On February 2, 1653, a small settlement across the ocean in the colony of New Netherland received city rights. This settlement is New Amsterdam. The inn in New Amsterdam would henceforth be called the Stadt Huys. Unfortunately, the rights could not be enjoyed for long, as the English seized power 11 years later. The settlement grew to become one of the most influential cities in the world: New York.
New Amsterdam started with a small community of 1,500 inhabitants in 1655, but quickly grew to a city with 2,500 inhabitants by the time the English arrived in 1664. We travel back in time to the southeastern tip of the island of Manhattan, which New Yorkers now know as Lower Manhattan.
Bought by Trickery
The city actually exists thanks to Peter Minuit. He bought the entire island of Manhattan from the Native Americans on May 24, 1626. They were the original inhabitants of America. Minuit did this rather sneakily. He did not pay with money, but with various goods that were worth less than 60 guilders combined. On the island, Fort Amsterdam was built, which marked the beginning of the settlement.
Interference
Old Amsterdam was more than eager to interfere with its distant sister city in America. The first colonists arrived in 1624, sent by the West India Company (WIC), an organization in which the Amsterdam chamber had a lot of power. Minuit also worked for the WIC. In 1645, the organization even acquired complete control over the colony of New Netherland.
Increasingly Amsterdam-like
Historian Jaap Jacobs has written extensively about the history of New Amsterdam. In the magazine Ons Amsterdam, Jacobs explains how the sister city became increasingly Amsterdam-like. This was particularly evident in the judiciary. In civil lawsuits, the Amsterdam legal system was followed, and the list of cases to be dealt with, the so-called schoutsrol, was a copy of the Amsterdam role. In the lawsuits, reference was also made to the charters of Amsterdam (with page reference!), according to Jacobs.
Petrus Stuyvesant
Not everyone was happy with Amsterdams influence over the colony. Both some of the colonists and the Dutch States General were against it. Therefore, the Director-General of the colony, Petrus Stuyvesant, proposed to separate the control of the colony and the city. Thus, in 1653, an independent city council for New Amsterdam was established.
Wall Street
This council was wary of the English. The Netherlands had a gigantic trading fleet, and the English were not pleased with that. England had to violently take over the dominant trading position from the Netherlands, which was increasingly echoed. The First Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654) was a fact. It was decided to build a defensive wall in the form of a palisade: a connected line of dug-in poles. Wall Street in New Yorks financial district owes its name to this wall.
Orphans as a Political Tool
In 1654, the city council of Amsterdam came up with a plan to send orphan girls and boys to the new colony. In Amsterdam, there were so many orphans that it became increasingly difficult and expensive to accommodate them. Thus, the colony gained new inhabitants while Amsterdam saved costs on their maintenance. A win-win situation. The condition was that orphans would want to move themselves. The Amsterdam chamber of the WIC had a political motive to help Amsterdam with this plan. They could use the citys assistance in the conflict with the States General over the future of New Netherland.
English Takeover
Unfortunately, all efforts were in vain. Despite the efforts, the bond between Amsterdam and New Amsterdam could not prevent the English takeover of the city in 1664. How the colonys fate unfolded is now well-known. The city was renamed New York, after the Duke of York, and grew to become one of the major world cities.
Incidentally, the Zeelanders briefly retook New Amsterdam from the English in 1673. But a year later, after the Third Anglo-Dutch War (there were a total of 4), the city definitively fell into English hands. So instead of saying happy birthday, we say happy birthday.
750 Amsterdam Stories
During the anniversary year, 750 stories are being collected. Big and small stories from the rich history of Amsterdam. These stories will be published on the special website. You can also sign up for the story newsletter. Then you will receive new stories in your mailbox every month.
Main photo: View of New Amsterdam by Johannes Vingboons, 1664