USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V.1 > Part 5
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and suffer in this country what I please; I am my own master." *
* Remaining immovable, however, he three days afterward arbitrarily ordered "that on each barrel of beer tapped, an excise duty of two guilders should be paid-one-half by the brewer, and one-half by the publican." But those Burghers who did not retail it were to pay only one-half as much. On every quart of brandy and wine also, four stivers were to be paid, and on every beaver-skin one guilder. Besides the excise on the beer, the brewers were also required to make a return , of the quantity they brewed; but upon their sternly refusing to pay the unjust tribute, judgment was obtained against them, and their beer "given as a prize. to the soldiers."
STREET VIEW IN ANCIENT ALBANY.
But notwithstanding all the efforts to restrain illicit traffic, it still continued at Rensselaerswyck (Albany), where three or four thousand furs had been carried away by unlicensed traders. Van Rensselaer, "as the first and oldest " patroon on the river, resolved that no one should
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" presume to abuse " his acquired rights, and erected a fort on Beelen Island. A claim of " staple right" was set up, and Nicholas Koorn was appointed " Wacht-Meester," to levy a toll of five guilders upon all vessels passing by, except those of the West India Company, and to make them lower their colors to the merchant patroon's authority. This annoyance soon manifested itself, for while the Good Hope, a little yacht, Captain Loockermans, was passing down from Fort Orange to Manhattan, "a gun without ball " was fired from the new fort, and Koorn cried out, "Strike thy colors !" "For whom ?" demanded the cap- tain of the vessel. " For the staple right of Rensselaer !" was the reply. "I strike for nobody but the Prince of Orange, or those by whom I am employed !" retorted the testy Dutchman, as he slowly steered on. Several shots followed. "The first," according to the old account, "went through the sail, and broke the ropes and the ladder; a second shot passed over us; and the third, fired by a sav- age, perforated our princely colors, about a foot above the head of Loockermans, who kept the colors constantly in his hand."
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OLD DUTCH CHERCH AT ALBANY.
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For this daring act Koorn was forthwith called to answer before the Council at Fort Amsterdam, when he pleaded his patroon's authority. Van der Huyghens, the Schout-Fiscal (Sheriff ), also protested against "the law- less transactions" of the patroon's wacht-meester. Still, the patroon's agent tried to justify his course, "inasmuch as this step had been taken to keep the canker of free- traders off his colonies." Nevertheless, he was fined, and forbidden to repeat his offense.
. At length the pitiable condition of the New Nether- land colony attracted the attention of the Dutch Govern- ' ment. Its originators, as before mentioned, had become nearly, if not entirely, bankrupt. To use their own official words, " the long-looked-for profits thence " had never arrived, and they themselves had no means to relieve " the poor inhabitants who had left their Fatherland ;" accordingly, the bankrupt Company urged the "States- General " for a subsidy of 1,000,000 of guilders to place the Dutch province in good, prosperous, and profitable order.
That body directed an examination to be made into the affairs of New Netherland, and also into the propriety of restricting its internal trade to residents, with the policy of opening a free one between Brazil and Manhattan. Upon making this investigation, it was found that New Netherland, instead of becoming a source of commercial profit to the Company, had absolutely cost that body, from the year 1626 to 1644, " over 550,000 guilders, deducting returns received from there." Still, " the Company could not decently or consistently abandon it." The Director's salary, the report continues, should be 3,000 guilders, and the whole civil and military establishment of New Nether- land 20,000 guilders. As many African negroes, it thought, should be brought from Brazil as the patroons, farmers, and settlers " would be willing to pay for at a fair price." It would thus appear that our Duteh forefathers had some-
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thing to do with the slave trade, as well as the Eastern and Southern colonies. Free grants of land were to be offered to all emigrants on Manhattan Island; a trade allowed to Brazil and the fisheries; the manufacture and exportation of salt were to be encouraged, and the duties of the reve- nue officers "sharply attended to." Such was the business condition of New Netherland in the year 1645. The five previous years of Indian wars had hardly known five months of peace and prosperity. Kieft, perceiving his former errors, concluded a treaty of amity with the In- dians, August 30th, 1645. In two years, not less
than 1,600 savages had been killed at Manhattan 1645. and its neighborhood, and scarcely one hundred could be found besides traders.
