Pieter Stuyvesant - Petition for religious freedom, Peter Stuyvesant compared to Donald Trump. This is not meant to get political, though. Just to share an interesting article with some interesting document photos

This is not meant to get political, though. Just to share an interesting article, with some interesting document photos, history and views.

http://www.amny.com/opinion/columnists/mark-chiusano/new-yorkers-fr...

MARK CHIUSANO's piece, although entertaining, is far from accurate. The history, religion, human rights story behind the fall of New Amsterdam is far more nuanced than this little squib reports...

1) New Netherland surrendered en masse facing a failed DWIC funding issue - after all , it was a pvt. corporation on the skids. An example being that it had just sold New Sweden to the City of Amsterdam...to try to staunch the bleeding. There was even adequate armament in the fort at the tip of Manhattan as a result of the DWIC's 'frugality'. Stuyvesant couldn't fight... he didn't have the soldiers or the arms... or the legs ;)

2) Stuyvesant showed more than one face: He even reaffirmed full freedoms for some blacks and people of mixed race... even beyond the company slaves. Follow the story of Captain Jan de Vries and his wife and son...

3) At the same time, the Director Pieter thought of himself as an emissary from God (!) ~ following the adage that 'all power corrupts'

I think it is hard for us in the 21st century to comprehend the issues of the 17th. It goes beyond the scope of comparisons of Peter Stuyvesant to a fascist clown who has no power base other than his own coffers.

3) As a minister's son, Peter reaffirmed the Dutch Reformed policy of acknowledging baptism, marriage, and burial rights to slaves. What would Trump do faced with such an issue?

4) New England's immigrant population was multi-faceted too... The Leiden group on the Mayflower have been shown to be quite differnt than the future witch hunters who settled later.. Then there's the Rhode Island story which also varies significantly from that of Massachusetts Colony.
The recent book: Strangers & Pilgrims, Travelers and Sojourners is worth a read on this particular subject.

Still, I welcome attention to this subject... even when it's done in such a cursory manner. Thanks for posting... Maybe it will increase curiosity as to what really happened so long ago.

Hey sorry I missed this before.

Anyone have a good link to Quaker disruptiveness in New Amsterdam, the kind that infuriated Stuyvesant? I wonder if it was similar to the tactics they practiced in other places, such as walking into church naked.

Lady godvia style? whoa...

Erica:

Here's a starting place:
https://books.google.com/books?id=6REAYXK1HmMC&pg=PA163&lpg...

So the Stuyvesant story was part of the book of the quaker's sufferings in their missionary work?

http://quakerstrongrooms.org/2012/06/06/quaker-sufferings-records-a...

Erica: Thanks for that link... I'll study it soon...