against an attack by ordering the citizens to dig a ditch from the North River to

16536-467: 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 British neighbors and government of Hartford Colony, our too powerful enemies". The existence of these city maps has proven to be very useful in

16695-416: The occupation of the Dutch colony and establish government. As the first governor of the province of New York, Nicoll's was greeted cordially by the Dutch and civic authorities whom he allowed to keep their offices and other stations. Under the previous rule of the West India Company, and their appointed governors, the rulership was autocratic; it denied basic rights of the people that were enjoyed in Holland,

16854-626: The population of New Netherland had risen to almost 9,000 people, 2,500 of whom lived in New Amsterdam, 1,000 lived near Fort Orange , and the remainder in other towns and villages. In 1664, the English took over New Amsterdam and renamed it New York after the Duke of York (later James II & VII ). After the Second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665–67, England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands agreed to

17013-491: 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 produced in 1660. Virtually every structure in New Amsterdam at the time is believed to be represented, and by cross-referencing

17172-471: The public torture of Robert Hodgson, a 23-year-old Quaker convert who had become an influential preacher. Stuyvesant then made an ordinance, punishable by fine and imprisonment, against anyone found guilty of harboring Quakers. That action led to a protest from the citizens of Flushing , which came to be known as the Flushing Remonstrance , considered by some historians to be a precursor to

17331-492: The revolution would have begun that year. Colden, concerned that Fort George had an inadequate garrison, requested reinforcements, which General Gage provided, while James brought new cannons to the fort. The fort also provided a safe haven for several stamp masters, including Zachariah Hood from Maryland, who, at the invitation of Colden, had fled to the fort to escape the wrath of the Sons of Liberty and other angry colonists. In

17490-536: The settlers' investments, possessions and farms on Manhattan island, Minuit negotiated the "purchase" of Manhattan from a band of Canarse from Brooklyn who occupied the bottom quarter of Manhattan, known then as the Manhattoes , for 60 guilders ' worth of trade goods. Minuit conducted the transaction with the Canarse chief Seyseys, who was only too happy to accept valuable merchandise in exchange for an island that

17649-504: The seventeenth-century Dutch word for "farm" – was the source for the name of the Manhattan street and surrounding neighborhood named " The Bowery ". The contemporary neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn includes Stuyvesant Heights and retains its name. Also named after him are the hamlets of Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Falls in Columbia County, New York , where descendants of the early Dutch settlers still live and where

17808-635: The ship Halve Maen (English: "Half Moon"), commanded by Henry Hudson in the service of the Dutch Republic, as the emissary of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange and stadholder of Holland. Hudson named the river the Mauritius River. He was also 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 by

17967-489: The signing of the Treaty of Westminster in February 1674, both the Dutch territories were relinquished to the English. With the effective transfer of control on 10 November 1674 (N.S.), the names New Netherland and New Orange reverted to the English versions of "New York" and "New York City", respectively. Suriname became an official Dutch possession in return. The beginnings of New Amsterdam, unlike most other colonies in

18126-399: The site of Stuyvesant's family chapel. The last acknowledged descendant of Peter Stuyvesant to bear his surname was Augustus van Horne Stuyvesant, Jr., who died a bachelor in 1953 at the age of 83 in his mansion at 2 East 79th Street. Rutherfurd Stuyvesant , the 19th-century New York developer, and his descendants are also descended from Peter Stuyvesant; however, Rutherford Stuyvesant's name

18285-450: The southern tip of the island was Manhattoe , and variations of this name were also applied to the first Dutch settlement there. With the construction of Fort Amsterdam , the town also became variously known as "Amsterdam" or "New Amsterdam". New Amsterdam's city limits did not extend north of the wall of Wall Street , and neither the remainder of the island of Manhattan nor of wider New Netherland fell under its definition. In 1524, nearly

18444-489: The stamps brought calm to the city, while New York's colonial newspapers called for peace. After calm returned to the city Colden's political adversaries blamed him for the mishap, and ultimately had his governorship replaced by Sir Henry Moore . In the effort to maintain peace and restore order to the city, Moore had met with the influential Isaac Sears , a leader of the Sons of Liberty, and others, and shortly thereafter opened

18603-510: The standing provincial assembly, with whom he found favor, to meet at Fort George, where it voted for revenues to sustain the government for the following five years. The assembly also prohibited any trading of Indian goods with the French, which greatly compromised the business interests of New York's merchants. In 1756, John Campbell , Earl of Loudoun, was appointed commander of all English forces in North America Prompted by

18762-554: The status quo in the Treaty of Breda . The English kept the island of Manhattan, the Dutch giving up their claim to the town and the rest of the colony, while the English formally abandoned Surinam in South America, and the island of Run in the East Indies to the Dutch, confirming their control of the valuable Spice Islands . The area occupied by New Amsterdam is now Lower Manhattan . The indigenous Munsee term for

