VII. opposition, but in vain.' For the reduction of the latter, CHAP. the Guinea, the William and Nicholas, were placed with a body of troops under the command of Carr, who was 1664. instructed to offer the planters on the Delaware, whether Dutch or Swedes, on their quiet submission, the peaceable possession of their property, on the same terms as they had previously held it; also liberty of conscience and freedom of trade according to the acts of Parliament. The magistrates in office were not to be changed for six months, nor were the laws of the country to be altered for the present. If these terms were not accepted, the place was to be reduced by force, and Maryland was to be called on to assist if additional aid became necessary." On the appearance of this force, New Amstel hastened Oct. 10. to accept these terms, and a treaty was agreed to, embracing all the proffered privileges.' But however sacred its stipulations, the people were not afforded that protection which was so solemnly guarantied. The place was no sooner surrendered than Carr appropriated to himself the farm occupied by D'Hinoyossa, whilst his brother Capt. John Carr took possession of Sheriff Van Sweringen's, and Ensign Stock, of Peter Alrichs' land. "From the city of Amsterdam and the inhabitants thereabout were taken one hundred sheep, and thirty or forty horses, fifty or sixty cows and oxen, between sixty and seventy negroes, the brewhouse, stillhouse, and all the materials thereunto belonging; the produce of the land for that year, such as corn, hay &c., were seized for the King's use, together 1 "Colonel Cartwright's commission to goe to Fort Orange. These are to will and require you and every of you to bee ayding and assisting to Col. George Cartwright in the prosecution of his Majesty's interest against all such of what nation soever as shall oppose the peaceable surrender and quiet possession of the ffort Aurania, and to obey him the said Col. George Cartwright according to such instructions as I have given him in case the Mohawkes or other Indyans shall attempt anything against the lives, goods or chattells of those who are now under the protection and obedience of his Majesty of Great Brittaine; whereof you nor any of you are to fayle as you will answer the contrary at your utmost perills. Given under my hand and seale att ffort James in New Yorke on Manhatans Island, this 10th day of September, 1664. R. Nicolls. To the present Deputy Governor, the magistrates and inhabitants of ffort Aurania." Book of General Entries, 35. Book of General Entries, 58, 59. 3 Appendix N. BOOK with the cargo that was unsold and the bills of what had VI. been disposed of, all to the value, as near as can be remem1664. bered, of four thousand pounds sterling, not including arms and a great quantity of ammunition. . The Dutch soldiers were taken prisoners and given to the merchantman that was there in payment of his services, and they were transported into Virginia to be sold. . All sorts of tools for handicraft, tradesmen, and all plough gear and other things to cultivate the ground, which were in store in great quantity, were likewise seized together with a saw-mill ready to set up, and nine sea buoys with their iron chains." Even the inoffensive Mennonists-though thoroughly non-combatant from principle-did not escape the sack and plunder to which the whole river was subjected by Carr and his co-marauders. A boat was dispatched to their settlement, which was stripped of everything, "to a very naile."" Thus was fitly consummated an act of spoliation which, in a period of profound peace, wrested this province from its rightful owners, by means violating all public justice and infringing all public law. "In the history of the royal ingrates by whom it was planned, and for whose benefit it was perpetrated, there are," says the eloquent Butler, "few acts more base; none more characteristic." The only additional outrage that remained, was to impose on the country the name of one unknown in history, save as a bigot and tyrant-the enemy of religious and political freedom wherever he ruled. New Netherland was accordingly called NEW YORK.' Lond. Doc. ii., 95; iv., 178–180. This is corroborated by Stuyvesant, who says, (Hol. Doc. xi., 250, 231,) "At New Amstel on the South River, notwithstanding they offered no resistance, but demanded good treatment, which however they did not obtain, they were invaded, stript bare, plundered, and many of them sold as slaves in Virginia.” 2 Outline of the Constitution of the State of New York, by the Hon. B. F. Butler, 8vo., New York, 1848, p. 20. 3 It has been often proposed to alter this appellation, and the name "Niagara" has been suggested as thoroughly American, and typical, at the same time, of the great energies and commanding power of the State. CHAPTER VIII. Recapitulation-Immigration-Population-Trade-Duties-Domestic industry -Currency-Revenue-Provision for the poor-Schools-Reflections on Director Stuyvesant's administration and character-Review of the progress of popular liberty-Subsequent histories of Van der Donck-Jeremias van Rensselaer-Captain Scott-Baxter-Krygier and D'Hinoyossa-Conclusion. VIII. THE administration, the chief incidents of which have CHAP. been detailed, was one of trouble and anxiety. Discontents and broils were its sponsors; clamors and disaffec- 1664. tion its pall-bearers; whilst scarcely an hour of its existence was free from menace or danger from its neighbors, whether savage or civilized. Lacking those impulses which filled other colonies so rapidly, whatever advantages the Dutch province possessed from nature were seriously counterbalanced by the vicious system under which it