USA > New York > History of the state of New York Vol I > Part 16
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against the Dutch oc- cupation of
Complaints Avarice and self-interest."rarely right" adjust the "wa- vering balance ;" and the ethics of corporations are pro- New Neth- verbially convenient and pliable. The policy of the Plym- erland. outh Company was, from the first, grasping and arrogant. Finding the king on their side, they determined to main- tain the exclusive privileges which they had won from the crown. A formal complaint was, therefore, presented by the Earl of Arundel, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Sir Samuel Argall, the superseded governor of Virginia, and Captain John Mason, against the " Dutch intruders" into New Netherland. Three days before the dissolution of Parlia- ment, James accordingly directed the lords of his council to instruct Sir Dudley Carleton, the British ambassador at the Hague, to bring the subject to the special notice of Letter of Privy Council to the British ambassa- dor at the Hague. 15 Dec. the States General. The council at once addressed a dis- patch to Carleton, in which the English government, for the first time, distinctly asserted the unlawfulness of the Dutch occupation of New Netherland. "Whereas," said their lordships, " his majesty's subjects have many years since taken possession of the whole precinct, and inhabited some parts of the north of Virginia (by us called New En- gland), of all which countries his majesty hath, in like man- ner, some years since, by patent, granted the quiet and full possession unto particular persons ; nevertheless, we under- stand that, the year past, t the Hollanders have entered upon some part thereof, and have left a colony, and given new names to the several ports appertaining to that part of the country, and are now in readiness to send for their supply
* Letter of Captain John Mason, in Lond. Doc., i., 47, and in "N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 16, 17 ; Gorges, in iii. Mass, Hist. Coll., vi., 72.
t This allegation certainly does not support Plantagenet's story of Argall's visit to Man- hattan in 1613. If Argall had actually been there that year, and found " a pretended Dutch governor," &c., &c., he would hardly have joined in a representation to the king, in the autumn of 1621, which alleged that the Hollanders had settled themselves there only "the year past," that is, in 1620; see Appendix, Note E.
141
JAMES. LAYS CLAIM TO NEW NETHERLAND.
six or eight ships .; whereof his majesty being advertised, CHAP. V. we have received his royal commandment to signify his pleasure. that you should represent these things to the 1621. States General in, his majesty's name (who, jure primæ occupationis, hath good and sufficient title to those parts), and require of them that as well those ships as their further prosecution of that plantation may be presently stayed."*
But the Plymouth Company, in their overreaching zeal, betrayed the Privy Council into serious errors in this im- English portant. state paper. After the failure of the Sagadahoc claim. colony, we have seen that no English subjects inhabited any part of the deserted territory north of Virginia, until the arrival of the Mayflower at Cape Cod. The interme- diate region, between that Cape and the Chesapeake, was unexplored by the English, and was almost unknown to them, until Dermer sailed through Long Island Sound in 1619. Yet, in contradiction to Dermer's statements, that ' the Dutch were quietly " settled" at Manhattan in the spring of 1620, and that they had " had a trade in Hud- son's River some years before that time," the Plymouth Company induced the Privy Council of England to affirm, at the close of 1621, that the Hollanders had "entered" into occupation there only "the year past."
Carleton, on the receipt of the Privy Council's dispatch, 1622. proceeded to make inquiries on the subject, before he January. brought it to the notice of the States General. All he Result of learned was, that about four or five years previously, two inquiries in Carleton's " particular companies of Amsterdam merchants" had be- Holland. gun a trade to America, between the fortieth and forty- fifth degrees of north latitude, to which regions they had, "after their manner," given the names of New Nether- land, North and South Sea, Texel, Vlieland, and the like, and had ever since continued to send there vessels of six- ty or eighty tons burden, at most, to fetch furs, which was " all their trade." For this purpose, they had kept " factors there, continually resident," to trade with the savages. But Carleton could not learn that any colony
* London Doc., i., 17, 47 ; N, Y. Col. MSS., iii,, 6, 16, 17 ; Hubbard, 226.
