Hello and welcome to a history of the United States.

Episode 54.

New York divided.

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In our last episode, we covered how Rhode Island advanced from its 1644 patent into complete

chaos, a restoration of order under Roger Williams, and then the 1663 Royal Charter,

which secured its position as a colony. Today, I want to turn back to a topic

we last covered 10 episodes ago. New York and Delaware. 1664 was one of the most important

dates in the history of New York. In that year, the colony was taken from

the Dutch, who, to be honest, no longer really wanted it. New Netherlands had not produced the

promised profits, and Dutch merchants had other greater interests, for example, the Spice Islands. The English, however, were in the

process of setting up their dominion over the Atlantic seaboard, and the Dutch controlled land

between their northern and southern colonies, which was an unpleasant mark on the map.

The ownership of the land transferred from the Dutch West India Company to become the property

of James the Duke of York, brother of Charles II and future King James II.

This is why, rather than becoming the colony of New York, in the model of the colony of Virginia, New

Netherlands instead became the province of New York. In some ways, the transition was immediately felt.

Many Dutch farmers recognised the change and were happy to go along with it. They took surnames and anglicised their names.

For example, Carrel van Bruges became Charles Bridge. Yet, in deeper ways, it would take the colony

...