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Adriaen van der Donck

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Historical figures


                                                    New Netherland series
                                               Colonies:
                                      * New Amsterdam
                                      * New Haarlem
                                      * Noortwyck
                                      * Beverwyck
                                      * Wiltwyck
                                      * Vlissingen
                                      * Middelburgh
                                      * Heemstede
                                      * Rustdorp

                                                          * Gravesende
                                                          * Breuckelen
                                                          * New Amersfoort
                                                          * Midwout
                                                          * New Utrecht
                                                          * Boswyck
                                                          * Swaanendael
                                                          * New Amstel
                                                          * Altena

                                              Fortresses:
                                * Fort Amsterdam
                                * Fort Nassau (North)
                                * Fort Orange
                                * Fort Nassau (South)
                                * Fort Goede Hoop

                                                       * Fort Casimir
                                                       * Fort Altena
                                                       * Fort Wilhelmus
                                                       * Fort Beversreede
                                                       * Fort Nya Korsholm

                                            The Patroon System

                                                Rensselaerwyck
                                         Colen Donck ( Yonkers, New York)
                                 Directors-General of New Netherland:

                                     Cornelius Jacobsen Mey (1620-1625)
                                         Willem Verhulst (1625-26)
                                            Peter Minuit (1626-33)
                                      Wouter van Twiller (1633-38)
                                            Willem Kieft (1638-47)
                                        Peter Stuyvesant (1647-64)
                                          Influential people

                                                  Adriaen van der Donck
                                                  Kiliaen van Rensselaer
                                                  Brant van Slichtenhorst
                                                  Cornelis van Tienhoven


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   Portrait of Adriaen van der Donck
   Enlarge
   Portrait of Adriaen van der Donck

   Adriaen Cornelissen van der Donck (ca. 1618 – 1655) was a lawyer and
   landowner in New Netherland after whose honorific Jonkheer the city of
   Yonkers, New York is named. In addition to being the first lawyer in
   the Dutch colony, he was a leader in the political life of New
   Amsterdam (modern New York City), and an activist for Dutch-style
   republican government in the Dutch West India Company-run trading post.

   Enchanted by his new homeland of New Netherland, Van der Donck made
   detailed accounts of the land, vegetation, animals, waterways,
   topography, and climate. Van der Donck used this knowledge to actively
   promote immigration to the colony, publishing several tracts, including
   his influential Description of New Netherland. Charles Gehring,
   Director of the New Netherland Project, has called it "the fullest
   account of the province, its geography, the Indians who inhabited it,
   and its prospects…It has been said that had it not been written in
   Dutch, it would have gone down as one of the great works of American
   colonial literature."

   Van der Donck is a central figure in Russell Shorto's The Island at the
   Centre of the World, which argues, based on newly translated records
   from the colony, that he is a great early American patriot, forgotten
   by history because of the eventual English conquest of New Netherland.

   Today, he is also recognized as a sympathetic early Native American
   ethnographer, having learned the languages and observed many of the
   customs of the Mahicans and Mohawks. His descriptions of their
   practices are cited in many modern works, such as the 2005 book 1491:
   New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus.

Early life

   Van der Donck was born in approximately 1618, in the town of Breda in
   the southern Netherlands. His family was well connected on his mother's
   side, and her father, Adriaen van Bergen, was remembered as a national
   hero for helping free Breda from Spanish forces during the course of
   the Eighty Years' War.

   In 1638, Van der Donck entered the University of Leiden as a law
   student. Leiden had rapidly become an intellectual centre due to Dutch
   religious freedom and the lack of censorship. There, he was probably
   influenced by several radical legal thinkers such as Hugo Grotius, who
   emphasized reasoning from natural law over appealing to historical
   authorities. Despite a booming Dutch economy, upon becoming a jurist in
   1641, Van der Donck decided to go to the New World. To this end, he
   approached the patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer, securing a post as
   schout, a combination of sheriff and prosecutor, for his large,
   semi-independent estate, Rensselaerwyck, located near modern Albany.

In New Netherland

Rensselaerwyck

   In 1641, Van der Donck sailed to the New World aboard Den Eykenboom
   (The Oak Tree). He was immediately impressed by the land, which, in
   contrast with the Netherlands, was thickly forested, hilly, and full of
   wildlife. Once in his post, he attracted the ire of Van Rensselaer with
   his independence. This manifested itself first when the schout selected
   one of the patroon's finest stallions for himself and then decided that
   his appointed farm was poorly chosen and simply picked another site.

   The patroon expected Van der Donck's primary concern to be the colony's
   profit rather than the colonists' welfare. According to Van Rensselaer,
   his duty was "to seek my advantage and protect me against loss." This
   was to consist mainly of cracking down on the black market and catching
   those who ran away before their service contracts expired. Instead, Van
   der Donck ignored Van Rensselaer's orders when told to collect late
   rent from those who obviously could not pay, protested that colonists
   could not swear binding oaths of loyalty on behalf of their servants,
   and began organizing improvements to various mills and the construction
   of a brickyard. Van Rensselaer's letters indicate that he became
   increasingly frustrated with his schout's behaviour, chiding him, "From
   the beginning you have acted not as officer but as director."