Fallacious- n'ess of the
1
142
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. V. had as yet been planted there by the Dutch, or was " so much as intended."*
1622. Carleton's audience with the States Gen- eral. 9 Feb.
Fortified with this partial information, the ambassador asked an audience of the States General, and presented a written memorial, in which he claimed that the " tran- quil and plenary possession" of the whole country north of Virginia was vested, by patent, " in several private per- sons," subjects of the King of England, whose title, " by right of first occupation," he boldly affirmed was " not to be contradicted." And, in the name of the king, he per- emptorily demanded that the States General should not only arrest the ships already equipped for voyages to the Dutch plantation, but should also expressly prohibit any further prosecution of the enterprise.t
9 Feb.
16 March.
27 April.
Result of Carleton's interfer- ence.
2 April.
When Carleton's memorial was read in the meeting of the States General, the deputies from the Province of Hol- land, professing to be ignorant of the circumstances, re- quested that it might be referred to them. But no report came from the Holland delegation. A month afterward, the ambassador having asked definite action, the States General directed Burgomaster Pauw, one of their mem- bers, to write to the " participants in the trade to New Netherland" for information. Carleton continuing to press the States for a decisive answer, they resolved that in- quiries should be made " for what had been printed at Amsterdam on this subject." Here the whole question seems to have ended. The States General, engrossed with warlike preparations against Spain, knew little about New Netherland ; which, besides, was now placed under the exclusive jurisdiction of the West India Company. It does not appear that any answer was ever returned to the British government, either through Carleton, or through Caron, the Dutch ambassador at London. Captain John 1632. Mason, it is true, in writing to Secretary Coke, ten years afterward, asserted that Caron had disclaimed, on the part of the States General, " any such act that was done
* London Doc., i., 19; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 7.
+ London Doc., i., 22 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 8.
143
THE BRITISH CLAIM TO NEW NETHERLAND INVALID.
by their people with their authority." But nothing to CHAP. V. that effect has been found after recent diligent searches, both in the Archives at the Hague and in the State Paper 1622. Office at London .*
With respect to the, claim of sovereignty over New Futility of Netherland, which James directed his ambassador to as- claim. the British sert so boldly, it is remarkable that the Parliament of En- 1621. gland, somewhat earlier in the same year, insisted that " occupancy confers a good title by the law of nations and Nature ;"' and upon this principle the right of Spain, un- der the gift of Pope Alexander VI. was again denied, be- cause, if admitted, it would have defeated the English title to Virginia and Bermuda. In this the Parliament only reaffirmed the position taken by Queen Elizabeth in 1580, when she refused to recognize the Spanish claim, and insisted that "prescription without possession is of no avail."# Under this rule, thus formally confirmed, it is clear that the " prescription" of England, by reason of Ca- bot's voyage, was entirely annulled, so far as regards those parts of North America which were not actually possessed . or occupied by English subjects.
The British right to Virginia and Bermuda was, nev- Law of na- ertheless, readily admitted by other European nations ; specting tions re- among which it had become the established law, that oc- and posses. discoveries cupation is the "primary mode of acquiring a title to sions. unowned territory."§ This law was recognized and acted upon by France with respect to Canada, and by Holland with respect to New Netherland. The title of England to Virginia was never questioned by the Dutch; their government had distinctly admitted it in 1608 and 1610.Il In the original trading charter granted by the States Gen- eral in 1614, the regions which the Dutch had first ex- plored, and named New Netherland, were unambiguously
* Hol. Doc., i., 117, 119 ; Lond. Doc., i., 31, 47 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 11, 16 ; Gorges, in Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi., 72 ; Address before N. Y. H. S., 1844, p. 25, 26.
t Chalmers, 6 ; Parl. Debates, 1620-1, p. 250.
# Ante, p. 4.
§ Grotius, ii., 2. "Primus acquirendi modus qui juris gentium a Romanis dicitur, est occupatio eorum que nullius sunt." Chalmers, 6, however, states the law to be, "that the countries which each should explore shall be deemed the absolute property of the dis- coverer."
- Il Hol, Doc., i., 5, 6, 35, 38 ; Winwood's Mem., iii., 239
144
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
The Dutch title to New complete.