18921-565: The strategic southern tip of the island of Manhattan and was meant to defend the fur trade operations of the Dutch West India Company in the North River ( Hudson River ). In 1624, it became a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic and was designated as the capital of the province in 1625. New Amsterdam became a city when it received municipal rights on February 2, 1653. By 1655, the population of New Netherland had grown to 2,000 people, with 1,500 living in New Amsterdam. By 1664,

19080-649: The summer of 1654 directly from Holland, with passports that gave them permission to trade in the colony. Then in early September, 23 Jewish refugees arrived from the Brazilian city of Recife , which had been conquered by the Portuguese in January 1654. The director-general of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant , sought to turn them away but was ultimately overruled by the directors of the Dutch West India Company in Amsterdam. Asser Levy , an Ashkenazi Jew who

19239-480: The summer of 1655, he sailed down to the Delaware River with a fleet of seven vessels and about 300 men and took possession of the colony of New Sweden , which was renamed "New Amstel." In his absence, Pavonia and Staten Island were attacked by Native Americans on 15 September 1655 in what became known as the Peach War . In 1660, Stuyvesant was quoted as saying that "Nothing is of greater importance than

19398-442: 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

19557-403: The time had a garrison of only 200 regulars. On October 31, the day before the Stamp Act was to be enforced, thousands of colonists took to the streets. As a precaution, British authorities beforehand had the guns at the battery spiked along with any not inside the fort, making them inoperable. The protests, agitation and violence over the Stamp Act reached a climax from November 1–3, as a result of

19716-623: The town of Beverwijck , renamed Albany in 1664. Spanish trader Juan Rodriguez (rendered in Dutch as Jan Rodrigues), was born in the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo , the first Spanish Colony in the Americas. Allegedly of Portuguese and African descent, he arrived on Manhattan Island during the winter of 1613–1614 under the command of Thijs Volckenz Mossel captain of the Jonge Tobias , trapping beavers and trading with

19875-509: The typical grid become enforced long after the town ceased to be Dutch. Most of the Financial District overlaps with New Amsterdam and has retained its original street layout. 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, assuring New Netherlanders that they "shall keep and enjoy

20034-435: The valuable sugar plantations and factories captured by them that year on the coast of Surinam , giving them full control over the coast of what is now Guyana and Suriname . On 9 August 1673 ( N.S. ; 30 July 1673 (O.S.)), during the Third Anglo-Dutch War , the Dutch quickly but briefly retook the colony of New Netherland, which the English called "New York", with a combined fleet of a squadron of ships from Amsterdam and

20193-526: The widespread problem of wandering livestock about the town. As the housing and other structures in New Amsterdam were built almost entirely from wood and stood very close together the possibility of a spreading fire was very great. As governor, Stuyvensant forbid the construction of wooden chimneys, and imposed a tax of a beaver skin, or its trade equivalent, on every householder to finance the cost of two hundred and fifty leather fire buckets and hooks and ladders, which he had sent from Holland. He also established

20352-553: Was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was provisionally ceded to the Kingdom of England . He was a major figure in the history of New York City and his name has been given to various landmarks and points of interest throughout the city (e.g. Stuyvesant High School , Stuyvesant Town , Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood , etc.). Stuyvesant's accomplishments as director-general of New Netherland included

20511-427: 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. The fort also served as the center of trading activity. It contained a barracks, the church, a house for the West India Company director and a warehouse for the storage of company goods. Troops from

20670-537: Was actually mostly controlled by the Weckquaesgeeks. An official letter of November 7, 1626 in which Pieter Schagen informed the States General of the purchase (by Peter Minuit ) of Manhattan ("'t eylant Manhettes", groot 11000 morgen ) from the "wilden" (wild ones). This area amounts to 94 square kilometres (36 sq mi). Schagen also mentioned the successful first harvest and the shipload of 7,246 beaver skins ( Nationaal Archief , The Hague ). For

20829-484: Was alarming to acting captain Sheriff John Manning, who was left in command while Lovelace was away visiting Governor Winthrop at Hartford . The fort at this time only had a garrison of no more than 80 men with only 30-36 guns mounted along its walls. Manning tried in vain to summon reinforcements from nearby towns and made attempts to forestall the eminent recapture of Fort James. Before the arrival of

20988-421: Was built of hard-packed earth or rubble because earthworks would absorb the shock of cannon fire without collapsing, as stone walls might. Fredericksen had instructions to employ the help of nearby Indians in the fort's construction. and were never taken into slavery. Under the direction of the Dutch West India Company, the first appearance of negro slaves in New Amsterdam occurred in 1626, and were used helping in

