Image: Courtesy of Russell Shorto
Author and historian Russell Shorto tells the riveting story of the 1664 English takeover that ended Dutch rule, marked the beginning of New York, and introduced the polarization that has characterized American society ever since.
While the Dutch city on Manhattan thrived, the English were fighting a bitter civil war at home, pitting Puritans against Royalists. The Puritans, essentially Christian nationalists, planted colonies in New England and rose to power at home, taking over the government for a decade. When the Royalists, who were relative moderates, advocating religious toleration and support for science, returned to power in 1660, they had two objectives in America: make the Puritans based in Boston submit to their rules and invade New Amsterdam. Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York, had dreams of empire, and their Dutch rivals were in the way.
But Richard Nicolls, the military officer who led the English war fleet bent on destruction, changed his strategy once he encountered Peter Stuyvesant, New Netherland’s canny director general. Over two testy weeks, with cannons pointed at one another across the harbor, the leaders sent negotiators back and forth. Nicolls realized that he had much in common with these supposed enemies. The Dutch were Europe’s pragmatists; they had forged an official policy of religious toleration, had a global sensibility, and pioneered capitalism. Ignoring orders from their home countries, Nicolls and Stuyvesant reached a compromise deal that was essentially a merger. The inhabitants would remain and the colony would keep its pragmatic Dutch features, but it would henceforth become English and be renamed New York. Meanwhile, Nicolls failed to control the New Englanders, so that Puritanism grew ever more powerful in America.
The result: England’s bitter cultural divide became ours. Boston became the center of an ideology of Christian nationalism. New York embodied globalism, pragmatism, and tolerance. Mining newly available sources, Shorto has crafted an enthralling story of the roots of America’s national divide.
Russell Shorto, author of the bestsellers Smalltime, Revolution Song, Amsterdam, and The Island at the Center of the World, is the director of the New Amsterdam Project at the New York Historical. He lives in Maryland.
“More than any other single person, Russell Shorto rescued Dutch New Amsterdam from historic obscurity. Shorto is a great researcher and a persuasive storyteller. Taking Manhattan illuminates a fresh perspective on an event that changed the world.”
—Kenneth T. Jackson, Barzun Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University
“A riveting, thoroughly researched account of the men and women of Indigenous, Dutch, African, Jewish, and English descent who populated this thriving seventeenth-century port. Filled with new knowledge, eloquent prose, and international intrigue, Russell Shorto’s history will take your breath away.”
—Tiya Miles, National Book Award winner and author of Night Flyer
“New Amsterdam—pluralistic, capitalistic, pulsing with energy—has survived. Best of all, Shorto himself feels everywhere present in these spirited, revelatory pages.”
—Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Revolutionary
Russell Shorto will be discussing Taking Manhattan at select events across the country:
New York Historical Society – March 4, New York, NY
Philipse Manor Hall – March 8, Bronx, NY
New Canaan Library – March 9, New Canaan, CT
Pequot Library – April 10, Southport, CT
More events to be announced on Russel Shorto’s website.