Dutch Colonial Archaeology: New Netherland
Background to Dutch Colonial Expansion
In the 1580s, the Dutch successfully revolt against Spanish Hapsburg rule
The English helped the Dutch to defend against the Spanish & maintain
control of Zeeland (islands that commanded greatest river entrance into
Europe)
Antwerp (Belgium) was the fulcrum of northwest European finance &
commerce, but was recaptured by the Spanish
Thousands of Flemish & Walloons, esp. Protestants, fled into northern
Netherlands
Amsterdam soon doubled in population & became the centre for new
trade
In the 1590s, Dutch vessels began trading to Africa, Brazil, & the Orient
Dutch Ships
Flit, fluyt (flyboat)
Main ship for trade usually
heavily armed, interchangeable,
mass-produced parts. Large
carrying capacity, small crew, low
overhead
Jacht
smaller ship for coastal
trade gaff-rigged
Dutch Merchants
Became the middlemen of Europe, taking French & Iberian wine,
brandy, oil, & salt to the Baltic and exchanging these for timber
products, iron, & steel
Dutch imported large quantities of wheat & rye from Poland &
Prussia for their own use & re-exported much to Southern Europe
At home, Dutch developed specialized market agriculture
In 1602, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) formed with state
assistance:
By 1609 competing actively along main eastern routes
Engaged Henry Hudson to search for a westward passage through America
Dutch become primary Atlantic sea-power
Superimpose their own patterns on earlier ones with an emphasis
on commerce. Become the principal agents of contact & diffusions
around the Atlantic circuit
Responsible for the spread of Africans:
- Ship Africans to Virginia & sell to English in 1619
- Slaves become critical - help build New Amsterdam
Introduce more efficient plantation & marketing systems; influences
from Dutch Brazil critical to emergence of English Barbados & French
Martinique as wealthy sugar colonies.
These islands became critical in the transfer of English & French
planter societies to mainland
Henry Hudson’s Voyages
Found two great rivers behind broad sandy shields of coastal
New Jersey & Long Island, whose estuaries had never been
explored. The northern river reached 150 miles inland
clearly a strategic portal
Beginning of Dutch claim to & interest in all land between New
England and Virginia
In 1621, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) was formed
specifically to gain dominance over Atlantic trade
The Dutch West India Company
Primary focus on
capture of Spanish treasure fleets
domination of sugar & slave trade
Company’s directors familiar with the fervor in England for planting
Therefore gave attention to colonization projects as well
Hudson Valley & Guiana were chief areas of interest
Scheme to use English Separatists (Pilgrims) for colony on the Hudson
This was rejected by the Dutch government
used Protest Flemish & Walloons who had petitioned to the London Company of
Virginia to go to America ; hence religious refugees formed main body of 1st Dutch
colonies in North America
Dutch purchased Manhattan Island from local Indians and laid out New
Amsterdam on its southern tip
The Dutch arrive to set up a trade post, a scene repeated across
the globe in the 17th century
Major West India Company
settlements in the Atlantic
(1640s–1650s)
Major VOC settlements in the
East (1660s)
New Netherland
Area of modern-day New York State, New Jersey, and parts
of Delaware and Connecticut, settled by Dutch in 1624
Immediately successful because the Dutch were aware of
the previous experiences of other European colonization efforts
British took control in 1664, restored to Dutch control in 1673;
permanently ceded to Britain 1674
Developed “conditions for colonies” This was a detailed set
of instructions about what equipment and supplies to
bring; emphasized the need for self-sufficiency
New Netherland
New Netherland : Archaeological Sites
Two types of sites:
1. Fortified urban mercantile centres
- Manhattan Island
- Fort Orange (Albany)
2. Large landed agricultural estates —patroonships
New Amsterdam/New York: administrative & trading centre
multi-ethnic community (Dutch, Walloons, Huguenots,
Scandinavians, Germans, English, Scots, Jews, Africans, and
Native Americans)
Most trade direct with Amsterdam
Retention of Dutch foodways & culture well into British regime
New Amsterdam in 1664
Albany Timeline
1624 — Fort Orange established
1664 — Dutch surrender New Netherland to the Duke of York
1673 — Dutch regain control of New York for a year
1676 — English build a new fort overlooking Albany
1686 — Albany receives its municipal charter
1697 — Census shows city population at 714
1713–1744 — Three decades of peace on the New York frontier
1714 — city population counted at 1128
1754–1763 — The French and Indian War
1765 — Albany buys the fort and other military buildings from the British
1766 — Sons of Liberty orchestrate opposition to the Stamp Act
1766 — Docks and seawall built by Albany Corporation
1776 — Tories arrested for drinking to the King's health
1790 — Albany population reaches 3,498
1793 — Albany's first great fire destroys several blocks in the core city
1799 — New York State passes law that will abolish slavery by 1827
1800 — Census fixes city population at 5,349
Fort Orange/Renselaerswyck
Renselaerswyck:
agricultural colony that grew up around Fort Orange on both
sides of Hudson founded by Killiaen van Rensselaer, Amsterdam diamond
merchant, under license from WIC
Fort Orange:
established 1624 (excavated by Paul Huey)
remnants found in salvage projects in Albany revealed south moat of fort faced
with cobblestones included several houses.
