Downloadable New Amsterdam Trail Brochure

TheGATEWAY TOAMERICAAMERICAofficial guidesNewAmsterdamTrailHenry Hudson &The Dutch Legacyin New York

BATTERY PARKCITYROBERT F.WAGNER JR.PARKWEST STREETCASTLECLINTONRECTOR STREETW ASHINGT ON1GREENWICHB AT TERY PLACETRINITY PLACE2BROADW AYBATTERYPARK3S TATE STREETNEW STREETBRIDGEEXCHANGE PLACE4S T ONENASSAUMARKETFIELD8BEAVER5BROADWHITEHALLFEDERALHALLW ALL STREETS . WILLIAM6PEARLC. ALLEYW ATERBAT TERYMARITIMEBUILDINGSTATENISLANDFERRY7PEARLVIETNAMVETERANSMEMORIALPLAZASOUTH STREETW ATEROLD SLIPFRONTA Step by Step Guide1Battery ParkWaterfront Promenade5Dutch Reformed Church PlaqueOn Pearl Street near Broad Street2The Netherlands MonumentNortheast entrance to Battery Park6Pearl Street & Coenties AlleyNorthwest corner3Museum of the American IndianAcross from Bowling Green Park7Pearl & Wall StreetsNorthwest corner4Pearl & Whitehall StreetsNortheast corner8Federal Hall National MemorialWall & Nassau StreetsApproximate area of Lower Manhattan during the earliest Dutch settlement. The island was later enlarged through landfill.Map courtesy of the Alliance for Downtown New York

3NationalMuseum ofthe AmericanIndianAcross fromBowling GreenParkFortAmsterdamThis was the site ofFort Amsterdam, thefirst fortification builton Manhattan Island. In Fact:The Castello Plan created in 1660 shows theearly layout of the colony, including 332 buildings.The broad thoroughfare leading north (left toright) on the map below is today’s Broadway.Wall Street got its name from the wall on the right.New Amsterdam’s sweeping harborinvited commercial enterprise, but it alsoleft the settlement vulnerable to attack.To protect the outpost, Fort Amsterdamwas constructed at the tip of the island.Unimpressive even for its day, thestar-shaped sand and clay structure(left on the map below) was the epicenterof the settlement. One part defense againstthe local Indian tribes and European rivalsand one part trading post, Fort Amsterdamcontained a handful of barracks, a church,a house for the West India Companydirector and a warehouse for the storageof company goods.NowThen Smithsonian NationalMuseum of the AmericanIndian. This building was theformer U.S. Customs House,erected in 1907, whererevenues from the portwere collected. Castello Plan,New Amsterdam in 1660,redraft by John Wolcott Adams.New-York Historical Society

4Pearl &WhitehallStreetsNortheastCorner In Fact:Joris Rapelje andCatalina Tricot, two ofNew Amsterdam’s earliestsettlers, also made theirhome here on Pearl Street.Drawn to promisingopportunities in the NewWorld, they had exchangedsix years of service to theWest India Company fora small land grant. Here,they lived and raised11 children. It is estimatedthat as many as one millionAmericans are descendentsof Joris and Catalina.Stuyvesant&TheSettlersThis corner was oncethe eastern edgeof the New Amsterdamsettlement.ThenBy 1643, people from all over the worldhad moved to the bustling community.A French priest, Isaac Jogues, visitingNew Amsterdam reported that he hadheard as many as 18 languages at a timewhen the population numbered around 500.It was this multi-ethnic, free and diversecity that greeted Peter Stuyvesant as hearrived in 1647 to take his post as the newdirector of the settlement.A former military man, Stuyvesantbrooked no opposition and imposeda strict rule of law. He prohibited the saleof liquor to the Indians and levied a taxon alcoholic beverages and furs. He alsotried to limit religious tolerance in thecolony, but encountered fierce opposition.Under Stuyvesant’s governance thecolony grew steadily. 18th century descendentsof Joris and Catalina.New York Public Library Peter Stuyvesant, attributedto Hendrick Couturier, ca. 1660.New-York Historical Society In 1658, Peter Stuyvesant builthis home close to the water.Whitehall Street would derive itsname from his white brick house.New York Public Library