   In his employer's eyes, Van der Donck also spent a disturbing amount of
   time exploring the surroundings. During these excursions, he learned a
   great deal about the land and its inhabitants, often neglecting his
   duties as schout in his eagerness to observe and document as much as he
   could about this new land. He met local Indians, such as the Mahicans
   and the Mohawks, ate their food, and became adept at their language.
   Van der Donck recorded their customs, beliefs, medicine, political
   structure, and technology in an objective and detailed way.

   Unsatisfied in his post and realizing the potential of the land, Van
   der Donck eventually began to use his contacts amongst the Indians to
   negotiate for land in the Catskills, where he wanted to found his own
   colony. When Van Rensselaer learned that he sought to acquire
   neighboring land to his own, he snapped it up first. Van der Donck's
   contract as schout was not renewed when its term expired in 1644.

Early political activism

   Negotiating peace with the Indians
   Enlarge
   Negotiating peace with the Indians

   In New Amsterdam, disgruntled colonists had been sending ineffective
   complaints to the Dutch West India Company about the Director-General
   of New Netherland Willem Kieft, who had begun a bloody war with the
   Indians against the advice of the council of twelve men. Kieft's war
   badly damaged relations and trade between the Indians and the Dutch,
   made life more dangerous for colonists living in outlying areas, and
   drained the colony's resources. He exacerbated his relationship with
   the already financially strained colonists by enacting a tax on beaver
   skins and beer to fund the war.

   In 1645, Kieft tried to mend relations with the Indians and asked Van
   der Donck to assist as a guide and interpreter. At the negotiations,
   Kieft found himself in the awkward position of coming without the
   necessary gifts that accompanied a request for discussions of treaties.
   Van der Donck had not informed Kieft of this important component to
   negotiations in advance, but happened to have brought an appropriate
   amount of sewant ( wampum), which he loaned to Kieft.

   In return for this favour, Kieft granted Van der Donck 24,000 acres (97
   km²) on the mainland north of Manhattan in 1646. He named the estate
   Colen Donck and built several mills along what is now called Saw Mill
   River. The estate was so large that locals referred to him as the
   Jonkheer ("young gentleman" or "squire"), a word from which the name "
   Yonkers" is derived. Van der Donck had already married the Englishwoman
   Mary Doughty, whose father had lost his land after irking Kieft.

   Kieft remained out of favour with the colonists in New Amsterdam.
   Adriaen van der Donck stepped into this environment of political unrest
   and used his rhetorical legal skills to give voice to the disaffected
   colonists. Upon his arrival, the tone of the colonists' petitions
   suddenly changes. While ostensibly putting himself at Kieft's disposal
   as lawyer and translator, he was working with disgruntled members of
   the community to get Kieft recalled and convince the company of the
   need for a Dutch-style representative government in New Amsterdam.

   The Dutch West India Company did decide to remove Kieft from his post
   in 1647, citing the terrible damage caused to trade by his war against
   the Indians. But rather than yield to the colonists' requests for the
   establishment of local government, the company decided that a stronger
   Director-General would succeed in squelching political dissent. They
   chose Peter Stuyvesant. Despite this change, Van der Donck continued
   his flurry of documents against Kieft, apparently using his example now
   solely to make a case for the creation of a local government.

Board of Nine

   Van der Donck set about culturing a friendship with Stuyvesant upon his
   arrival in May 1647. Stuyvesant tried to take a firm hand with the
   colonists — it was noted that anyone who opposed him "hath as much as
   the sun and moon against him" — but eventually he had to agree to the
   creation of a permanent advisory board. Following a Dutch tradition,
   eighteen people would be elected, from whom Stuyvesant would choose
   nine to serve. Van der Donck's politicking eventually won him
   Stuyvesant's approval and selection by his new peers as "President of
   the Commonality" in 1648.

   Within days, the Board of Nine declared itself independent of the
   company. They sought Stuyvesant's blessing for a mission to The Hague
   to ask the Dutch States General to take over management of the colony.
   Van der Donck interviewed the inhabitants of New Amsterdam and
   meticulously documented their many grievances against the West India
   Company, Kieft, and Stuyvesant. He planned to synthesize their
   complaints into a single document to be presented to the States
   General. Feeling betrayed by Van der Donck, Stuyvesant arrested him,
   removed him from the Board of Nine, and seized his papers to use as
   evidence of treason.

   Despite this, on July 26, 1649, eleven current and former members of
   the Board signed the Petition of the Commonality of New Netherland,
   which requested that the States General take action to encourage
   economic freedom and force local government like that in the
   Netherlands, removing the colony from the company's control. Van der
   Donck was one of three men selected to travel to the Netherlands to
   present this request, along with a description of the colony written
   primarily by Van der Donck entitled Remonstrance of New Netherland. The
   latter makes the case that the colony is unusually valuable and in
   danger of being lost due to mismanagement under the Dutch West India
   Company.

