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Points made against Rensselaerswijck

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[1] Now follow the points against the patroon and co-directors, whereupon satisfaction shall be demanded from them: ]

Those of the Colonie Renselaerswijck have far exceeded the limits granted them by the freedoms, and were consequently again required duly to fix the boundaries aforesaid, ] and to cause the beginning and the end thereof to be recorded at the Company's office, or else the Company will be obliged itself to establish order therein.

That those of the aforesaid Colonie, both inside as well as outside their boundaries, have tried, against every right and contrary to the good intentions of the Company, to establish a commercial monopoly on the North River, and as a result obstruct and hinder other private parties in the trade.

That they have made their soldiers promise not to let any ship or vessel sail or pass by a certain house named Renselaersteijn, but to seize everything; as a result, claiming a certain unfounded staple right.

Likewise, that they wanted to extort from the various private parties 7 stivers for duty on each beaver and five percent on other goods, using for this the previous claims some cannon to fire through the sails of passing yachts.

That those of the Colony have tried to alienate Fort Orange from the Company by indirect and malicious means, and afterward tried to give out and build on the lots located nearby to the disadvantage of the aforesaid fort, against the objections and protestations of the Company.

That they have undertaken to give commissions to private parties to sail along the coast of Forida.

That they have enacted and published various ordinances not only without the knowledge and communication of the Company but also tending to the disservice of the same, among other things.

That no one is allowed to remove oneself from the Colony to the Company, except under pain of corporal punishment, forfeiture of goods, and banishment as a purjurer.

They forbid, even on pain of corporal punishment, any wood to be cut or hauled for those of Fort Orange, and a certain man named Claes Jansen van Boeckhoven was by great favor amerced in a fine of 50 guilders solely because ] he had transported some firewood from the aforesaid fort for a certain Lambert van Valckenburg, an inhabitant of Fort Orange. ]

That they forbid their colonists to pay their ] debts to those of the aforesaid fort.

That they forbid appeals of judgments, which are above 50 guilders, and are therefore subject to appeal.

That they refuse extracts of their proceedings and judgments.

Likewise, that they will not allow any writs of appeal be executed, which are granted now and then; nor suffer ] any placards of the director and councilors be published and posted, but rather snatch them by force from the hands of the court messenger and destroy the seals.

And even if the aforesaid writs or other citations are executed and carried out with assistance of the Company's authority, the summoned parties are incited not to appear.

That the oath, which the colonists are obliged to take, is in some points seditious and rebellious, and acknowledges neither their High Mightinesses nor the Company.

Furthermore, that those of the Colonie have never made any report of the state of their condition, as they are annually obligated to do.

Likewise, they have never communicated the instructions drawn up by the patroon and the co-directors regarding the administration of the Colonie, from which has arisen:

Great insolence and trouble from some of their commanders toward the settlers;

Intolerable protests, reproaches, threats, aggravations, and defiance against the officials of the Company.[2]

Endorsed: ] Concerning the points and the Company's answers thereon.

Notes

See NYCD, 1:524-25 for a translation of the document from which this copy was made. Damaged material has been recovered from this source.
The version of this protest at the Rijksarchief has a final paragraph which is omitted here. It reads: "And finally, a general disobedience of all the Company's commands and ordinances, even to that degree that they will not suffer the director and council to issue a proclamation for a day of humiliation and prayer in the colonie, as was done for the entire of New Netherland"; see NYCD, 1:525.

References

A complete copy of this publication is available on the New Netherland Institute website.