5DutchReformedChurch PlaqueNorth sidePearl Streetnear BroadChurch &CompanyThis plaque onthe building’s facademarks the site ofNew Amsterdam’sfirst church. In Fact:In 1657, English freeholders living under Dutch rule inFlushing and Jamaica, Long Island (now Queens, NY),sent Peter Stuyvesant this strongly worded protest—or remonstrance—when he sought and failed toprohibit the Quakers from holding religious meetings.The “Flushing Remonstrance” is considered byhistorians to be a foundation document in the fightfor religious freedom in New York. The singed edgeswere a result of a 1911 fire that swept through thestate Capitol in Albany.ThenNew Amsterdam was known for its religioustolerance. The Dutch Reformed Church was thefocus of the settlement’s worship. The Dutch hadadopted tolerance as policy, not as a grand ideal,but as a way to deal with the mixed character ofHolland’s population. Their tolerance was rootedin the 16th century when the Dutch provincessuffered the oppression of the Spanish Inquisition.The Dutch West India Company supportedthis religious pluralism. After all, their settlementswere first and foremost trading posts and thecompany believed that nothing, including religiousdisputes, should ever hinder trade.One of the most controversial leaders of thechurch was Everardus Bogardus. In the 1630’s,Bogardus used his pulpit to decry the autocracy ofthe West India Company and to defend the spiritualrights of enslaved Africans. He clashed numeroustimes with Stuyvesant’s predecessor Willem Kieft.Both were recalled to The Netherlands, but diedwhen their ship sank off the Welsh coast.Now Dutch ReformedChurch Plaque A church insideFort Amsterdam.New York Public Library Flushing RemonstranceNew York State Archives

6Pearl Street& CoentiesAlleyNorthwestCorner In Fact:New Amsterdam hada remarkable numberof taverns and quicklydeveloped a reputationfor lawlessness.Full-fledged pirateswere an accepted partof the community andprostitution was amainstay. One of thelegendary couples wasa Dutch-Moroccanpirate named Anthonyvan Salee and the town’sfirst prostitute, GrietReyniers. In a microcosmof the way the colonygrew through the hardwork of its citizens,they married, had fourchildren and became bythe end of their lives,one of the principallandowning familiesof Brooklyn.FromCity Tavernto City HallThis is the site ofNew Amsterdam’smost famous tavern,the City Tavern.ThenImmediately after Stuyvesant took office,he locked horns with a group of politicallyactive New Amsterdammers led by lawyerAdriaen Van der Donck. Van der Donckquestioned company rule and advocatedstrenuously for the newly evolving rights ofindividuals. So persistent was he thatStuyvesant threatened to have him executed.However, Van der Donck led a successfuldelegation to The Hague in The Netherlands,where he petitioned the Dutch Government totake over the settlement from the West IndiaCompany. He asked officials to recognize thevalue of the land they controlled, proclaimingthat New Netherland could someday outstripthe homeland in power and influence.In 1653, New Amsterdam was granted thestatus of an official Dutch city. The charterwas the first of its kind in North America.The City Tavern was renamed the StadtHuys—Dutch for City Hall.Now Today, onthe sidewalkyou can see theoutline of theCity Tavern’sfoundationmarked by theyellow bricks. Stadt Huys ca. 1664. NewYork Public Library

