|
New York Colony History
"New York, originally called New Netherlands, was so named in
honor of the Duke of York and Albany, England, to whom the territory was
granted on its conquest from its first settlers, the Dutch.
On September 13th 1609, a vessel called the Crescent
came to anchor within Sandy Hook [New Jersey], about seventeen miles from
the present city of New York. It was the first vessel ever within those
waters. Her commander, Henry Hudson, was an English captain in the service
of the Dutch East India Company, and on a voyage for discovering a northern
passage to India; but, failing in this, he proceeded along the shores of
Newfoundland, and thence southward, as far as Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.
On returning, he was exploring the coast, with the hope of finding a passage
through the continent to the Pacific Ocean, when he came to anchor at Sandy
Hook. Having spent a week here, he passed through the Narrows at the
entrance to New York Harbor, and "went sounding his way above the
highlands," until at last the Crescent had sailed some miles above
the city of Hudson, and a boat had advanced a little beyond Albany.
Having employed ten days in this manner, and in frequent
intercourse with the Indians resident on the banks of the river, Hudson
descended on October 14th and sailed for England, "leaving once more to its
solitude" the waterway which after some years would bear his name. In
November, he reached England, when he forwarded to his Dutch employers, "a
brilliant account" of his discoveries; but the English monarch, James I,
forbid his return to Holland, lest the Dutch, by virtue of his having sailed
under their patronage, should lay claim to the country.
The Dutch, as feared, did lay claim to it; and the following
year the East India Company fitted out a ship with various merchandise,
bound for the newly discovered river, to trade with the natives. The
enterprise was successful, and more voyagers succeeded. Several rude houses
were erected on the island, called by the natives Manhattan; and
here, in 1613, Captain Argall, when on his return, with his fleet, from an
expedition against the French at Port Royal, found several Dutch traders.
But he promptly demanded a surrender of the place to the
English crown, as properly constituting a part of
Virginia. The surrender
was reluctantly made; but, on his departure, the Dutch continued their
residence. During the following year in 1614, the Dutch constructed a rude
fort on the southern part of the island, which was the beginning of New
Amsterdam, afterward called New York. In 1615, a settlement was begun
near the present site of Albany, to which the name of Fort Orange was
given. The country received the name New Netherlands.
Notwithstanding the claim of Argall in 1613, to the
territory of New Netherlands, as belonging to the English crown, the Dutch
held possession of it until 1664, with the English meanwhile neglecting
further pretensions to it.
In 1621, the Dutch republic of Holland granted to the Dutch
West India Company—a corporation then recently formed—a territory whose
boundaries were not accurately defined; but which the latter construed as
including the lands between Delaware River on the south, and Connecticut
River on the north. The foregoing boundaries, therefore included, besides
New York, the present States of Delaware, New Jersey, a considerable part of
Connecticut, and Long Island; and to these several territories the Dutch
subsequently laid claim, and these claims, in after years, involved them in
serious and very troublesome disputes with the English.
Small settlements, in addition to those at New Amsterdam and
Albany, were early begun, in New Jersey, in Delaware, on the west end of
Long Island; and a trading house or fort, at Hartford, on the Connecticut
River, which Bancroft says the Dutch had discovered a little previous to the
erection of the trading house, by Holmes, at Windsor,
Connecticut.
The first governor of New Netherlands, appointed by the West
India Company, was Peter Minuits, who arrived at New Amsterdam in 1625; and
with him came a company who settled at Brooklyn on Long Island. Under him
were several officers, or functionaries, as a Opper-Koopman, or chief
merchant, an Onder-Koopman, a Koopman, and an assistant.
During the administration of Governor Minuits, the
foundation was laid for the manors of New York; some of which remained until
the 1800s, and which, on account of rents demanded from those who improve
the leased lands belonging to those manors, were for many years the cause of
sad disturbances in that state. In 1629, the above West India Company, in
order to give an impulse to colonization in their territory, allowed some
persons, within four years, to undertake colonization, consisting of
selected lands, which should descend to their posterity forever. Of this
privilege several availed themselves. Such were called lords of the manor,
or patroons, or patrons. By these patrons, Wouter Van Twiller was dispatched
as an agent, to inspect the condition of the country, and to purchase the
lands of the Indians previous to settlement—a condition specified by the
West India Company. It was also recommended that a minister and schoolmaster
should be provided.
