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Dutch History

Russell Shorto: The Dutch-American Perspective

January 29, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Children playing in the churchyard of St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery, 1994The work that historians do influences their lives, especially if they spend a considerable time in a foreign land that they write about. Slowly, their topic of choice becomes an essential part of their identity. Russell Shorto, a renowned writer of narrative history, writes about his own evolution at the intersection of Dutch-American history.

This essay concerns itself with the intersection of Dutch and American history. Previous posts have explored slavery in New Amsterdam, the naming – and renaming – of that city, and John Adams’ role as unofficial ambassador to the Netherlands during the American war of independence. As I pondered the task of contributing to that lineup, and scrolled through a mental list of possible topics, it occurred to me that, as I have lived at the intersection of Dutch and American history for more than twenty years, my own identity, and its evolution over that time, might be a relevant topic. [Read more…] about Russell Shorto: The Dutch-American Perspective

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Academia, Dutch History, Henry Hudson, Museums, New Amsterdam, New Netherland, New Netherland Institute, New Netherland Project, New Netherland Research Center, New York City, Public History, Publishing, Writing

Restless Roamer: James Smithson’s Final Journey

January 29, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

House flag of John Griswold’s Black X Line.A descendant of Dutch settlers, Jacob Aaron Westervelt began his career in 1814 as an apprentice in Christian Bergh’s shipyard at the point of land on the East River known as Corlears Hook. He left his employer in 1835 to start his own operation along the river. Over a period of three decades, the yard produced 234 vessels.

One of Jacob’s first commissions in 1836 was to build the packet boat Mediator for John Griswold’s Black X Line. Founded in 1823, its ships ran between New York and London displaying a house flag with a black X on a red background. [Read more…] about Restless Roamer: James Smithson’s Final Journey

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Cultural History, Dutch History, East River, Freemasonary, French History, French Revolution, Manhattan, Maritime History, New York City, Science History, Smithsonian

Dutch Old Masters in New York City

January 11, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Still Life with an Earthenware Jug, Tobacco Box, ‘Gouda’ Pipe, Glass of Beer and Tobacco Smoking Implements The month of January sees a focus on work by Dutch Old Masters in New York City, featuring art presentations at Master Drawings NY and the Winter Show, an exhibition and auction at Sotheby’s Masters Week 2023, and Dutch works showcases at Christie’s. Featured events include: [Read more…] about Dutch Old Masters in New York City

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: art, Dutch History

A Short History of Christmas for New Yorkers

December 25, 2022 by Peter Hess 9 Comments

Albany children singings hymns to St. Nicholas on the Eve of the Feast of St. NicholasThe tale of St. Nicholas is an old fable from mid-Europe that was popular in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. St. Nicholas was the patron saint of children, merchants and sailors and the patron saint of Amsterdam and was brought by the Dutch to the new world, which for the Dutch was Nieuw Nederlandt (New Netherland).

Many of the American traditions on Santa Claus originated in the Dutch settlement of New Netherland along the Hudson River between New Amsterdam (New York City) and Oranje (Beverwyck-Albany). The other colonies were English. [Read more…] about A Short History of Christmas for New Yorkers

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Christmas, Cultural History, Dutch History, Holidays, Religious History, Rensselaer County, Rensselaerswijck, Troy

Dutch History of Christmas Treats With Peter Rose

December 24, 2022 by Liz Covart 2 Comments

ben_franklins_worldUndoubtedly, you have heard or read Clement Moore’s famous poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (1822), but have you ever wondered where the traditions of stockings, presents, and cookies come from? And what about jolly old Saint Nick? Who was he and why do we call him Santa Claus?

