2009-08-23 New York Nieuw-Amsterdam

Dutch origins of Manhattan

new book

New York Nieuw-Amsterdam, De Nederlandse oorsprong van Manhattan is a new book published by Nieuw Amsterdam publishers, in cooperation with the Nationaal Archief, the Dutch National Archives. The book, written by Martine Gosselink, is the Dutch edition of a book That’s published in Dutch and English. The title of the English edition is New York - Nieuw-Amsterdam. The Dutch Origins of Manhattan.

Martine Gosselink

Martine Gosselink is the head of the Rijksmuseum history department, and the initiator of the Dutch Manhattan Heritage Programme, a programme of activities organised for Henry Hudson year.

The South Street Seaport Museum will show New Amsterdam. The Island at the Centre of the World, the exhibition created as part of that programme, which includes the famous Schaghen letter, from 2009 Sep 12 till 2010 Jan 3. This is the book for that exhibition.

coffee table book

It seems a coffee table book. It is a large-size and almost square hardcover book, richly illustrated and printed on thick glossy paper. The text is printed in fairly large type and the illustrations seem to take up more space than that text, but do not take all that to mean that this is a book for casual reading. Not only is it more than 200 pages, this is a seriously researched book, with footnotes, references and an extensive index.

three parts

The book and the exhibition are both divided into three parts; The World in which New York was born, The Island and its complex history, and The Inhabitants, back then and now.

World

The World does not start with Henry Hudson discovering Manhattan, but with the reasons for the founding of the Dutch East India Company in 1602, and the West India Company in 1621. It was the East India Company that sent the ship Halve Maen on a journey of discovery. The early history of the New Netherlands region is that of a trading location in a international struggle for world trade domination. The purpose of early settlements and forts was to solidify Dutch claims on the region against the English and French.

Island

The Island starts out by dispelling some myths about Pieter Schaghen and the now famous Schaghen letter, a letter that reported the news that Manhattan had been bought. That relatively unimportant letter back then is a historic document now, but Manhattan had not really been bought, and the English still claimed the territory. The early colony found itself in conflicts between Indian tribes as well as internal conflicts. This part describes how the colony struggled to develop itself.

Inhabitants

Part III, the Inhabitants, start with the original inhabitants and how the European settlements changed their fate. It discusses the varied groups of Europeans that came to Nieuw Amsterdam, and devotes a chapter to the African immigrants, who arrived as slaves. This aspect of Nieuw Amsterdam history is not often highlighted, but is part of history and some New York buildings are literally build on top of them.

historical context

In the end, the English would conquer Nieuw Amsterdam and call it New York. The book places this event in proper historical context. It does not just note that the English wanted Nieuw Amsterdam to rule almost the entire east coast of Northern America. It also explains that the Dutch surrendered the city without a fight to just three English ships not just because the defence works were insufficient, but because no one wanted to fight, and Stuyvesant had to conform to the majority vote of the council. It also places this in the historical context of the ongoing battle for sea supremacy between England and the Netherlands. It explains why both countries signed a peace treaty in 1667, in which they agreed to the status quo.

Both countries were soon battling each other on the seas again, but when rogue fleet commander Cornelis Evertsen retook the still poorly defended New York in 1673, the Dutch were not happy about that, and gave it back.

documents

Palaeography is not easy, so it is a relief that all images of old documents are supplemented by a transcription. Still, that transcription is in old Dutch, which is hard going, even when you are fluent in modern Dutch.
The Dutch edition does not address that issue, and perhaps it shouldn’t. I have not seen the English edition, and can only hope that it provides translations in fairly modern English.

maps

The illustrations do not only include paintings, drawings and historical documents but a large number of old maps as well, with explanatory text that points out interesting details.

Historical maps have a fascination all their own. They offer a contemporary perspective. I consider the many maps in included in this book to be one of its strong points, not in the least because they seem well-chosen.

That does not really surprise. Martine Gosselink took the initiative for creation of the Atlas of Mutual Heritage, a database of maps, drawings, prints and paintings from the East and West India Companies, and previously authored Land in zicht : Vingboons tekent de wereld van 17de eeuw, a book about the watercolours by 17th century mapmaker Johannes Vingboons.
In fact, although you don’t see much more than a slice of it on the front cover of New York Nieuw-Amsterdam, the cover shows his famous watercolour of Nieuw Amsterdam.

Some of his less famous works are more interesting. There briefly was a Swedish colony. One map by Johannes Vingboons bought by the queen of Sweden shows the territory as New Sweden. That is interesting already, but even more interesting is that you can still see and read the letters of Nederlandt below the Sweden that has been written over it, and all the text on the map is in Dutch anyway.

individuals

Far too often, high school history is still about dry facts. This book is not about dry facts.
The book does highlight several individuals by telling their story. Some famous names, some less famous ones. Among them the first muslim, the first black landowner and the first prostitute.

emigrants

Throughout the book are pictures of modern-day immigrants; current citizens of New York that were born elsewhere. The captions give the name, occupation and the year and place of birth. These pictures offer no personal history, but have all been made on locations where historical figures once lived.

New York

Apart from the inclusion of modern day immigrants, this book really is not about New York at all. Instead, it paints a realistic picture of Nieuw Amsterdam before it became New York.

details

Dutch edition

title	New York Nieuw-Amsterdam, De Nederlandse oorsprong van Manhattan
author	Martine Gosselink
Publisher	Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers & Nationaal Archief
ISBN	9789046806197
pages	224
size	248 x 227 mm
price	€ 29,95

English edition

title	New York - Nieuw Amsterdam. The Dutch Origins of Manhattan
author	Martine Gosselink
Publisher	Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers & Nationaal Archief
ISBN	9789046804483
pages	224
size	248 x 227 mm
price	€ 29,95