Lights and Shadows of New York Life | Page 9

at the eastern end of Manhattan Island
for the purpose of "promoting agriculture, and affording a place of
amusement for the citizens of New Amsterdam." "Homes, genuine,
happy Dutch homes, in abundance, were found within and without the
city, where uncultured minds and affectionate hearts enjoyed life in
dreamy, quiet blissfulness, unknown in these bustling times. The city
people then rose at dawn, dined at eleven, and went to bed at sunset,
except on extraordinary occasions, such as Christmas Eve, a tea party,
or a wedding. Then those who attended the fashionable soirees of the
'upper ten' assembled at three o'clock in the afternoon, and went away
at six, so that daughter Maritchie might have the pewter plates and delf
teapot cleaned and cupboarded in time for evening prayer at seven.
Knitting and spinning held the places of whist and flirting in these
'degenerate days;' and utility was as plainly stamped on all their
pleasures as the maker's name on our silver spoons."
But the period of Dutch supremacy on Manhattan was approaching its
close. Charles II. had just regained the English throne. In 1664, with
characteristic disregard of right and justice, he granted to his brother
James, Duke of York and Albany, the whole territory of New
Netherlands, including all of Long Island and a part of
Connecticut--lands to which he had not the shadow of a claim. In the
same year, a force of four ships and 450 soldiers, under the command

of Colonel Richard Nicholls, was sent to New Amsterdam to take
possession of that city. It arrived at the Narrows about the 29th of
August, and on the 30th, Nicholls demanded the surrender of the town.
Stuyvesant, who had made preparations for defending the place,
endeavored to resist the demand, but the people refused to sustain him,
and he was obliged to submit. On the 8th of September, 1664, he
withdrew the Dutch garrison from the fort, and embarked at the foot of
Beaver street for Holland. The English at once took possession of the
town and province, changing the name of both to New York, in honor
of the new proprietor.
[Picture: New York in 1664]
The English set themselves to work to conciliate the Dutch residents, a
task not very difficult, inasmuch as the English settlers already in the
province had to a great degree prepared the way for the change. In 1665,
the year after the conquest, the city was given a Mayor, a Sheriff, and a
board of Aldermen, who were charged with the administration of
municipal affairs, and in the same year jury trials were formally
established. In July, 1673, the Dutch fleet recaptured the town, drove
out the English, and named it New Orange. The peace between Great
Britain and Holland, which closed the war, restored the town to the
English, November 10th, 1674, and the name of New York was
resumed. The Dutch Government was replaced by the English system
under a liberal charter, and during the remainder of the seventeenth
century the town grew rapidly in population and size. In 1689 there was
a brief disturbance known as Leislers' Rebellion. In 1700 New York
contained 750 dwellings and 4500 white and 750 black inhabitants. In
1693 William Bradford established the first printing press in the city. In
1696 Trinity Church was begun, and in 1697, the streets were first
lighted, a lamp being hung out upon a pole extending from the window
of every seventh house. In 1702 a terrible fever was brought from St.
Thomas', and carried off 600 persons, one-tenth of the whole
population. In 1711, a slave market was established. In 1719 the first
Presbyterian Church was built; in 1725 the New York Gazette, the fifth
of the colonial newspapers, was established; and in 1730 stages ran to
Philadelphia once a fortnight, and in 1732 to Boston, the latter journey

occupying fourteen days. In 1731 the first public library, the bequest of
the Rev. Dr. Wellington, of England, was opened in the city. It
contained 1622 volumes. In 1734 a workhouse was erected in the
present City Hall Park. In 1735 the people made their first
manifestation of hostility to Great Britain, which was drawn forth by
the infamous prosecution by the officers of the crown, of Rip Van Dam,
who had been the acting Governor of the town. The winter of 1740-41
was memorable for its severity. The Hudson was frozen over at New
York, and the snow lay six feet on a level. In 1741, a severe fire in the
lower part of the city destroyed among other things the old Dutch
Church and fort, and in the same year the yellow fever raged with great
violence. The principal event of the year, however, was the so-called
negro plot for the destruction of the town.