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Peter G. Rose, culinary historian of Dutch foodways in North America and author of Delicious December: How the Dutch Brought Us Santa, Presents, and Treats (SUNY Press, 2014), joins me to discuss the origins of Santa Claus, cookies, and more in the United States.  [Read more…] about Dutch History of Christmas Treats With Peter Rose

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Food, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: baking, Ben Franklin’s World, Christmas, Culinary History, Cultural History, Dutch History, New Netherland, Podcasts

When Two Dutchmen Tried To Create A Maple Sugar Industry

December 16, 2022 by Jaap Jacobs Leave a Comment

portrait of Gerrit BoonThe Holland Land Company is known for its role in settling the western part of upstate New York by acquiring land grants and selling off lots to prospective settlers in the early nineteenth century. Yet its activities in the last decade of the eighteenth century were of a different nature, as the stories of Gerrit Boon and Jan Lincklaen show.

In the last decade of the eighteenth century, two young Dutchmen, Gerrit Boon and Jan Lincklaen, traveled through the densely forested lands of Upstate New York. They eventually identified locations fit for the founding of the new villages of Oldenbarneveld (now Barneveld in Oneida County) and DeRuyter (in Madison County). [Read more…] about When Two Dutchmen Tried To Create A Maple Sugar Industry

Filed Under: Food, History, Western NY Tagged With: Barneveld, Boonville, Cazenovia, Dutch History, Forestry, Fort Schuyler, Holland Land Company, Holland Patent, Immigration, Industrial History, Lincklaen, Lorenzo SHS, Madison County, Maple Sugaring, Maple Trees, Oneida County

The First Dutch Translation of the U.S. Constitution

November 25, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Title page of De Ronde’s translation of the U.S. ConstitutionThere are a few topics that guarantee a historian an audience. Write a decent biography of Abraham Lincoln or James Madison, for example, and you are bound to have readers. Or, write something new and interesting about the Constitution and you might attract some attention. [Read more…] about The First Dutch Translation of the U.S. Constitution

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Dutch History, Political History

John Quincy Adams’ Dutch Education

October 18, 2022 by Jaap Jacobs Leave a Comment

Statues of Johnny and his mother in Quincy, MassachusettsWhen John Adams arrived in the Dutch Republic as the American envoy, he was accompanied by his two sons.

They were both expected to attend school so as to further their education, but finding the right place turned out to be a bit of a problem. [Read more…] about John Quincy Adams’ Dutch Education

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Dutch History, Education, John Adams, Political History

Albany’s Harmanus Bleecker, 19th Century Ambassador to The Netherlands

October 11, 2022 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

View of New Amsterdam by Johannes Vingboons, ca. 1665In 1658, 17-year-old Jan Janse Bleecker set sail from Mappel, Overyssel in the Netherlands for Nieuw Amsterdam (now New York City) in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. He knew that Dutch traders had established a trading post there about 45 years earlier.

In 1629, Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, a partner in the Dutch West India Company, had obtained rights to establish a settlement and control the fur trade at Fort Orange located about 150 miles north of New Amsterdam. [Read more…] about Albany’s Harmanus Bleecker, 19th Century Ambassador to The Netherlands

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Christmas, Dutch History, fur trade, Haudenosaunee, Indigenous History, Iroquois, Legal History, Martin Van Buren, Mohawk, New Netherland, New York City, Political History

The First Slave Traders in New York

September 28, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

West India Company warehouse in Amsterdam. Engraving, ca. 1663.The first direct shipment of enslaved Africans arrived in New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1655. The voyage of the White Horse came in the wake of significant changes in the Dutch Atlantic.  In this eessay, American historian Dennis Maika outlines how family and business connections shaped the development of a slave-trading center in Manhattan.

New Amsterdam’s residents would have immediately noticed something different about the arrival of the Witte Paert (White Horse) in the early summer of 1655. The stench of human excrement and illness emanating from the newly arrived “scheepgen” (small ship), left little doubt that a slaver had arrived after a long voyage. [Read more…] about The First Slave Traders in New York

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Atlantic World, Black History, Chesapeake, Dutch History, Economic History, Financial History, Legal History, Maritime History, Maryland, New Amsterdam, New Netherlands, New York City, New York Harbor, Slavery, Virginia

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