7Pearl &Wall StreetsNorthwestCornerTheWallWall Street marksthe northernboundary ofNew Amsterdam.In 1653, fearing an imminent British invasion, thenewly formed City Council called for the erection ofa wall. The 14-foot high wooden palisade would runfrom river to river, the largest construction projectin the colony up to that time. Every citizen wasrequired to participate, including enslaved Africans.When the British finally did arrive in 1664, theycame by sea and the wall proved useless. Seriouslyoutnumbered and fearing for the city’s property andpossessions, the City Council convinced Stuyvesantto surrender New Amsterdam and the city becameNew-York—named for the Duke of York. In Fact:The seal of theCity of New Yorkdepicts a sailor and a ManhattanIndian, beavers and flour barrels,the sails of a windmill andheralds 1625 as the year thecity was founded by the Dutch.However, some historiansbelieve the date has little historicsignificance, as the first settlerslanded on Governors Island in1624 and Peter Minuit did notmake his famous "purchase"until 1626. Author RussellShorto says that “a more officialdate would be 1653, when theDutch formally chartered NewAmsterdam as a city”—whenthe first local government wasrecognized as independent ofthe interests of the West IndiaCompany. The choice of 1625as the founding year was notnecessarily about glorifyingthe Dutch. In 1974, City CouncilPresident Paul O'Dwyer,a staunch Irishman, pushedthrough a bill selecting theyear, some believe, to diminishthe role of the British.Then View of the wall and water gate,However, the Dutch influence endured. The Britishsaw no need to interfere with a profitable town.Thus, the vigorous pursuit of trade and tolerantimmigrant culture that took root in New Amsterdamwould maintain their foothold in New York. Thislegacy ensured that as the city developed underEnglish rule, it became a very different place fromBoston or Philadelphia, where religious and culturalhomogeneity was more often the norm.at the eastern end of Wall Street. New York Public LibraryNow The city’s diversepopulation todayincludes not onlymore AmericanIndians, but morepeople of Dutchdescent than anybig city in America.Without the Dutch,there wouldn'tbe coleslaw orcookies, thenames Brooklyn,Harlem orStaten Island.

8Federal HallNationalMemorialWall & NassauStreetsAmericanFinance &AmericanDemocracyAcross the street,is the New YorkStock Exchange.The concept of multi-national corporations andstock ownership developed in the 16th centurywhen the Dutch were great shipping merchants.Since vessels were often lost at sea, successfulsea captains would sell shares to investorsto spread their risk. That formula led to thecreation of stock markets.In 1602, the world’s first share of stock was tradedin Amsterdam. Consequently, in 1638 when theWest India Company gave up its monopoly ontrade to its American settlements, privately-tradedstocks became common in New Amsterdam.However, the first public auction of stock did notcome until the 1790’s, when the New York StockExchange was created. In Fact:This building erected in 1842 was the U.S. Customs House.Inside, the path used by ship captains, was so heavilytrafficked that you can still see the indentations worn in thefloor by their feet. Later, as the U.S. Sub-Treasury (imagebelow), the basement vaults stored the country's reserves ofgold and silver. Today, the building displays a stone from thebalcony on which George Washington stood when he wassworn into office and the bible on which he placed his hand.ThenAcross from the Stock Exchange is whereAmerica—the America we know today—wasborn. On the site of what is now Federal HallNational Memorial, the first United StatesCongress met. Here the Bill of Rights was passed.Here too, George Washington took the oath ofoffice as the country’s first President and on thesite stood the first capitol of the young republic—a republic steeped in ideas and ideals rootedin the city’s Dutch legacy.Now The statue ofGeorge Washingtonon the steps ofFederal Hall NationalMemorial stands watchover the New YorkStock Exchange. U.S. Sub-Treasury,1862-1920.New York Public Library

The New Amsterdam Trailis the first in a series of Gatewayto America Guides. These officialguides tell the story of the richhistory and natural splendor ofNew York Harbor through theprism of its 22 national park sites.The tour is also available as an audiodownload at nyharborparks.orgor henryhudson400.com.It features commentary fromNational Park Service Rangers;Russell Shorto, author ofThe Island at the Center of the World;Eric Sanderson, ecologist and authorof Mannahatta: The Natural Historyof New York City; and Andrew Smith,editor of The Oxford Encyclopediaof Food and Drink in America.You can also join a walking tourled by National Park Service Rangersby making a reservation atnyharborparks.org.The National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancyis a nonprofit organization in partnership with theNational Park Service. Visit the Sites: African Burial Ground Breezy Point Canarsie Pier CastleClinton Federal Hall Floyd Bennett Field Fort Hancock Fort Tilden Fort Wadsworth Gateway Governors Island Grant’s Tomb Great Kills Park Hamilton Grange HoffmanIsland Jacob Riis Park Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge LowerEast Side Tenement Museum affiliated site Miller Field SandyHook St. Paul’s Church Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Swinburne Island Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace.For more information, visitnyharborparks.org