CHAP. V. declared to be between Virginia on the south and Canada on the north. The actual occupation of the coasts of 1621. Maine by the English as early as 1607-though it was soon discontinued for several years-gave England a suf- ficient title to that quarter ; and the Hollanders never at- tempted to interfere with the British claim to the territo- ry north of Cape Cod. But with respect to the regions between that Cape and Virginia, which they had them- selves so thoroughly explored before any other Europeans, the Dutch insisted upon the validity of their own rights. Netherland When the Amsterdam Company built their Fort Nassau on the North River in 1614, it is quite certain that there had been no English "occupancy" of any portion of New Neth- erland south of Cape Cod, so as to confer a title according to the opinions of Queen Elizabeth and of Parliament. The English, in fact, until Dermer's voyage, were entirely ig- norant even of the geography of that part of the coast. Holland vessels alone had explored it; Hollanders alone had occupied it. By British law, and by the law of na- tions, the Dutch title to New Netherland was complete. The New England patent of King James, so far as it in- v.terfered with the rights of the Dutch, might, therefore, according to the judgment of Queen Elizabeth, and of the Parliament of Great Britain itself, be at least as fairly de- rided, as was the Pontiff's earlier grant to the Spaniards:
1622. Proclama- tion against irregular traders to New En- gland.
The Plymouth Company, however, if they did not suc- ceed in obtaining from the States General a renunciation of the right of the Dutch to New Netherland, had influence enough to procure from King James a further measure of protection against the acts of British subjects. Complaints were made to the crown that " sundrie interlopers" into New England had committed "intolerable abuses," inter- fered with " some of the planters there," "ruined whole woods," traded promiscuously with the savages, supplied them with fire-arms, and overthrown the trade and com- merce, which were " the principal hopes for the advance- ment of that plantation, next unto the commodities that 23 October. coast affords for fishing." An order in council was prompt,
-- -- --
145
DUTCH TRADERS IN LONG ISLAND SOUND.
ly made for the issuing of a royal proclamation against ir- CHAP. V. regular traders to New England. A few days afterward, the king accordingly proclaimed and commanded that 1622. 6 Nov. nóne of his subjects whatsoever, "not adventurers, inhab- 18 iters, or planters in New England, presume from hence- forth to frequent those coasts, to trade or traffic with those people, or to intermeddle in the woods or freehold of any of the planters or inhabitants," except by the license of the Plymouth Company, or according to the orders of the Privy Council .*
Meanwhile, the Amsterdam ships had been quietly pur- Special suing their voyages to New Netherland, under the special New Neth- voyages to licenses of the Dutch government ; and some of them de- erland. layed their return to Holland so long, that their owners were obliged to ask of the States General an extension of 18 June. the time limited for their arrival home.t The trade in Peltry trade peltry was industriously prosecuted, not only on the North Dutch in of the and South Rivers, but on the " Fresh" or Connecticut Riv- sett Bay. Narragan- er; and Dutch shallops constantly visited the shores of Long Island Sound, and trafficked with the native Indian tribes as far east as Narragansett and Buzzard's Bays. Their favorite resort was Manomet, at the head of Buz- zard's Bay, and within about twenty miles of the recent Puritan settlement at New Plymouth.# But the pioneers of New England, occupied with the pressing cares of their infant colony, were not yet prepared to interfere with the lucrative trade which their more ancient neighbors in New Netherland were now carrying on, almost at their very doors. With the native tribes the Dutch generally culti- Relations vated the most amicable relations. The treaty made on dians. with the In- the banks of the Tawasentha continued to be faithfully observed with the Mohawks, the Mahicans, and the North River Indians, who were the immediate neighbors and al- lies of the Dutch. At Esopus, a large traffic was main- tained with boats and shallops. But the more distant tribes were treated with less consideration. Jacob Eel-
* Lond. Doc., i., 32 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 11 ; Rymer Federa, xvii., 416 ; Morton's Memorial, 98 ; Prince's Annals, 218. + Hol. Doc., i., 120. # Prince, 208.
K
146
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
1622. Eelkens's base con- duct.
CHAP. V. kens, who had remained in superintendence of the trade near Castle Island, made frequent visits to the eastern coasts and rivers of New Netherland ; and in the summer of 1622, having ascended the Connecticut to traffic with the Sequins, near the present town of Wethersfield, he treacherously imprisoned their chief on board his yacht, and would not release him until a ransom of one hundred and forty fathoms of wampum had been exacted. This outrage naturally alienated the eastern Indians; and the Sequin chief, refused to have any more dealings with the treacherous Eelkens, who was soon afterward discharged by his offended superiors from the post he had dishonored .*
January.
