Happy Bithday NYC: Celebrating 350 Years of Religious Tolerance
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Russell Shorto
Monday is New York’s birthday: 350 years ago, on Sept. 8, 1664, English soldiers took control of the Dutch city of New Amsterdam, on Manhattan Island. Such anniversaries may typically be of interest only to antiquarians, but the occasion resonates so sharply against the backdrop of recent events — the widening divide in American politics, racial and religious intolerance at home and abroad — that reflecting on it might provide a useful perspective on the principles that made us who we are today. In founding New Amsterdam in the 1620s, the Dutch planted the seeds for the city’s remarkable flowering. Specifically, the Dutch brought two concepts that became part of New York’s foundation: tolerance of religious differences and an entrepreneurial, free-trading culture. [link]
By Russell Shorto
Monday is New York’s birthday: 350 years ago, on Sept. 8, 1664, English soldiers took control of the Dutch city of New Amsterdam, on Manhattan Island. Such anniversaries may typically be of interest only to antiquarians, but the occasion resonates so sharply against the backdrop of recent events — the widening divide in American politics, racial and religious intolerance at home and abroad — that reflecting on it might provide a useful perspective on the principles that made us who we are today. In founding New Amsterdam in the 1620s, the Dutch planted the seeds for the city’s remarkable flowering. Specifically, the Dutch brought two concepts that became part of New York’s foundation: tolerance of religious differences and an entrepreneurial, free-trading culture. [link]