21147-446: Was called Arch Brook. 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, effecting the bloodless capture of New Amsterdam . On September 6, the local Dutch deciding not to offer resistance, Stuyvesant's lawyer Johannes de Decker and five other delegates signed the official Articles of Surrender of New Netherland . This

21306-524: Was changed from Stuyvesant Rutherford in 1863 to satisfy the terms of the 1847 will of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant . His descendants include: According to historian Eleanor Bruchey: Stuyvesant and his family were large landowners in the northeastern portion of New Amsterdam, and the Stuyvesant name is currently associated with four places in Manhattan 's East Side, near present-day Gramercy Park :

21465-434: Was commissioned to conduct a survey and make a second map of New Amsterdam, which now had approximately three-hundred and fifty dwellings. On 29 August 1664, four English warships under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls , carrying 450 well-trained soldiers and bearing 120 heavy guns, arrived in New Amsterdam's harbor. Fort Amsterdam had a garrison of 250 men with only 24 pieces of artillery. Supplies were limited and food

21624-452: Was covered by woods and brush, with several marshes about the shore line, and at night the sound of bears and other wildlife could be heard. During the 17th century, no settlement was secure without a fortification for defense and refuge. Historian Maud Wilder Goodwin maintains the fort existed not so much out of concern for the Indians, but over other ambitious and enterprising Europeans. Historian John Andrew Doyle , however, maintains that

21783-400: Was designed by Kryn Fredericksen, deputy and chief engineer of the New Netherland colony. Seventeenth-century Dutch forts all followed a similar design. Probably originally intended as a standard star-shaped fort, Fort Amsterdam had four sides with a bastion at each corner to better protect the walls. The original plan was to face the wall with stone, but this was never accomplished. The fort

21942-478: Was eminent, Hamilton and his artillery teams hauled off more than ten cannons, shortly before a barge from HMS Asia approached and fired on the fort and its vicinity. In September 1776, under the command of Henry Clinton the British made a Landing at Kip's Bay , and soon recaptured Fort George, along with lower Manhattan, forcing General Washington and his army to retreat north and eventually into New Jersey, at Valley Forge where they would remain for most of

22101-686: 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 in Vienna in 1991, provides a unique view of New Amsterdam as it appeared from Capske (small Cape) Rock in 1648. It was associated with Adriaen van der Donck 's Remonstrance of New Netherland , and may have inspired later views as by Claes Jansz. Visscher . Capske Rock

22260-400: Was frequent and severely compromising legitimate trade, discontent and disorder was prevalent throughout the community, while protests and appeals for reform had no effect in getting Kieft and his subordinates to address the situation effectively. Subsequently, when Peter Stuyvesant arrived at Fort Amsterdam in 1647 he was joyfully received. He was accompanied by Reverend Johannes Backerus, who

22419-404: Was head of the Dutch government. He became the sovereign of the English government by the overthrow of James in the Glorious Revolution . The fort was renamed Fort William Henry in honor of the new Protestant king. Governor Hunter was replaced by William Burnet who arrived at Manhattan on 16 September 1720. Rather than calling for elections for a new assembly, as was customary, Burnet summoned

22578-600: Was in short supply, precluding any chance of enduring a prolonged siege. After surrounding the fort with ships and landed soldiers Nicolls demanded the Dutch surrender of the colony and Fort Amsterdam, which at the time was almost useless as a defense against a professional army and navy. Although Peter Stuyvesant , the Director of New Netherland , with his guns in place and ready to fire, was prepared to fight, prominent city residents, including Stuyvesant's son Balthazar, Hendrick Kip and Reverend Megapolensis, all of whom signed

22737-449: Was left in charge of the colony at Fort Orange. By September 26, the Arms of Amsterdam , with a cargo containing thousands of fur pelts, samples of grain, and a load of hardwood, departed for Holland with news of the purchase of Manhattan and the successful establishment of the new colony. By 1628, the population of Manhattan Island, including men, women and children, was 270. In 1632, Minuit

22896-414: Was named in his honor. New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( Dutch : Nieuw Amsterdam , pronounced [ˌniu.ɑmstərˈdɑm] ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland . The initial trading factory gave rise to the settlement around Fort Amsterdam . The fort was situated on

23055-550: Was not very impressed with New York, which at the time was a small town, and likewise had the same regard for the fort, which after he inspected it, said its walls could be battered down by artillery in an hour. On the face of the gate to the fort was a faded emblem of the Coat of Arms of the Duke of York. Here, Dongan turned and bowed to the cheering crowd and entered the fort. He was greeted by Captain Anthony Brockholls ,

23214-468: Was one of the 23 refugees, eventually prospered and in 1661 became the first Jew to own a house in New Amsterdam, which also made him the first Jew known to have owned a house anywhere in North America. On September 15, 1655, New Amsterdam was occupied by several hundred Munsee , possibly in response to a Dutch colonist killing a woman stealing peaches from his orchard. No bloodshed occurred until