Walloons in Holland. The Fatherland was now preparing to send permanent emigrants to subdue the wilderness of New Netherland. Early in this year, while Carleton was engaged in obtain- ing the preliminary information which he desired before presenting his memorial to the States General, he had been applied to by some families of Walloons, settled at Amsterdam, for permission to emigrate to Virginia and establish a colony, to be governed by magistrates of their own election.t These Walloons, whose name was de- rived from their original " Waalsche," or French extrac- tion,# had passed through the fire of persecution. They inhabited the Southern Belgic Provinces of Hainault, Na- mur, Luxemburg, Limburg, and part of the ancient Bish- opric of Liege; and spoke the old French language. When the northern provinces of the Netherlands formed their po- litical union at Utrecht in 1579, the southern provinces, which were generally attached to the Roman Church, de- clined joining the Confederation. Many of their inhabit- ants, nevertheless, professed the principles of the Reforma- tion. Against these Protestant Walloons the Spanish gov- ernment exercised the most rigid measures of inquisitorial vengeance; and the subjects of an unrelenting persecution
* Wassenaar, xii., 39 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 45 ; De Vries, 113.
+ Lond. Doc., i., 24; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 9, 10.
# " Bordering on France, and speaking the French language, they were termed Gallois, which was changed, in Low Dutch, into Waalsche, and in English into Walloon." -- Rev. Dr. De Witt, in N. Y. H. S. Proc., 1848, p. 75.
147
THE WALLOONS IN HOLLAND.
emigrated by thousands into Holland, where they knew CHAP. V. that strangers of every race and creed were sure of an asylum and a welcome. Carrying with them a knowl- 1622. edge of the arts, in which they were great proficients, they were distinguished in their new home for their taste- ful and persevering industry. To the Walloons the Dutch were probably indebted for much of the repute which they gained as a nation in many branches of manufactures .* Finding in Holland a free scope for the enjoyment of their religious opinions, the Walloons soon introduced the pub- lic use of their church service, which, to this day, bears witness to the characteristic toleration and liberality of the Fatherland. By degrees, the fame of the New World Walloons reached the ears of the artisans of Amsterdam ; and some cense to go apply for li- of the Belgian refugees applied to Carleton for formal en- to Virginia. couragement to emigrate to Virginia. The ambassador, having no powers to make arrangements with them, com- municated their application to the king, by whom it was ordered to be referred to the Virginia Company. But the conditions which the company offered did not appear to Are not en- have been satisfactory to the Walloons ; and the abortive couraged. negotiation ended.t Thus Virginia lost the advantage of having an ingenious, brave, and industrious race added to her, perhaps, too homogeneous population.
What Virginia lost New Netherland gained. Cosmo- politan Amsterdam was to impress its character upon cos- mopolitan Manhattan. In the New World, a metropolis soon arose, giving a home to emigrants from all climes and of all races ; and where the lavish gifts of beneficent nature are enjoyed in common by the multifarious, enter- prising, and prosperous inhabitants who crowd its busy streets. The city which Amsterdam originated can never forget the magnanimous policy and liberal example of its sagacious founder.
The Provincial States of Holland, ascertaining that sev- The States eral families of Walloons had applied to Carleton for per- favor the of Holland mission to emigrate to Virginia, thought that "they should 20 April. Walloons.
McCullagh, ii., 267.
+ London Doc., i., 29 ; N. Y, Col. MSS., iii., 10.
148
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
21 April.
CHAP. V. rather be secured for the West India Company ;" and the 1622. subject was referred to the directors of that corporation, to consider "what could be therein done for their service." The directors promptly reported that the emigration of these Walloons would be "very advantageous" to the company ; and that immediate measures should be taken to secure them, and to give them employment, until the company should be formally organized, and be able to send them out as' colonists. The views of the directors were approved by the Provincial States, and the attention of the magistracy of Amsterdam was officially directed to the subject .*
1623. 21 June. Final or- ganization of the West India Com- pany.
At length, after two years of preliminary preparation, the West India Company obtained the assent of the States General to its articles of internal government, in June, 1623, and began to prosecute with energy the objects of its incorporation. The same month, three pioneer ships, the Orange Tree, the Eagle, and the Love, were dispatched to the West Indies, " to maintain the course of traffic, and in the hope of realizing their first returns."t
New Neth- erland made a province.
The colonization of New Netherland, however, became the first care of the company. That somewhat indefinite territory was formally erected into a Province, and "hon- ored" by the States General with a grant of the armorial distinction of a count.# As soon as the stock of the com- pany was secured, and the several boards of directors were chosen, the College of the XIX. assigned the particular management of the affairs of the province to the Chamber at Amsterdam. Among the prominent members of that chamber were Jonas Witsen,} one of the grantees of the original trading charter of 1614, Hendrick Hamel, Samuel Godyn, Samuel Blommaert, John de Laet, the historian, Kiliaen van Rensselaer, Michael Pauw, and Peter Evert-
Assigned to the care of the Am- sterdam Chamber.
