This spring is the 400th anniversary of the founding of New York — or, to be precise, of the Dutch colony that became New York once the English took it over.
That settlement gave rise to a city unencumbered by old ways and powered by pluralism and capitalism: the first modern city, you might say.
Yes, New Netherland, the Dutch colony, and New Amsterdam, the city that became New York, created the conditions for New York’s ascent, and helped shape America as a place of tolerance, multiethnicity and free trade.
But the Dutch also established slavery in the region and contributed to the removal of Native peoples from their lands.
Efforts to commemorate the occasion have been slowed, in part, by controversy and confusion because we can’t agree on what our past means.
Organizations:
New, York Historical Society
Locations:
New York, New Netherland, New Amsterdam, Independence