23373-400: Was replaced as governor by the appointment of Peter Minuit , who arrived in 1625 and was appointed governor the following year. Minuit's first official task was to arrange a meeting with the local Indian chiefs and negotiate the purchase of Manhattan Island before any settlement and the erection of the fort was to occur. The meeting took place on 26 May 1626, on the rocky southernmost shore of

23532-457: Was replaced by Sebastiaen Jansen Krol who briefly served as director for a period of thirteen months. His replacement, Wouter van Twiller , a clerk in the Dutch West India Company, who arrived at the fort, still under construction, aboard the Dutch ship, De Zoutberg along with a company of one hundred and four soldiers from Holland, the first military force to arrive at the colony, with Van Twiller officially as its first military head Also aboard

23691-422: Was replaced with a wooden peg . Stuyvesant was given the nicknames "Peg Leg Pete" and "Old Silver Nails" because he used a wooden stick studded with silver nails as a prosthesis . The West India Company saw the loss of Stuyvesant's leg as a "Roman" sacrifice, while Stuyvesant himself saw the fact that he did not die from his injury as a sign that God was saving him to do great things. A year later, in May 1645, he

23850-456: Was rightfully theirs. The envoy then insisted that they see Evertsen's commission, where he replied that it was stuck in the barrel of his cannon, and that the English would see it soon enough if they did not surrender the fort. Subsequently, the next day the Dutch fleet exchanged broadsides with the fort for about four hours, while Anthony Colve , commander of Marines, landed 600 men on the west side of Manhattan Island and on 30 July 1673, forced

24009-715: Was selected by the company to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of the New Netherland colony, including New Amsterdam , the site of present-day New York City . Stuyvesant had to wait for his appointment to be confirmed by the Dutch States-General . During that time he married Judith Bayard, who was the daughter of a Huguenot minister and hailed from Breda . Together, they left Amsterdam in December 1646 and, after stopping at Curaçao, arrived in New Amsterdam by May 1647. Kieft's administration of

24168-581: Was situated in the water close to Manhattan between Manhattan and Noten Eylant, and signified the start of the East River roadstead. New Amsterdam received municipal rights by a charter from New Netherland Governor Peter Stuyvesant on February 2, 1653, thus becoming a city. Albany, then named Beverwyck , received its city rights in 1652. Nieuw Haarlem , now known as Harlem , was formally recognized in 1658. The first Dutch Jews known to have arrived in New Amsterdam arrived in 1654. First to arrive were Solomon Pietersen and Jacob Barsimson, who sailed during

24327-404: 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 apply. Previously, during the private, commercial period, only

24486-466: Was swiftly followed by 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 the brother of King Charles II , who had been granted the lands. In 1667, the Treaty of Breda ended the conflict in favor of the Dutch. The Dutch did not press their claims on New Netherland but did demand control over

24645-412: Was that more tolerance led to more trade and benefited everyone. Freedom of religion was further tested when Stuyvesant refused to allow the permanent settlement of Jewish refugees from Dutch Brazil in New Amsterdam (without passports), and join the handful of existing Jewish traders (with passports from Amsterdam). Stuyvesant attempted to have Jews leave the colony "in a friendly way". As he wrote to

24804-506: Was the Reverend Everardus Bogardus .< Relations with neighboring English colonies were uncertain, as they were competing with the Dutch over trade with the Indians, prompting Twiller to strengthen the fort with stone at several locations. The fort was completed in 1635. He had built within the fort a guard-house and a small house for the soldiers. Outside the fort he built New Netherland's first church, complete with

24963-468: Was the economic rivalry with England regarding trade. Secondarily there were small scale military conflicts with neighboring Indian tribes, involving fights between mobile bands on the one hand, and scattered small Dutch outposts on the other. With a large area and limited population, defense was a major challenge. Stuyvesant's greatest success came in dealing with the Delaware River colony of New Sweden , which he invaded and annexed in 1655. Relations with

25122-438: Was the main street that led out of town north towards Harlem. The town was surrounded to the north by a wall leading from the eastern to the western shore. Today, where the course of this city wall was, is Wall Street . Nearby, a canal which led from the harbor inland was filled in 1676, and is today Broad Street . The layout of the streets was winding, as in a European city. Only starting from Wall Street going toward uptown did

25281-556: Was to replace Bogardus. Johannes Megapolensis , a minister of the Calvinist Dutch Reformed Church , arrived at Fort Amsterdam from Rensselaerswyck Manor in 1664 after serving there for six years. His arrival at Fort Amsterdam was subsequent to his assisting French missionary, Isaac Jogues , in his escape from the Mohawks. Jogues became the first Catholic priest to set foot on Manhattan Island. While at

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