The insufficient condition of the fort as a place of de- fense became the subject of serious consideration after this war, and the authorities in Holland, listening to the importunities of the colonists, gave directions for its im- provement, requiring, however, that the people should con- tribute, to some extent, towards the labor and expense involved. In 1647, the subject was discussed in the Council of the Director-General, and a resolu- 1647. tion was passed that the fort should be repaired with stone laid in mortar, " by which means alone," it was stated, " a lasting work could be made," inasmuch as the earth to be procured in the neighborhood was entirely unfit to make it stable with sods, unless it were annually renewed, nearly at the same expense; and, as this pro- ject required a considerable disbursement for labor in carrying the stone, etc., it was found expedient to consult the inhabitants, to learn the extent to which assistance would be afforded by them. In communicating their resolve to the people, the authorities referred to " this glorious work, which must increase the respect for the Govern- ment, as well as afford a safe retreat to the inhabitants in
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case of danger." The suggestion was, that every male inhabitant, between the ages of sixteen and sixty years, should devote, annually, twelve days' labor, or, in lieu thereof, contribute for each day two guilders (eighty cents). But the project was found too expensive for the means at hand, and the completion of the work with stone was abandoned for the time, the work being re- paired with earth as before. Nor does it appear that it was, as yet, protected by any inclosure from the inroads of the vagrant cattle, as the Director is found, from time to time, expostulating with the city authorities against 'permitting swine, goats, and other animals, to run at large in the town, from which great destruction to the works of the fortress ensued .*
Soon after the peace, in 1647, Kieft, having been re- called, embarked for Holland, carrying with him speci- mens of New Netherland minerals (gathered by the Raritan Indians in the Neversink Hills), and a fortune estimated by his enemies at 400.000 guilders. Dominie Bogardus and Van der Huygens, late Fiscal, were fellow- passengers in the richly-laden vessel. The ship, having been carelessly navigated into the English Channel, was wrecked upon the rugged coast of Wales, and went to pieces. Kieft, with eighty other persons, including Bo- gardus and the ex-Fiscal, were lost; only twenty were saved. Melyn, the patroon of Staten Island, floating on his back, landed on a sand-bank, and thence reached the main-land in safety.
* This matter came to be considered of so great importance, that, in 1656, Governor Stuyvesant again communicated with the Holland authorities respecting the improvement of the fort, and received from them a favorable response, stating that they had no objection to have the fort surrounded with a stone-wall, and were willing, in the ensuing spring, to send "a few good masons and carpenters to assist in the work," enjoining the Governor, in the meanwhile, to have the necessary materials prepared and in readiness when the mechanics should arrive .- Valentine's Manual.
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CHAPTER II.
On the 11th of May, 1647, Governor Stuyve- 1647. sant, a's " Redresser-General " of all the colonial abuses, arrived at Manhattan, to enter upon an adminis- tration which was to last until the end of the Dutch . power over New Netherland. Well might the new Governor write home that he "found the colony in a low condition." Disorder and discontent were every- where apparent, the public revenue was in arrears, and smuggling had nearly ruined legitimate trade. Such were the auspices-sufficiently gloomy-under which the last of the Dutch Governors entered upon his adminis- tration. Far from despairing, however, the sturdy Dutch- man put his shoulder at once to the wheel. Publicans were restrained from selling liquor before two o'clock on Sundays, "when there is no preaching," and after nine o'clock in the evening; to the savages none was to be sold. The revenue, greatly defrauded by smuggling furs into New England and Virginia for shipment to Eng- land, was henceforth to be guarded by stringent laws. The introduction of foreign merchandise by vessels run- ning past Fort Amsterdam during the night was also to be stopped; and all vessels were obliged to anchor under 'the guns of the fort, near the present Battery. For the purpose of replenishing the treasury, an excise duty was now, for the first time, levied on wines and liquors; the
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export duty on peltry was increased; the unpaid tenths from the impoverished farmers were called in, although a year's grace was allowed for payment, in consequence of losses by the Indian wars; and, in addition to all this, two of the Company's yachts, still further to increase the revenue, were sent on a cruise to the West Indies, to cap- ture, if possible, some of the richly-laden Spanish vessels returning to Spain.