Return to the Netherlands

   The Jansson-Visscher map of the American Northeast first published by
   Van der Donck
   Enlarge
   The Jansson-Visscher map of the American Northeast first published by
   Van der Donck

   While in the Netherlands, Van der Donck engaged in political and public
   relations campaigns in addition to organizing groups of new colonists
   for New Netherland. He repeatedly presented his case to the States
   General opposite a representative sent by Stuyvesant, Cornelius van
   Tienhoven.

Public relations campaign

   The case before the States General was delayed because of disruptions
   within the Dutch government caused by William II of Orange. During this
   delay, Van der Donck turned his attention to public relations. In 1650,
   he printed his Remonstrance as a pamphlet. His enthusiastic description
   of the land and its potential created much excitement about New
   Netherland; so many were suddenly eager to immigrate that ships were
   forced to turn away paying passengers. A Dutch West India Company
   director wrote, "Formerly New Netherland was never spoken of, and now
   heaven and earth seem to be stirred up by it and every one tries to be
   the first in selecting the best pieces [of land] there."

   To go alongside the Remonstrance, Van der Donck commissioned a map of
   the colony, the Jansson-Visscher map. It showed New Netherland along
   the original Dutch territoral claim from Cape Hinlopen just south of
   the Delaware Bay at 38 degrees to the start of New England at 42
   degrees and included drawings of typical Indian villages, wild game,
   and the town of New Amsterdam. The map itself remained the definitive
   map of the area for over a century, cementing many Dutch place names.
   It would be reprinted thirty-one times before the mid-18th century.

The States General's decision

   A page from Van der Donck's Description of New Netherland
   Enlarge
   A page from Van der Donck's Description of New Netherland

   Apparently, Van der Donck's decision to go public paid off, because in
   April 1650, the States General issued a provisional order that the West
   India Company create a more liberal form of government to encourage
   emigration to the Dutch colony. They produced their final decision in
   1652: the Dutch West India Company was forced to order Stuyvesant to
   set up a municipal government. A municipal charter was enacted in New
   Amsterdam on February 2, 1653. The States General also drafted a letter
   in April 1652 demanding the recall of Stuyvesant to the Netherlands,
   which Van der Donck would personally deliver to the director governor.

   Van der Donck prepared to return to New Amsterdam having successfully
   secured a liberal government for the colony without the restrictions of
   the Dutch West India Company and national support for emigrating
   colonists from the Netherlands to the colonies. He was also reinstated
   as President of the Board of Nine and would be a leader in the new
   government.

   Before Van der Donck could sail for home, the First Anglo-Dutch War
   broke out, and his hopes for New Amsterdam suddenly and unexpectedly
   fell apart. The States General feared experimenting in local government
   in a time of war, and so rescinded their decision.

   Defeated, Van der Donck tried to return to New Netherland but, as a
   demonstrated troublemaker, he was detained. In the meantime, he took a
   Supremus in jure degree at the University of Leiden. Still eager to
   promote the colony, he also wrote a comprehensive description of its
   geography and native peoples based on material in his earlier
   Remonstrance.

   Due to the war, the publication of Van der Donck's Beschryvinge van
   Nieuw-Nederlant (Description of New Netherland) was delayed until 1655,
   but was wildly popular, going into a second edition the very next year.
   However, it was not published in English until 1841, and even then only
   in a poor translation that eliminated subtleties and often even
   reversed the intended meaning.

Return to New Amsterdam

   On May 26, 1653, in the hopes of finally being allowed to return home,
   Van der Donck sent the following petition to the Dutch West India
   Company directors:

          The undersigned, Adriaen van der Donck, humbly requests consent
          and passport of the Board to go to New Netherland, offering to
          resign the commission previously given to him as President of
          the community, or otherwise as its deputy, and...to accept no
          office whatever it may be, but rather to live in private
          peacefully and quietly as a common inhabitant, submitting to the
          orders and commands of the Company or those enacted by its
          director.

   This promise seemed to satisfy the directors, and Van der Donck
   received permission to return to New Netherland. Giving up public
   office was apparently not enough, though: once home he was denied the
   right to continue practicing law because there was no one of
   "sufficient ability and the necessary qualifications...to act and plead
   against the said Van der Donck". These restrictions seem to have not
   hindered his behind- the-scenes efforts: another political uprising
   against Stuyvesant broke out just weeks after Van der Donck's return.

   There is no record of Adriaen van der Donck's death, but he was alive
   during the summer of 1655, and a statement by Stuyvesant in early 1656
   seems to indicate that he was dead. He probably died at his farm in one
   of a series of Indian raids in September 1655, called the Peach Tree
   War. He was survived in New Netherland by his wife and by his parents,
   whom he had separately convinced to immigrate.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriaen_van_der_Donck"
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