In 1633, Minuits was recalled due to disturbances in the
colony, and Wouter Van Twiller, the former agent, succeeded him. A few
months before his arrival, the Dutch, who had discovered the Connecticut
River, had erected a trading house or fort, where Hartford stands, as
noticed in the history of Connecticut.
Under Van Twiller, the interests of the colony considerably advanced; with
the exception of controversies occasioned by the encroachments of the
English on the eastern end of Long Island and western part of Connecticut
began.
In 1638, Van Twiller was succeeded by Sir William Kieft, a
man of enterprise and ability, but impetuous and imperious. From this time,
the history of the Dutch is little less than a chronicle of struggles and
contentions with English, Swedes, and Indians.
About the same time that Kieft began his administration, a
colony of Swedes, under ex-Governor Minuits, had arrived, and formed a
settlement on Christiana Creek, near Wilmington, in the present State of
Delaware. To this movement Kieft opposed; but the Swedes gradually extended
their settlements, a length occupying the territory from Cape Henlopen to
the Falls of Delaware, opposite Trenton. This territory was called New
Sweden.
But the Dutch were destined to troubles far more serious.
For some time dishonest traders had overreached the Indians of' Long Island
and New Jersey, and they sought revenge. In 1640, they ruined the settlement
on Staten Island. In consequence of this, the Dutch fitted out a roving
expedition, south of the Hudson River, against the Indians; but it proved
fruitless. Then, a Hollander was killed by the son of a chief. The Indians
expressed their grief, but refused to surrender the murderer. Kieft was
irate, and united with a party of Mohawks, just then arrived from the north,
in an expedition of blood and death against the neighboring tribes.
In the stillness of a dark winter's night in February 1643,
the united forces crossed the Hudson, and the work of destruction began.
Nearly a hundred of the Indian men, women and children, perished in the
carnage. No sooner was it discovered by the surrounding tribes that the
Dutch united with the Mohawks in this midnight attack, but they were seized
with the frenzy of revenge. And their revenge was seemingly full. Villages
were laid waste; the farmer was murdered in his field, and his children
swept into captivity. It was on this occasion that the celebrated Anne
Hutchinson, who was banished from
Massachusetts, perished with her family. So greatly were the Dutch
pressed, and so imminent became their danger, that they were compelled to
sue for peace. Fortunately, that peace-maker
Roger Williams, then in Manhattan, on his way to England, intervened,
and a truce between the contending parties was effected.
But harmony and confidence were not restored. The Indians
found themselves not satisfied. They thirsted for further revenge, and the
war was renewed. The Dutch, however, had no competent leader. They therefore
engaged the services of Captain John Underhill, one of the bravest men of
his day, but who had been banished from Massachusetts for his religious
eccentricities. With one hundred and twenty men, Underhill met and attacked
and routed the Indians, on Long Island, and at Strickland Plains, Horseneck.
At length, after the war had continued two years, both Dutch
and Indians became weary of the contest. At this time, the Mohawks stepped
In, and claimed sovereignty over all the tribes in the neighborhood of
Manhattan, and through their influence, these tribes made peace with the
Dutch in 1645. Such was the joy diffused through the colony at this event,
that a general Thanksgiving was observed.
Kieft, the author of much of the blood which had been shed,
had infamy is attached to his life. His conduct was reprobated both at home
and abroad. Deprived of his office, he left, some time after, for Europe, in
a richly-laden ship; but before reaching his destination, his vessel was
engulfed in the briny waters, and the guilty Kieft perished:
The fourth and last governor of New Netherlands was Peter
Stuyvesant, who succeeded Kieft in 1647. He was a brave officer, who had
served as viceroy in one of the West India Islands; a scholar of some
learning, and an honest man. His policy toward the Indians was marked by
kindness; in consequence of which, a more peaceable disposition prevailed
among them.