Stuyvesant, also, seems to have been the first Gov- - ernor who took pride in improving the town itself. He found the infant city very unattractive, with half the houses in a dilapidated condition, cattle running at large, the public ways crooked, and the fences straggling in zig- zag fashion, many of them encroaching on the lines of the streets. All these evils he at once set about to remedy ; and one of his earliest acts was to appoint the first "Surveyors of Buildings," whose duties were .to regulate the erection of new houses in New Amsterdam.
The Dutch Company " now resolved to open to private persons the trade which it had exclusively carried on with New Netherland, the Virginia, the Swedish, English, and French colonies, or other places thereabout ;" and the new Director and Council were ordered to be vigilant in en- forcing all colonial custom-house regulations. All car- goes to New Netherland were to be examined, on arrival, by the custom-house officers, and all who were homeward- bound were to give bonds for the payment of duties in Holland. Nor was it long before Stuyvesant had an op- portunity of showing his zeal. The St. Benicio, an Am- sterdam ship, was found trading at New Haven without the license of the West India Company ; but the owners of the cargo applied for permission to trade at Manhattan, upon the payment of the proper duties. This permit obtained, Stuyvesant learned that the ship was about to sail directly to Virginia, without having paid duties,
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as well as without a manifest. The case having thus assumed an open violation of the colonial revenue laws, the Governor embarked a company of soldiers, who, sail- ing up the Sound, captured the smuggler in New Haven harbor. This bold act naturally produced a great sensa- tion ; and Eaton, the Governor of the New Haven colony, protested against Stuyvesant, as a disturber of the peace. In reply, Stuyvesant claimed all the region from Cape Henlopen. to Cape Cod as a part of New Netherland, with the right to levy duty upon all Dutch vessels trad- ing at New Haven. A sharp correspondence ensued be- tween the "State Right" parties, which resulted in the Dutch Governor issuing a proclamation, declaring, " If any person, noble or ignoble, freeman or slave, debtor or creditor -yea, to the lowest prisoner included, run away from New Haven, or seek refuge in our limits, he shall remain free, under our protection, on taking the oath of allegiance." The Dutch colonists, however, objected to this unwise measure as tending to change their province into a refuge for vagabonds from the neighboring English settle- ments, and the obnoxious proclamation was thereupon revoked.
About this period, 1648, it became necessary to regu- late the taverns, as about one-fourth part of the town of New Amsterdam had become houses for 1648. the sale of brandy, tobacco, or beer. No new taverns, it was ordained, should be licensed, except by the unani- mous consent of the Director and his Council; and those established might continue four years longer, if their owners would abstain from selling to the savages, report all brawls; and occupy decent houses-" to adorn the town of New Amsterdam." Notwithstanding, however, all these precautions, the Indians were daily seen "run- ning about drunk through the Manhattans." New York, now the metropolitan city, witnesses every day and
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night crowds of such drunken savages in her streets; and' it would almost seem that our wise legislators have not wisdom or strength enough to frame laws to subdue or prevent this great public evil. Finally, at New Amster- dam, in addition to all the former penalties, offenders against the temperance laws were "to be arbitrarily punished without any dissimulation."
