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World Affairs
The period is the late 1600s and some major wars have taken place in Europe and regions in the Pacific and Atlantic. Spain has declined as a naval power and disputes over claims to war spoils from the Eighty Years War against Spain resulted in war between two close allies, the Dutch and the English, which were the prominent naval powers at the time. Also, at this time, Dutch controlled major ports in the Atlantic and Pacific including the colony of Nieuw Amsterdam of soon-to-be New York City, and captured the Portuguese colony of Recife, Brazil. The Dutch were unable to hold on to Recife because of the Anglo- Dutch war and the war of attrition waged by the Portuguese to recapture their colony.
Muscoota
The reality of the English threat to Dutch colonies, and the loss of Recife increased the importance of Nieuw Amsterdam and led to northward expansion on Manhattan island. The patch of land that caught the Dutch's eye was what the natives called Muscoota or 'flat land.' A merchant, Mynheer Hendrick de Forest, fell in love with the fertile area and built his house there (Eastharlem.com, Para 1). Other people followed suit and before long, the whole area was settled by the Dutch and defenses were already up. This encroachment into the American Indian hunting and farming grounds coupled with the unwonted execution of a few American indians by Governor Kieft led the American Indians to declare war. In the slaughter that followed, Kieft's war(1643- 1645), the tribe was annihilated. It is said that this war could have been prevented if Kieft had listened to his cabinet members but, he never paid attention to them. It is also said that on his way back, Kieft was lost at sea.
Peter Stuyvesant replaced the missing Kieft as governor. Unlike his predecessor, he was somewhat diplomatic. He was extremely strict at first about immigrants conforming to Dutch policy; however, in the interests of trade and prosperity of the colony, he allowed the laws to be bent. He played one of the biggest roles in New York City history, building up Manhattan including Muscoota, which he renamed Nieuw Haarlem, after the Haarlem of Netherlands.
Life in Nieuw Haarlem centered around the Dutch Reformed Church and commerce. The Dutch were more tolerant of the reigning imperial empires, encouraging immigration from France, Portugal, Brazil, West Indies, Russia and other nations. Unfortunately for the Dutch, the profitable colony on Manhattan did not escape the sight of the English. In a matter of months, the newly built establishment was facing four large English battleships, under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls with demands for the surrender of the colony. With only a hundred or so men and the pleas of citizens to preserve the city as well as expand trade networks, Governor Stuyvesant reluctantly surrendered the colony. By October 20, 1664, the populace at Nieuw Amsterdam and Nieuw Haarlem pledged allegiance to the English and the colony was renamed New York, after the Duke of York and later King, James II. Following this take over, immigrants began arriving from England, Ireland, Italy, Middle East, and Germany. But, these were ripples compared to the tide that would arrive in the 1900s.
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