Testimony
Testimony, 1667. Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Archief van Dr. S. Hart. Translation by Eric Ruijssenaars.
Document Text |
Summary |
| Harmen Martensz from the city of Den Bosch and Evert Willemse Munnick, both formerly soldiers of the Dutch West India Company, declared that even before the English came to New Netherland there had been talk of an English army approaching. | This is the testimony of two Dutch soldiers who were present for the surrender of New Netherland. |
| The government gave no orders for special defense measures. Only when four ships arrived at the end of August was order given to bring the city and the fort of New Amsterdam into a state of defense. | There were rumors that the English were planning to attack, but no one did anything until four ships came into the harbor. |
| The sergeants did their best, given the short time, but the people of New Amsterdam were unresponsive. They did not report to their guard posts. When the soldiers saw that the civilians lacked the will to fight the English they withdrew to the fort. | The citizens of New Amsterdam did not come together to protect the city. |
| There were 150 soldiers. . . . Councilman Van Ruyven sent his wife Hillegond to the English because they did not have gun powder to defend themselves and because the English were their friends. Hillegond was accompanied by Lydia de Meyer, the wife of free merchant Nicholas Meyer. | Two city leaders sent their wives to talk to the English. |
| As Hillegond left the fort, she said: “Now these dirty dogs want to fight, now that they’ve got nothing to lose. And we have our property here, which we would lose if we fought.” | The women insulted the Dutch soldiers on their way to see the English. They also told the soldiers that their homes were worth more to them than their loyalty to the Dutch West India Company. |
Testimony, 1667. Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Archief van Dr. S. Hart. Translation by Eric Ruijssenaars.
This video was created by the New-York Historical Society Teen Leaders in collaboration with the Untold project.
Background
On August 27, 1664, four English ships sailed into New Amsterdam’s harbor and demanded that the Dutch surrender New Netherland to the English. Peter Stuyvesant, the Director-General of New Netherland, tried to rally the people of New Amsterdam to fight. But he soon realized the citizens of New Amsterdam preferred to surrender peacefully. Peter understood that he could not defend the colony without the support of the citizens. He arranged a meeting between the citizens of New Amsterdam and the English to negotiate the terms of surrender. On September 8, 1664, New Netherland was officially handed over to the English and renamed New York.
About the Document
When the Dutch government learned about the surrender of New Netherland, they launched a full investigation to find out what happened and who was at fault. This document was collected during the investigation. It is an eyewitness account from two Dutch soldiers who were working for the Dutch West India Company during the surrender.
This account reveals that two New Amsterdam women visited the English camp before any official meeting took place. This visit was a critical moment in the surrender of New Netherland. By announcing that he planned to fight the English, Peter Stuyvesant made it treason for any member of the New Amsterdam City Council to negotiate with the English. So two council members sent their wives instead. Because they were women, Lydia de Meyer and Hillegond van Ruyven could speak to the English without committing treason, and their high status as the wives of city council members meant that the English would take them seriously. Hillegond and Lydia facilitated the peaceful surrender of New Amsterdam when the men of the city council could not. Hillegond’s comment to the soldiers as she left makes it clear that for these women, protecting the settlement of New Amsterdam was more important than protecting the pride of the Dutch government.
Vocabulary
- Dutch West India Company: The company that owned and ran New Netherland.
- New Amsterdam: The capital of the colony of New Netherland, where New York City is today.
- New Netherland: The Dutch colony in North America, which encompassed land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, and up the Hudson River to present-day Albany, New York.
- treason: The crime of betraying one’s country.
Discussion Questions
- Why did Hillegond van Ruyven want to find a peaceful solution to the conflict with the English?
- Why were Hillegond van Ruyven and Lydia de Meyer ideal ambassadors to the English at the height of the invasion crisis?
- Why is it important to know this story? How does this story change our understanding of the surrender of New Amsterdam?
Suggested Activities
- APUSH Connection: 2.2 European Colonization
- Include this resource in a lesson about the transfer of New Amsterdam to New York. This resource shows that women had significant political knowledge and their gender put them in a unique position to negotiate in a time of political crisis.
- Invite students to write a short skit recreating the interaction between Lydia and Hillegond and the two soldiers they encountered on their way to meet the English. The soldiers can represent the arguments of those who wanted to fight to keep the colony Dutch, and the women can represent the arguments of those who wanted a peaceful surrender.
- Hillegond and Lydia were able to engage with the English because their intimate network of family and friends gave them the authority to do so. This kind of unacknowledged power network allowed women in many different colonial societies to exert influence far beyond what was traditionally available to them. Use any of the following resources to explore this idea of intimate power networks further with your students:
- Hillegond and Lydia were not the only women to exercise power in New Netherland. Invite students to compare and contrast their experiences with any of the women listed below:
- For a lesson on how women could play important roles in political negotiations in the colonial era, combine this resource with any of the following:
Themes
POWER AND POLITICS