In the year 1648, no person was allowed to carry on business, except he was a permanent resident and had taken the oath of allegiance, was worth from two thou- sand to three thousand guilders at least, and intended to " keep fire and light in the province." This was an early expression of permanent residence in the Dutch province. Old residents, however, not possessing the full trading qualifications, were allowed the same privi- lege, provided they remained in the province, and used only the weights and measures of " Old Amsterdam, to which we owe our name." Scotch merchants and ped- dlers were not forgotten in these business arrangements, for it was also ordained that "all Scotch merchants and small dealers, who come over from their own country with the intention of trading here," should " not be per- mitted to carry on any trade in the land" until they had resided there three years. They were also required to build a " decent, habitable tenement" one year after their arrival. Every Monday was to be a market-day, and, in imitation of Fatherland, an annual " keemis," or fair, for ten days, was established, commencing on Monday after St. Bartholomew's Day, at which all persons could sell goods from their tents. The trade on the North and the South River was reserved for citizens having the re- quisite qualifications. It was declared, however, that the East River should be "free and open to any one, no. matter to what nation he may belong.". All vessels under fifty tons were to anchor between the Capsey
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" Hoeck" (which divided the East and North Rivers) and the " Hand," or guide-board, near the present Battery. No freight was to be landed, nor any boats to leave the vessels, from sunset to sunrise. Those regulations were strictly enforced, and the high custom or duties exacted from the colonists amounted to almost thirty per cent., " besides waste." "The avidity of the Director to con- fiscate," says an old account, " was a vulture, destroying the property of New Netherland, diverting its trade, and making the people discontented." This "bad report" spread among the English, north and south, and even reached the West India and Caribbean Islands. Boston traders declared that more than twenty-five vessels would every year reach Manhattan from those islands, "if the owners were not fearful of confiscation." Not a ship now dared come from those places. Difficulties constantly arising between the authorities of the Fatherland and New Netherland, the " Presiding Chamber " plainly perceived that they must make concessions, or lose all control over their distant colony. Accordingly, the "Commonalty of Manhattan" was informed that the Amsterdam Di- rectors had determined to abolish the export duty on tobacco, to reduce the price of the same, and to allow the colonists to purchase negroes from Africa-all this being designed to show their "good intentions." They also informed Governor Stuyvesant of their assent to a " burgher government " in Manhattan, which should ap- proach as nearly as possible to the custom of "the metropolis of Holland." At the time that the colonists had obtained this concession (1652) of the long- desired burgher government, New Amsterdam 1652. numbered a population of seven hundred or eight hun- dred souls.
At last, a naval war, long brewing, broke out between England and the United Provinces, and, without warning,
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Dutch ships were arrested in English ports, and the crews impressed. Martin Harpertsen Tromp commanded the Dutch fleet. His name has no prefix of ." Van," as many writers insist. Bancroft and Brodhead are among the few who have not adopted the common error. The Dutch Admiral was no more "Van Tromp" than the English was " Van Blake," or our brave American " Van Farra- gut." Tromp, in a few days, met the British fleet, under Admiral Blake, in Dover Straits, and a bloody but inde- cisive fight followed. Brilliant naval engagements ensued, ,in which Tromp and De Ruyter, with Blake and Ayscue, immortalized themselves. But the first year of hostili- ยท ties closing with a victory for the Dutch, Blake sought refuge for his vessels in the Thames River, when the Dutch commander placed a broom at his mast- head-an emblem or token that he had swept the British Channel free from British ships. These hos- tilities between Holland and England encouraged pirates and robbers to infest the shores of the East River, and perpetrate excesses on Long Island and the neighborhood of New Amsterdam. Several yachts were immediately commissioned to act against the pirates. A reward of one hundred thalers was offered for each of the outlaws, and a proclamation issued prohibiting all persons from har- boring them, under the penalty of banishment and the confiscation of their goods. Forces had even been col- lected to act against New Netherland, but the joyful in- telligence of peace sent them to dislodge the French from the coast of Maine; and thus, for ten years longer, the coveted Dutch-American province continued under the
1654. sway of Holland. The peace was published " in the ringing of bell" from the City Hall. and the 12th of August, 1654, appointed, piously by Stuyvesant, as a day of general thanksgiving.
During the same month, 1654, Le Moyne, a Jesuit
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father and missionary to the Indians, immortalized his name by a discovery which afterward formed one of the largest sources of wealth in our .State. Reaching the en- trance of a small lake, filled with salmon-trout and other fish, he tasted the water of a spring, which his Indian guides were afraid to drink, saying that there was a demon in it which rendered it offensive. But the Jesuit had dis- covered " a fountain of salt water," from which he actu- ally made salt as natural as that of the sea. Taking a sample, he descended the Oneida, passed over Ontario and the St Lawrence, and safely reached Quebec with the in- telligence of his wonderful discovery. To the State of New York it has been more valuable than a mine of silver or gold.
