The history of New York was quite interesting to read; its development and metamorphosis into a culturally rich and diverse city is much more complex than I had known.
Although initially the only religion that was permitted to be practiced publicly was Calvinisim, we can all attest to the religious freedom and opportunities present in New York. Time after time, a new ethnic/religious group arrived in New Amsterdam hoping to freely express their beliefs, and time and time again, the Dutch East India Company were tolerant, believing that it would lead to commercial prosperity. Their lenient attitude set the foundation for what would be the most populated city in the United States.
Africans were an essential element of the New Netherland population- they performed much of the labor, forming the infrastructure of the colony, building roads, working on farms to produce food to feed the colony’s inhabitants, etc. They were the overwhelming majority of the labor force. True, much of the growth and progress of New York is credited to the slaves, but I don’t think that they were necessarily the primary reason why New York is here today. Say slavery had been abolished, perhaps the Native Americans would have been put to work, or maybe the Africans would have been paid workers instead of slaves. Essentially, it was the masters who directed the working, and the end result should be credited to their instruction as well.
I noticed that the battle between the masters and slaves seemed sort of like a cycle- where the slaves began with a given amount of rights, gradually decreasing every time they fought for their freedom. For instance, at first, a few of the Africans were given half freedom, which applied to the man and wife, but not towards the children. However, when the indentured servants completed their indentured period, they immediately got total freedom and land—and their children weren’t automatically indentured servants. Of course, the Africans desired to be of equal status, which resulted into much tension, and then more restrictions, fewer privileges. Later, a law was instituted that converting slaves to Christianity would not make them free. “The teaching that every soul was equal in the sight of G-d could lead some to claim racial equality on earth.” (Harris) This shows that they were willing to go completely against the tenets of their faith to rationalize their inhumane behavior. Unfortunately, the tolerance that served as the incentive for people to travel to New York did not extend to the African Americans.