* Hol. Doc., i., 118; Res. Hol. and West Friesland ; Muilkerk, Bydragen, B. 11.
+ De Laet, Jaerlyck Verhael ; Hazard, i., 174-178; Wassenaar, v., 91.
# Hol. Doc., iv., 39. The Provincial seal of New Netherland was a shield bearing a beaver, proper, surmounted by a count's coronet, and encircled by the words " Sigillum Novi Belgii."
§ Jonas Witsen died at Amsterdam in October, 1626 : Garret Jacobsen Witsen died in January of the same year .- Wassenaar, x., 116.
THE WEST INDIA COMPANY POSSESS NEW NETHERLAND. 149
sen Hulft, whose names are identified with the first Eu- CHAP. V. ropean possession of the five states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut .* 1622.
Aware of the jealousy of the English government, the The West India Com-
West India Company did not delay arrangements to se- pany takes cure their title to New Netherland by more extended act- of New possession ual occupation. "By virtue of their charter," and before land. Nether- their final organization, they "took possession of the coun- try" in the year 1622 ;t and trading vessels were prompt- ly sent out, bearing instructions to the officers at Manhat- tan, and on the North River. The voyages of the Dutch ships, at this time, generally occupied about seven or eight weeks. On clearing the channel, they laid their course Circuitous for the Canary Islands ; whence they stretched across the the Dutch Atlantic toward Guiana and the Carribees, and then ran ships. obliquely toward the northwest, between the Bahamas and the Bermudas, until they made the coasts of Virginia.# By steering this circuitous southern course, they avoided the severe gales of the North Atlantic, and had the oppor- tunity of refitting, when it was necessary. But their voy- ages were sometimes protracted by the temptation to lin- ger at anchor ; and the yacht Mackarel, which sailed from the Texel in June, consumed so much time among the 16 June. Carribee Islands in unsuccessful fishing, that she did not arrive at Manhattan until the middle of December, which 12 Dec. was " somewhat late," remarks the quaint chronicler.§
voyages of
The situation of the redoubt on the Tawasentha proving A new forf inconvenient, arrangements were now made to build, on on the projected the west bank of the river, a few miles further north, a er. North Riv- larger and more permanent fortification, "with four an- gles," and to be named "Fort Orange," in honor of the stadtholder. At the same time, preparations were made for the permanent occupation of the genial valley of the South River ; and by order of the Amsterdam Chamber,
* Moulton, 369 ; De Laet, Jaerlyck Verhael. + Hol. Doc., ii., 370.
# Wassenaar, vi., 144. Guiana was frequently called by the Dutch " de Wilde Custe," and the Carribees " de Wilde Eylanden."-De Vries, Voyages, p. 120, 137 ; Otto Keye's Kurtzer Entwurff, &c.
6 Wassenaar, vii., 11; De Laet, App., 3 ; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 36.
150
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
1622. A fort on the South River also projected.
CHAP. V. some of the traders from Manhattan selected a position on its east bank, at a spot which the natives called "Te- kaacho." It was near the present town of Gloucester, in New Jersey, at the mouth of the Timmer Kill, or Timber Creek, then called " Sassackon." Here, among the rem- nants of the once formidable Lenni-Lenape tribes, a few Dutch traders projected the first European fort on the shores of the Delaware .*
1623. First per- ricultural coloniza- tion of New Nether- land. The spring of the year 1623 was the era of the first per- manent ag- manent agricultural colonization of New Netherland, un- der the authority of the West India Company. Anxious to commence their colony with willing and active emi- grants, the Amsterdam Chamber equipped the " New Neth- erland," a ship of two hundred and sixty tons burden, and embarked on board of it a company of thirty families. The greater part of these colonists were Walloons, who, dis- appointed in their first application to Carleton, now emi- grated to America under the auspices of the West India Company. The superintendence of the expedition was intrusted to the experienced Cornelis Jacobsen May, of Hoorn, who was to remain in New Netherland as the First ris superin- Director of the colony; while Adriaen Joris, of Thienpoint, went out as second in command.t
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