Crossing the Sound: The Rise of Atlantic American Communities in Seventeenth-Century Eastern Long Island

2. English and Dutch Communities of Interest

English and Dutch Communities of Interest The seventeenth century was a time of tremendous change not only for the Ninnimissinuok peoples but also for the flood of Europeans who crossed the Atlantic and became part of the rampant mixture of peoples who made up the southern New England landscape. Into this region were drawn ever-increasing numbers of Dutch and English settlers who asserted overlapping claims to lands on the southern New England mainland and, stretching across the Sound, on Long Island. Like the Ninnimissinuok , the Dutch and English who became part of this emerging Atlantic American world were connected to each other through a broader cultural identity, but, once ensconced in their new world, they quickly divided into separate communities of interest whose respective goals were seen and played out in a variety of forums. The Dutch: In Pursuit of Their Interests Seventeenth-century Holland’s stature in Europe, along with its national identity and ambitions, was centered on trade. The original 1621 charter for the Dutch West India Company, through which Holland gained jurisdiction over New Netherland,1 reflected these aspirations and resembled more a modern corporate mission statement than a plan for colonial settlement . Its charter contained a “good government” clause that divided the company’s administration into five separate chambers of “managers” who were authorized to secure “the greatest profit and satisfaction of all concerned.”2 Dutch colonization was undertaken in pursuit of Holland’s ambition to establish a global trade network. This sentiment was frequently expressed in the writings and correspondence of the Dutch States 2 34 General and the Dutch West India Company. The Dutch West India Company ’s charter explicitly tied the success of the company to the success of the nation. It stated, “we knowing the prosperity of these countries, and the welfare of their inhabitants depends principally on navigation and trade . . . found it good that the navigation, trade and commerce . . . should not henceforth be carried on otherwise than by the common united strength of the merchants . . . and for that end shall be erected one General Company.”3 Its mission was to “increase Trade and Commerce .”4 The Dutch believed that God had bestowed on Holland a “great multitude of seamen” who “could not be employed” without trade. By extension , most Dutch occupations were perceived as appendages to these sea-borne commercial activities by which all were “maintained in continual action and prosperity.”5 Dutch control over land in the New World became a means to launch and access trade, but not an end in itself. Ultimately , permanent Dutch settlements in New York and southern New England served as staging points for Dutch trading activities; they were a tactic for excluding and repelling non-Dutch-sponsored (mostly English) settlements.6 The historian Patricia Seed has written that “discovery,” for the Dutch, was accomplished simply by “touching” lands not yet “discovered” by other claimant European nations. Possession was then secured by using these “discovered” regions as staging points for their ongoing trade activities . In the Dutch mind, “touching and trading” created a sufficient nexus for the assertion of a valid claim against all other Christian nations .7 Later, as trading posts and settlements were established in North America and as competition for the region with other Europeans (particularly the English) increased, the Dutch States General routinely reaffirmed Dutch title through the grant of charters. After 1629, yet another component was added; the Dutch began to obtain native deeds. Together , these charters and native deeds were considered by the Dutch settlers as sufficient to allow them to legitimately assert ownership in the face of all other claimants—particularly the English settlers who, with the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629, were aggressively spreading across the region.8 Thus, from the Dutch perspective, their title to lands in the New York and southern New England regions was perfected against any and all other transatlantic competitors by a combination of Dutch control over commerce and the appropriate official Dutch charters and native deeds.9 English and Dutch Communities of Interest | 35 The Dutch sought to apply this touching-and-trading standard to its transatlantic rivals. A dispute between the Dutch West India Company and Jacob Elkens, a former employee, illustrates this policy.10 By 1634, Elkens had left the Dutch company’s employ and was making his living as a kind of free agent for hire. He found and accepted employment representing...