Pessia Goldberg
IDC 4001H – Prof. Maciuika
03/03/14
Whatever its flaws, New York has always been known as a bastion of personal and religious tolerance. But what I found most surprising so far in Russell Shorto’s The Island at the Center of the World is just how ingrained that sentiment is in America. Not only is our country famously free of persecution, but it also appropriately hails from the most historically tolerant of the 17th century European powers: The Dutch Republic. I had always assumed that people left Europe for America in order to have the freedom to practice their beliefs. But I learned, rather, that New Amsterdam was founded in the same spirit as its Dutch homeland. New York is continuing a legacy rather than breaking a tradition.
Even though colony director Willem Kieft would chose to fight the Native American population out of greed, his fellow advisors, and indeed most of the colony, were uneager to do so. True, they were greatly outnumbered, but I’d like to think that something nobler was at play. Russell Shorto writes that the Native Americans were valuable trade partners for the colonists and that it wasn’t unusual for the Dutch colonists to be able to speak in several Native American dialects. Though I’m not saying the colonists considered the Native Americans their equals by any means, they still tolerated them in the same way that they tolerated all the various races and religions in their home and new countries. Namely, they looked down on them, but left them alone as long as they contributed to society and didn’t cause any trouble.
Under Kieft’s unwise council, the colonists began a cycle of unnecessary bloodshed, but despite the heavy cost to human lives, it became clear that tolerance was still one of the foundations of the Dutch philosophy. Back in the Dutch Republic, the colonists’ actions were vigorously condemned, and the residents of New Amsterdam were reminded why peaceful coexistence was necessary. Unfortunately, it was too late.
