New Netherland Chapter 1 Summary

In the fifth chapter of the novel, Woodard introduces the nation of New Netherland (located in modern day New York), detailing how it was founded by the Dutch and describing how its Dutch origins influenced the nation’s cultural ideology and form of government. Established as a fur-trading post by the Dutch West India Company in 1624, New Netherland was a smaller settlement that was both incredibly diverse and tolerant, much like modern day New York City. As a trading post, New Netherland housed goods from all throughout the North American colonies, and as a result, attracted many different ethnic groups to settle there, most prominent among these groups were the Jews, whose largest population in all of North America was concentrated in New