During the year 1654, the Swedish and the Casimir colonists on the Delaware took the Dutch fort on that river ; and soon after, Stuyvesant avenged himself by cap- turing the Golden Shark, a Swedish ship, bound to South River, which, by mistake, had entered Sandy Hook and anchored behind Staten Island. The captain, having dis- covered his error, sent a boat to Manhattan for a pilot, when the Governor ordered the crew to the guard-house, and dispatched soldiers to seize the vessel. The Shark's cargo was removed to the Company's magazine, until a reciprocal restitution should be made. The Swedish agent sent a long protest to Governor Stuyvesant, complaining of his conduct.
In the year 1656, there were in New Amsterdam one hundred and twenty houses and one thousand 1656. souls. A proclamation, issued at this time, forbade the removal of any corps in the town or colony, until the : Company's tithes had been paid. The authorities of Rens- selaerswick refusing to publish this notice, the tapsters were sent down to New Amsterdam, pleading that they acted under the orders of their feudal officers. This
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defense was overruled, and one person was fined two hundred pounds, and another, eight hundred guilders.
The cities of Holland, for a long time, had enjoyed cer- tain municipal privileges called " great" and " small " burgher rights. In Amsterdam, all who paid five hundred guilders were enrolled " great burghers," and they monop- olized all the offices, and were also exempt from attainder and confiscation of goods. The "small burghers" paid fifty guilders for the honors, and had the freedom of trade only. This burghership became hereditary in Holland, and could pass by marriage, and be acquired by females as well as by males. Foreigners, after a year's probation, could also become burghers ; and the burghers were gen- erally the merchants and tradesmen. The various trades and professions formed separate associations, or "guilds," and their members were bound to assist each other in distress or danger. In Fatherland, each guild generally . inhabited a separate quarter of the town, was organized as a military company, and fought under its own stand- ard, having its own "dekken," or dean.
In the year 1657, "in conformity to the laudable cus- tom of the city of Amsterdam in Europe," this great burgher right was introduced into New Amsterdam. 1657.
This was an absurd imitation of an invidious policy, and the mother city herself was soon obliged to abandon it, notwithstanding Governor Stuyvesant attempted to establish in New Amsterdam this most offensive of all distinctions-an aristocracy founded on a class, or mere wealth.
In Mr. Paulding's " Affairs and Men of New Amster- dam in the Time of Governor Peter Stuyvesant," there is a list of the recorded GREAT CITIZENSHIP, in the year 1657. As a rare matter of the olden time, it is here given entire : * Joh. La Montagne, Junior ; Jan Gillesen Van Burggh, Hendricksen Kip, De Heere General Stuyvesant, Domine
57(Rideont) HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY. Megapolensis, Jacob Gerritsen Strycker, Jan Virge, The wife of Cornelis Van Tienhoven, Hendrick Van Dyck, Kip Hendrick, Junior ; Captain Martin Krigier, Karl Van Burggh, Jacob Van Couwenhoven, Laurisen Cornelisen, Van Wyek, Johannes Pietersen, Van Burggh, Cornelis Steen- wyck, Wilb. Bogardus, Daniel Litschoe, Pieter Van Cou- wenhoven." These twenty names composed the aristoc- racy of New York two hundred and thirteen years ago, - when umbrellas and carriages were unknown.
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We have also before us the names of the "small" citi- zenship, which number two hundred and sixteen: In a few short years it was found that this division of the citi- zens into two classes produced great inconvenience, in consequence of the very small number of great burghers who were eligible to office. It became necessary for the Government to change this unpopular order. The heavy fee to obtain it frightened most foreigners, so that it was purchased but once during a period of sixteen years. In the year 1668, the difference between " great" and "small" burghers was abolished, when every burgher be- came legally entitled to all burgher privileges.
During the year 1659, it was discovered that the Dutch colony had as yet produced no returns, and was already seven thousand guilders in arrears. It was there- fore determined that, to prevent further loss, such 1659.
colonists only as had left Holland before December, 1658, should be supplied with provisions. Goods were to be sold only for cash, and exemptions from tithes and taxes were to cease several years before the original stipulated period, and merchandise thereafter was to be consigned to the city of Amsterdam exclusively. The colonists remon- : strated against this new restriction of trade, which had the appearance of gross slavery, and of fettering the free pros- peets of a worthy people. This remonstrance was well
. timed, and the City Council consented that all the traders
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