As our nation is struggling to come alive in the late 1600’s, yet another conquest will be fought.
As I was reading about this conquest, it came to my mind that men are men no matter what country or time they live in. Men, in their heart, want to dominate each other. As such in 1664, England wanted land that the Dutch had possessed in America.
There had been an ongoing commercial rivalry between the Dutch and the English. Charles II, King of England, was spoiling for a war. A war would bolster him in the eyes of others as a powerful king.
In March 1664, King Charles II had granted land to his brother James.
This land was in the Americas between the Delaware and Connecticut rivers. A militia started out from England and in August, they reached Fort Amsterdam. They sent a letter for the Dutch colonies to surrender. James offered very generous terms because he wanted his land to be kept intact.
The Dutch were inclined to resist but upon seeing all the ships and hearing the offer, they surrendered peacefully. A group of prominent merchants met to draw up Articles of Capitulation. The Dutch colonists were guaranteed the possession of their property rights, their laws of inheritance, and the enjoyment of religious freedom.
The exchange of power took place on September 8th. And then the Dutch soldiers marched down the street and onto ships to return home. There was a new government in town now with a new deputy-governor, Colonel Nicholls.
As we carry on learning about the birth of our nation, I just wanted to drop here a link to a great American history course that your children might enjoy. The Notgrass family has worked hard over the years to develop a Bible based curriculum in history and geography of which our family has already profited with.
If we do not teach our children about their past, we are failing them since there are so many lessons to be learned and people to know.