The arts of New York City

The colonial city

As every schoolchild knows, Europe’s desire to open trade with the East inspired the explorations that discovered the New World. Giovanni da Verrazzano (1524) and Henry Hudson (1609) were part of that long effort, and they were among the first Europeans to visit and gaze at the vast expanse of New York harbour. The primary result of Hudson’s voyage, and his report of a protected anchorage near good farmland, was the Dutch West India Company’s decision to place a trading post on the southern shore of Manna-hata Island; by 1626 a settlement called New Amsterdam was established. It was not the first Dutch settlement in North America, but the advantages of its location made it immensely valuable. In May 1626 Peter Minuit arrived with orders to secure title to the land. He quickly negotiated the real estate deal of the millennium, purchasing the area from a band of Native Americans who probably did not own it for trade goods worth the equivalent of 60 guilders (converted to the legendary $24). Minuit and his successor governors knew that expanding Dutch access to furs and trade were their primary tasks, and commerce fueled city development. In 1638 a new governor reported that one-fourth of all buildings were “grog shops” devoted to sailor demands. Despite revelries and intermittent clashes with local Native American tribes, the settlement gradually moved northward, laid out farms, and expanded trade with New England and the world.

The most famous governor of the Dutch period was Peter Stuyvesant, director general of New Netherland in 1647–64. Stuyvesant’s military background enabled him to spruce up the disorderly town, and he soon granted it recognition as an independent city (1653). The religious orthodoxy he attempted to impose on his already multicultural domain, however, soon led him to clash with the Quaker population of Flushing (1657). Ultimately, Stuyvesant was ordered by his superiors to “shut his eyes” to dissenters so long as they did not disrupt society or trade. The governor found such official blindness difficult, and his imperious nature continued to alienate town burghers. When a British fleet sent by James, duke of York (the future James II), appeared off Gravesend in August 1664, Stuyvesant discovered that no one would fight for his colony. “Old Peg Leg” was forced to surrender on September 8 without even firing a shot. Interestingly, he chose to take an oath of allegiance to the English crown and lived out his life in the city. Despite a brief Dutch reoccupation in 1673–74, the destiny of the colony (which had been renamed in honour of James) had shifted to London. Within the conquered city, resident Dutch and incoming English merchants got along quite well, and representatives of both groups constituted a city elite into the 19th century.

A series of English governors ruled New York and hoped that its commerce would make them rich. New York held the flour-bolting monopoly for the area (1680), it was declared the sole port of entry for the colony, and its active community of merchants carried on a world trade. Thomas Dongan, a Roman Catholic governor, granted a royal charter of incorporation to the city in 1686 and furthered religious toleration and representative government within the colony. Following the Glorious Revolution in England (1688–89), the brief tenure of Jacob Leisler marked a period of intolerance new to the city and left a heritage of class factionalism that endured for several decades after his execution for treason in 1691. By 1700 the city had nearly 5,000 residents and was connected to the mainland for the first time by the construction of the Kings Bridge to the Bronx.

Tensions between merchant aristocrats, who sought to avoid imperial trade regulations, and venal governors, who were willing to turn a blind eye if they were suitably rewarded, were abundant. Class and ethnic conflict was present, and in 1712 and 1741 public fear of African Americans led to repression and numerous executions. Indicative of a growing spirit of independence was the libel case of John Peter Zenger, a journalist whose weekly journal criticized the political machinations and cupidity of Gov. William Cosby. In 1735 a jury of his peers found Zenger not guilty, determining that he had published the truth. The decision was a signal victory for freedom of the press and demonstrated growing civic disobedience within New York during pre-Revolutionary decades. By 1756 assembly leaders humbled royal governors by forcing them to accept annual salary appropriations. The city hosted the Stamp Act Congress (1765), and the Sons of Liberty used violence to prevent the use of excise-tax stamps. New York’s merchant community led the nonimportation program that forced repeal of the measure in 1766, even as the assembly refused to deliver food and cider to British soldiers quartered in the city. Clashes between the Sons of Liberty and soldiers were unending, and the first “battle” of the American Revolution was fought on Golden Hill (south of present City Hall) in January 1770. New York’s “tea party” took place in April 1774, months after Boston’s famous depredations, but it was held in daylight and without any disguises. New York issued the proclamation calling for a Continental Congress, and its citizens forced the resident royal governor to take refuge on a ship in the harbour long before independence was declared.

Almost one-third of all the battles in the Revolution occurred in New York state, but the city’s role was less than heroic. George Washington recognized the “infinite importance” of strategic New York, but in battles between August and October 1776 he was unable to defend the city. For seven years the city was occupied, during which its population declined and two fires destroyed many of its structures. Washington eventually returned to New York after the British evacuation in 1783. Quickly rebuilt, the city served both as state capital (until 1797) and as capital of the Confederation (1785–90); it hosted the inauguration of Washington as president, in April 1789. As the first capital of the United States, New York entertained the first meeting of Congress and the first sessions of the Supreme Court. When the capital was moved to Philadelphia for political reasons, Abigail Adams left the city in despair, for her new home would “not be Broadway.”