But the controversy of the Dutch with other parties still
continued. In 1650, Stuyvesant went to Hartford, to demand a full surrender
of the lands on the Connecticut River. After several days spent in
controversy, it was agreed that Long Island should be divided: the Dutch
claims to extend to Oyster Bay, thirty miles east of the city; and on the
mainland as far as Greenwich, near the present boundary between the States
of New York and Connecticut. The Dutch were compelled to relinquish the
lands on the Connecticut River, excepting those of which they then held
actual possession; and these were some time after isolated.
On the Delaware River, the Swedes made strenuous efforts to
maintain their power; but in 1655 Stuyvesant sailed, with six hundred men,
for their reduction, and in this enterprise he was successful. The Swedish
power was annihilated. Some of the colonists, with their governor, Rising,
returned to Europe; others removed to Maryland and
Virginia. The rest,
taking an oath of allegiance to Holland, continued on their lands, under
Dutch rule.
In 1663, a sudden eruption was made by the Indians upon the
village of' Esopus, now Kingston, ninety miles above New York on the Hudson.
Sixty-five of the inhabitants were either killed or made captives. But the
Indians suffered greatly in return, by means of a force sent up from New
Amsterdam, which laid waste to their fields, and killed many of their
warriors. In December, a truce was proclaimed, and the captives taken by the
Indians were released. In the following May, a treated of peace was
concluded.
But the government of the Dutch over New Netherlands was now drawing to a
close. The English had never ceased to regard the territory as belonging to
them, by virtue of its discovery by Hudson, as an Englishman, but still more
on the ground of the first discovery of the continent, by Cabot. In 1664,
therefore, Charles II, King of England, disregarding all other claims, made
a grant, to his brother James, then Duke of York, to the whole territory
from the Connecticut River to the Delaware River, including, therefore,
besides a part of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.
The duke was not slow to assert his claim. He fitted out a squadron,
consisting of four frigates and three hundred men, under command of Sir
Robert Nichols, who immediately sailed for New Amsterdam. On entering the
harbor, Stuyvesant addressed him a letter, desiring to know the reason of
his approach. To this Nichols replied, the next day, by a summons to
surrender. Stuyvesant, determining on a defense, refused to surrender; but,
at length, finding himself without the means of resistance, and that many of
the people were desirous of passing under the jurisdiction of the English,
he surrendered the government into the hands of Colonel Nichols, who
promised to secure to the governor and inhabitants their liberties and
estates, with all the privileges of English subjects.
The jurisdiction of the territory having thus passed into the hands of
the English, New Amsterdam was changed to New York, and Fort Orange received
the name of Albany. About the same time, the Swedes, on Delaware Bay and
River, capitulated to Sir Robert Carr, an associate of Nichols; thus
completing the subjection of New Netherlands to the British crown. Long
Island, notwithstanding that it had been long before granted to the Earl of
Sterling, the duke purchased; and it became and since continued, part of New
York.
Colonel Nichols now assumed the government, in the name of the Duke of
York, and continued in office for a little more than three years. His
administration was marked by moderation, yet the people were allowed no
representation, but he himself exercised both legislative and executive
power. Contrary to all right, however, the titles to lands held by the Dutch
they were compelled to renew at exorbitant charges, which went to the profit
of the governor.
Nichols resigned to Governor Lovelace in 1667, whoso administration
corresponded, in its essential features, to that of his predecessor; but a
remonstrance of the people to taxation without representation he ordered to
be dealt with by the common hangman.
In 1672, during the administration of Lovelace, war was declared by
England against Holland; upon which, in the following year, a small Dutch
squadron was sent against New York. Lovelace being absent at the time of its
arrival, August 9th, the city was surrendered, by Captain Manning, without
firing a gun, or otherwise attempting to defend the place. For this he was
tried, condemned, and cashiered. Peace was restored in February of the
following year; and in early November, New York, to which the old title of
New Netherlands had been once more given, was again restored to the English,
as were New Jersey and Delaware, which had submitted temporarily to Dutch
rule.
To remove all controversy respecting his title to the lands granted him
while they were in possession of the Dutch, the Duke of York took out a new
patent, and appointed Sir Edmund Andros governor, who entered upon this
position in October 1674. But his administration was arbitrary and severe.
He admitted the people to no share in legislation, but ruled them by laws to
which they had never given their assent.
