New York overflows with cultural, religious and ethnic diversity; to the point where acceptance is astonishing. New York has been a place of tolerance ever since the Dutch controlled New Amsterdam. The reason the Dutch were so accepting (or at least tolerant) of other religions was because of the desire for prosperity within the city. The Dutch East India Company sought commercial growth which lead to such a diversely populated city, but also to the increase of slave trade in the North.
Everyone associates slavery with the South, even though New York was, at one time, responsible for being one of the largest ports that conducted slave trade. Even though some slave owners could be “lenient,” meaning death wasn’t always the punishment for an insubordinate slave, no amount of leniency could cover up the fact that blacks were seen as nothing more than property. This “property” had very limited rights which were taken away as time went on, first losing their half freedom and then the ability to convert to Christianity as a means of becoming free. So in simplest terms, for blacks no amount of trying to elevate themselves to an equal status would ever free them; because blacks were incapable of understanding the religion in the eyes of the slave owners.
I agree with Ashley that New York was ahead of other colonies when it came to tolerance because colonial New York was seen as a promising opportunity for foreigners seeking (at least some) acceptance and monetary gain. But this desire for wealth and power led to a horrible practice of pitiless and remorseless treatment of slaves.