was colonized, and the institutions under which it was governed, which would convert settlers into serfs, and by constant petty intermeddling, hamper their exertions and paralyze their energies. In no department were these baleful influences more palpable than in the settlement of the country. From the commencement of this administration to the close of 1652, not a single new bouwerie had been planted on the Manhattans.' Van der Donck and the Nine Men gave, in 1650, the most decided impulse to colonization, for they brought the country, known previously only to interested traders and commercial speculators, prominently before the public of Holland. Immigration, on a somewhat extensive scale, Immifollowed, but it was unfortunately interrupted by the break-gration. ing out of the war. On the re-establishment of peace, a renewed and more vigorous effort was made for its encouragement. Mechanics and farmers, "who could prove that they were able to earn a living in New Netherland," 1 Hol. Doc. vi., 227. VI. BOOK were allowed a free passage for themselves and families, whilst others were offered the same inducements on con1664. dition of serving in the colony as soldiers one year, after which period they were entitled to their discharge and a farm of land. In 1656 and 1663 a large body of Waldenses and other colonists, with some orphans, were sent to the South River by the city of Amsterdam; and a considerable number of Huguenots, originally from Rochelle, arrived in the country in the course of the latter year, in addition to those who, for similar reasons, had already emigrated from Savoy and settled on Staten Island.' vince; Popula- From these and natural causes the population of the tion of the pro- province quintupled in seventeen years. At the commencement of Stuyvesant's administration, the number of persons capable of bearing arms is stated to have been between two hundred and fifty and three hundred, in and around the capital. Including Rensselaers wyck, this would give a population of two thousand souls. In 1664, the number is estimated at "full ten thousand." New of New Amsterdam contained, in 1656, when first surveyed by dam. Capt. de Koninck, one hundred and twenty houses, and Amster one thousand souls. The former increased in 1660, when a map of the capital was made, to over three hundred and fifty,' whilst the population augmented, in 1664, to fifteen hundred. Of these, not quite two hundred and fifty were male adults; the balance, between twelve and thirteen hundred, consisted of women, and children below eighteen years of age. The same city now numbers four hundred 1 Alb. Rec. iv., 185, 187, 208, 245, et seq., 285. 374; viii., 145. 3 Hol. Doc. xi., 213. 4 Address of Burgomasters and Schepens to the Director and Council. 5 Alb. Rec. xviii., 138; Hol. Doc. xvi., 221. This map was sent to Holland by the Burgomasters and Schepens to be engraved; but it is now lost. A perspective view of New Amsterdam, sketched by Augustine Heermans in 1656, was added, which, having been also affixed to Van der Donck's map of the province, has come down to us. It will be found at the bottom of that map which accompanies this volume. 6 Farewell Address of the Burgomasters and Schepens to the West India Company, New Amst. Rec.; Hol. Doc. xii. 131. In April, 1665, a list of the rateable inhabitants of the city of New York was made out, from which it appears that there were two hundred and fifty-four householders, fifteen of whom were females. VIII. thousand. New York has doubled its population, on an CHAP average, every twenty-three years. Trade. Commerce was the great stimulus of population. Its 1664. regulation became, therefore, of major importance. In 1645-6, the damages incurred by the West India Company in Brazil, estimated at one hundred tons of gold, rendered measures necessary to retrieve its condition. The trade to that country was, therefore, opened in 1648 to residents of New Netherland, who were allowed to send their produce thither and return with slaves, the subsequent exportation of whom from the province was forbidden.' The monopoly of the carrying trade between Holland and this country, heretofore in the hands of the Amsterdam Chamber, was abolished in the same year, when, "for the first time," private ships were entered at Amsterdam and publicly advertised for New Netherland." Four years after, the province obtained the privilege of trading to the coast of Africa for slaves and other articles," and in 1659, of exporting its produce to France, Spain, Italy, and the Caribbean Islands. The markets of the world, save those of the East, were thus opened to New Netherland ships. From this regulation furs alone were excepted; these were to be sent exclusively to Amsterdam." By the tariff of 1638 the duties were fixed at ten per Duties. centum on imported and fifteen on exported goods. Some difference existed in favor of English colonial bottoms, which caused goods to be sent first to New England, and thence imported at a low rate into New Netherland. To obviate this, the duties on such goods were raised in 1651 to sixteen per cent., tobacco excepted, the eight per cent. duty on which was taken off. In 1654 the following rates were imposed in lieu of a provincial duty of one per cent. : Frieze, per ell, two st.; a frieze coat, eight st.; blankets, per dozen, four gl. (these were for the Indian market;) kettles, three gl. per hundred pounds; brandy, Spanish wine, and spirits, three gl. per anker; French wine, six gl. per hhd.; foreign beer, three gl. per tun, and salt twenty 1 Hol. Doc. iii., 235-256, 349-351. Alb. Rec. iv., 2, 64; x., 79. 2 Ibid. iv., 6. 3 Ibid. xxiv., 193. 4 Ibid. iv., 290, 291. |