Revisiting New Netherland ─ Perspectives on Early Dutch America

Lest we forget how Harlem got its name, this collection of 12 articles describes the considerable influence of the Dutch in North America before they ceded their territory to the English in 1674, passing on both the sword of rule and the pen. The articles re-read that situation and find how historical memory has served the victor, how the Atlantic world was once able to support not only a New Netherland but also a New Sweden, how municipal citizenship in New Amsterdam was in fact a challenge for both burgher and artisan, and why the early years of the Keifts and the Stuyvesants faded into darkness. The final articles show how using family histories and other primary documents have improved efforts to trace the influence of the Dutch on America and the formation of the early American identity. Annotation c2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Joyce D. Goodfriend, Ph.D. (1975) in History, University of California, Los Angeles, is Professor of History at the University of Denver. She is the author ofBefore the Melting Pot: Society and Culture in Colonial New York City, 1664-1730 (Princeton 1992) as well as numerous essays on the Dutch in early America.