under english rule

Continuing from the previous piece about the birth of New York, here’s another bunch of stuff copied from a text book written by someone else. And again, it all seems fair enough at first until you start to dig deeper. Things I got wrong this time: • Stuyvesant’s laws weren’t necessarily ‘too strict’ as much as utterly barbaric, particularly when it came to religious freedom. He forbade Protestants from worshipping even in their own homes, attempted to have Jewish refugees deported on the basis that they were a “deceitful race” who were “hateful” and “repugnant”, had a Quaker preacher publicly tortured and issued an ordnance that anyone harbouring a Quaker might be fined, imprisoned or even hanged • The Dutch did surrender peacefully in 1664, but retook the colony in 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, only to hand it back to the English the following year as part of a peace treaty. There’s also speculation that it wasn’t so much a surrender anyway, more a corporate handover • New York was indeed named after James, Duke of York, who was the brother of King Charles II. But James was also later crowned King of England, only to be deposed in 1688 by his own daughter Mary II and her husband William III (also known as William of Orange), who was already ruler of the Dutch Republic. Which makes the notion of whether the English or the Dutch then controlled New York deeply confusing. Not quite as confusing as how a King can be ruler of a Republic, but never mind • Jacob Leisler did organise a rebellion against the ruling body in New York, becoming its ruler in 1690, but only for about a year before being arrested, imprisoned and tried, after which he was indeed found guilty of treason and hanged • John Peter Zenger was arrested and tried for criticising the Governor in his newspaper, but in 1733, not 1735. His acquittal is regarded as a landmark case in American legal history, affirming press freedom in America. But successive Governors ignored it entirely, until the First Amendment to the US Constitution enshrined it in law in 1791 So actually, not bad. Not entirely accurate, but I could have done a lot worse.

September 1979 - March 1980

Under English Rule

The American War of Independence >

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Manhattan Island Under English Rule The American War of Independence My Way to School Back to New York The Beginnings of Paris The Story of the Earth The Planets How the World is Changing Shape Rocks and Fossils The Seas How the Sea Shapes the Land The Nature Trail Way of Insect Watching What is Prehistory?

FAIRBURN The place where I wrote all this rubbish

WAEN SHEPHERD Who was this strange little boy?

HISTORY 1 Sept 1979 - Oct 1981

Bonfire Night Waen’s first time at the annual village fireworks display

Sheet Lightning Waen and his Gran shelter from the sheet- shaped storm

Great Space Battles Three mighty empires take their first steps into outer space

TERM 1 A day-by-day account of Waen’s first term at Fairburn School

TERM 2 The birth of the 1980s - Blake’s 7, Blondie and battles in space

TOPIC 1 He knows the names of all the dinosaurs

Waen Shepherd 2 Waen’s heroic antics in the far-flung future of 2007 AD!

Continuing from the previous piece about the birth of New York, here’s another bunch of stuff copied from a text book written by someone else. And again, it all seems fair enough at first until you start to dig deeper. Things I got wrong this time: • Stuyvesant’s laws weren’t necessarily ‘too strict’ as much as utterly barbaric, particularly when it came to religious freedom. He forbade Protestants from worshipping even in their own homes, attempted to have Jewish refugees deported on the basis that they were a “deceitful race” who were “hateful” and “repugnant”, had a Quaker preacher publicly tortured and issued an ordnance that anyone harbouring a Quaker might be fined, imprisoned or even hanged • The Dutch did surrender peacefully in 1664, but retook the colony in 1673 during the Third Anglo- Dutch War, only to hand it back to the English the following year as part of a peace treaty. There’s also speculation that it wasn’t so much a surrender anyway, more a corporate handover • New York was indeed named after James, Duke of York, who was the brother of King Charles II. But James was also later crowned King of England, only to be deposed in 1688 by his own daughter Mary II and her husband William III (also known as William of Orange), who was already ruler of the Dutch Republic. Which makes the notion of whether the English or the Dutch then controlled New York deeply confusing. Not quite as confusing as how a King can be ruler of a Republic, but never mind • Jacob Leisler did organise a rebellion against the ruling body in New York, becoming its ruler in 1690, but only for about a year before being arrested, imprisoned and tried, after which he was indeed found guilty of treason and hanged • John Peter Zenger was arrested and tried for criticising the Governor in his newspaper, but in 1733, not 1735. His acquittal is regarded as a landmark case in American legal history, affirming press freedom in America. But successive Governors ignored it entirely, until the First Amendment to the US Constitution enshrined it in law in 1791 So actually, not bad. Not entirely accurate, but I could have done a lot worse.

War of Independence >

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