Van Doesburgh house
wood-floored cellar & walls collapsed by 1660
delft tiles
decorative leaded glass windows
brick chimney, plaster, & pantile roof
glassware—extremely delicate & fragile
few coins found, but some wampum
trade goods - glass beads, clay pipes, jews harps
few tools or other trade items & few military items
Present-day location of Fort Orange
Fort Nassau
Fort Orange (Albany)
Beverwyck (settlement that grew up north of Fort Orange)
Archaeological Projects in Albany
Dean Street Excavations
1698
1759
1794
1793
1843
1850
1876
Dean Street Excavations
General area of excavations
Dean Street Excavations
Views of well-preserved
remains of early wharves
Dean Street Excavations:
finds indicating global trade
Conch shell from Caribbean
Cowrie shell bearing inscription:
In remembrance of me
As time may pass and years may fly
and every hope decay and die
---joyful dream lived beset
---ever can forget.
The cowrie is probably from Africa.
Portion of Gunter’s quadrant
Dean Street Excavations
Remains of well
Fragments of Delft
tiles
Late 18th/ early 19th-century
tea bowls & saucer from
Albany sites
Quackenbush Square Excavations
Quackenbush Square Excavations
Area 1: Remains of 17th-century Dutch house
Quackenbush Square: Excavations of Brick Yard
Quackenbush Square Excavations
Area 5: 18th-Century Distillery
Quackenbush Square Excavations
Area 5: Interpreting the 18th-Century Still House
Quackenbush Square Excavations
Area 5: Interpreting the 18th-Century Still House
Dutch material Culture and Foodways
Diet very similar to that of Netherlands
bread most important
Usually made from wheat or rye flour - cheaper
bought from bakers
Cheese, butter, fish, eggs, shellfish, vegetables, & grain gruels
cheese & fish principal sources of protein
Meat in smoked or salted forms for all but poorest people
Beverages
beer, milk, whey, buttermilk, and wine
Some wild species, especially in early years
Adopted North American maize to some extent, as replacement for grainbased gruels
Most common pottery vessel types
Grapen
Skillets (steelpan or bakpan)
Colanders
plates (higher percentage than on English sites)
Dutch material Culture and Foodways
The types of artifacts for food preparation found include a
variety of coarse earthenwares
redwares & sometimes buff-paste wares
These reflect simple dishes & simple cooking techniques
Pancakes
Waffles
Pies
Porridges
Grilling
Roasting
Frying
Stewing
Common forms of Dutch Utilitarian Ceramics
(a) Chamber Pot (kamerpot), Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Dutch lead-glazed whiteware, yellow, c. 1640-1650.
(b) Serving dish (dienstschotel), Delft, the Netherlands. Dutch lead-glazed redware, polychrome, 17th century.
(c) Pipkin (grape or kookkan), Delft, the Netherlands. Dutch lead-glazed earthenware, 17th century.
(d) Skillet (steelpan), DeRyp, the Netherlands. Dutch lead-glazed earthenware, c. 1650.
(e) Bowl (oorkom), Dutch lead-glazed redware, polychrome, c. 1630.
(f) Colander (vergiet), Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Dutch lead-glazed whiteware, dark green, c. 1630.
Three views of a Dutch
slip-decorated porringer,
dated 1614
Dutch tin-glazed
earthenware (Delft)
Lobed fruit dish
Drug pot
Woman in Window (note fluted delft fruit dish); top right,
Still Life with Wan Li porcelain; bottom right, still life
with Roemer (note fancy prunts on glass’s stem)
Two mid-17th-century scenes of well-off Dutch households, painted by de
Hooch. Above, Interior with Young Couple; right, The Visit.
Jan Steen, Merry Family, 1660s
Maes, Girl Peeling Apples, 1655
Maes, Lacemaker, 1665
Man in Armor (in the style of
Rembrandt)
Bisschop, Young Girl in a Tavern
The Smoker
Tavern scene
Jan Steen, The Dissolute
Household, 1665