Connecticut also experienced the weight of his oppression and despotism.
The part of her territory west of the Connecticut River, although long
before granted to the colony of Connecticut, was included in the grant to
the Duke of York. By virtue of this grant, Andros now claimed jurisdiction
over the territory, and in July 1675, made an attempt with an armed force,
to take possession of Saybrook Fort. The Governor and Council of
Connecticut, having notice of his design, dispatched Captain Bull to defend
the fort. On the arrival of Andros at the mouth of the river with a show of
force, he invited Captain Bull to a conference. This was granted; but no
sooner had he landed, than he attempted to read his commission and the
duke's patent. Captain Bull firmly and positively forbid this; and Sir
Edmund, finding the colony determined, in all events, not to submit to his
government, relinquished his design, and sailed away for Long Island
During the year 1682, an important change was effected in respect to the
"Territories," as the present State of Delaware was then called—namely, a
transfer of them, by the Duke of York to William Penn, from which time,
until the American Revolution, they remained attached to Pennsylvania, or
were under her jurisdiction.
On the return of Andros to England, Colonel Thomas Dongan, who, as well
as the duke, was a Roman Catholic, was appointed governor, and arrived in
the colony in 1683, with instructions to call an assembly, to consist of a
council of ten, and of eighteen representatives, elected by the freeholders.
On the accession of the Duke of York to the throne, under the title of James
II, he refused to confirm to the people the privileges granted them while he
was duke. No assembly was permitted to be convened, printing presses were
prohibited, and the more important provincial offices were conferred on
Catholics.
In 1688, New York and New Jersey were added to the jurisdiction of New
England, and the arbitrary Andros was appointed captain-general of the
whole. At the same time, Dongan was removed, and Francis Nicholson, who had
been lieutenant governor under him, was appointed governor under Andros.
Such was the position of affairs in 1689, when news of the flight of
James II, and of the accession of William and Mary to the throne, had
arrived. Andros, as has been related, was seized in Boston and imprisoned.
This was joyful intelligence to the people of New York, who immediately rose
in open rebellion to the existing government.
Immediately upon this, one Jacob Leisler and forty-nine others seized the
fort at New York City, and held it for William and Mary. Nicholson and his
officers made what opposition they were able; but being overpowered, he, the
council and magistrates, of whom Colonel Bayard was at the head, retired to
Albany. While affairs were in this posture, a letter from Lords Carmathen
and Halifax had arrived, vesting Nicholson with the chief command. As
Nicholson had absconded, Leisler construed the letter as directed to
himself, and from that time assumed the title and authority of lieutenant
governor. The southern part of New York generally submitted to him; but
Albany refusing subjection. Milborn, his son-in-law, was sent to demand the
surrender of the fort; but failing, he returned without accomplishing his
object.
On March 29th 1691, Colonel Sloughter arrived at New York, in the
capacity of king's governor. Nicholson and Bayard, who had been imprisoned
by Leisler, were released. The latter now surrendered the fort, and, with
Milborn, his son-in-law, was apprehended, tried for high treason, and
condemned. Their immediate execution was urged by the people; but the
governor, fearful of consequences, chose to defer it. To effect their
purpose, an invitation was given him by the citizens to a sumptuous feast,
and while his reason was drowned by intoxication, a warrant for their
execution was presented to him. Before he recovered his senses, the
prisoners were no more. Such violent measures greatly agitated the existing
parties; but in the end, the revolution which had taken place restored the
rights of Englishmen to the colony. Governor Sloughter convoked an assembly,
which formed a constitution. This, among other provisions, secured trials by
jury; freedom from taxation, except by the consent of the assembly; and
toleration to all denominations of Christians, except Roman Catholics.
It may be added, that the civil history of New York, from this period to
the French War, presents few events of special interest. In general, for the
next fifty years, the governors of New York were strongly attached to the
interests of the crown, and were more solicitous to sub-serve their own
selfish purposes, than to advance the permanent welfare of the colony. Thus,
collisions frequently arose between them and the colonial assemblies, which
disturbed the general peace, and retarded the prosperity of the colony.
Return to American History Period
II
|
|
