Cobblestone articles from October 2007

Cobblestone archives from October 2007

Dutch roots.
October 1, 2007... Looking for signs of 17th-century New Amsterdam among the skyscrapers and traffic-clogged streets of New York City? Good luck! Almost nothing remains of the Dutch settlement that blossomed at the southern tip of Manhattan 350 years ago. You...

New Netherland's range.(Mapping It)
October 1, 2007... The Dutch referred to their settlement in the New World as "New Netherland" as early as 1614. They considered their territory to extend across most of the [and that today includes parts of New York, western Connecticut, western Massachusetts,...

Accidental explorer: he was an English seafarer, sailing under a Dutch flag, looking for a way to reach China. He never did find a route to Asia, but he did introduce his Dutch employers to a new world.
October 1, 2007... "He" was Henry Hudson. The earliest record of his life is a journal he kept of his first known voyage of exploration. He was in his forties and was employed as a sea captain for the Muscovy Company, an English trading firm. On April 19, 1607,...

A rising nation.
October 1, 2007... Before they became the Netherlands, a group of tiny provinces in northern Europe had struggled against Spanish rule. In 1579, after more than a decade of revolt, seven of these northern lands declared their independence from Spain and formed...

Other journeys to the new world.(Going Global)
October 1, 2007... Henry Hudson may have discovered the Hudson River and paved the way for the settlement of New Netherland, but there were many other explorers who found their way, either accidentally or on purpose, to the New World. [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED]...

Trade--and then trouble.
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Henry Hudson's 1609 trip up the river that would later bear his name opened the door to a very profitable fur trade business for the Dutch. The demand for furs in Europe was high, and beavers were almost extinct...

The Dutch West India Company.
October 1, 2007... Trade in spices and other luxury goods from Asia had made the Dutch East India Company hugely successful. So, in 1621, the States-General, the ruling body of the Dutch Republic, granted permission for a group of 19 Dutch merchants to create a...

Did you know?
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Algonquin natives living around Manhattan called it Manna-Hata, which meant "Island of the Hills." Today's Broadway--New York City's most famous avenue--had its origins as a wide Native American path running...

Supplying slaves.
October 1, 2007... The first Africans arrived in New Amsterdam in 1624, two years before the Dutch West India Company officially founded the city. Dutch privateers had captured 11 Angolans from Portuguese slave ships carrying Africans to the Spanish colonies in...

New Amsterdam: that Cosmopolitan Capital.
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A decade after Henry Hudson's voyage up the North River, only a handful of New Netherlanders were scattered among several outposts along that waterway. It was time to make the Dutch presence more permanent. The Dutch...

A home at last.
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A small sailing ship nosed up to the wharf at the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam. Among those waiting behind the ship's rail that September day in 1654 were 23 men, women, and children--Jewish people who had been...

A head for business.(Biography)
October 1, 2007... Margaret Hardenbroeck had more in mind for herself than just settling down and raising a family. An unmarried businesswoman, Margaret arrived in New Amsterdam in 1659 to act as an agent for her cousin, a Dutch merchant who traded household...

Fun libs, Dutch-style.
October 1, 2007... Did you say anything in Dutch today? It's more likely than you Dutch place names and words have been around for more than 300 years and still are in use today. Discover some original Dutch words and see how they have become familiar...

A Dutch who's who.
October 1, 2007... SUCCESSFUL PATRON [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Kiliaen van Rensselaer (c. 1585-1643) was a Dutch diamond merchant whose role as a founder of and investor in the West India Company earned him vast land holdings in northern New Netherland. A...

Clashes in the colonies: Director-General Peter Minuit's rule over New Netherland may have ended in 1631, but it was not long before he returned to North America as an agent for the Swedes. The New Sweden Company wanted its own fur-trading colony, and they looked to Minuit to help them establish it in the New World.
October 1, 2007... The Swedes Settle In In March 1638, the Swedish ships Kalmar Nyckel and Fogel Grip landed at Delaware Bay and founded New Sweden. The settlers built Fort Christina (named for Sweden's queen) at present-day Wilmington, Delaware. ...

Getting history straight: an interview with Dr. Charles T. Gehring.(The Past Is Present)(Interview)
October 1, 2007... You could say that languages are Dr. Charles T. Gehring's "thing." Having studied all the German languages, he is the perfect candidate for his current task: the translation of Dutch colonial historical records into English. His job is made...

Voyage of dicovery.
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A cold north wind blows long the river. Aboard their vessel, the crew sees an enormous stretch of river and sky. On both sides of the river, mountains of green rise straight from the water's edge. But this is no...

Dive into a Dutch crossword.
October 1, 2007... We took some important facts about New Netherland and fit them into a crossword puzzle. After reading this issue, how quickly can you fill in the clues> Answer on page 42. ACROSS 2. Director-General Willem--ordered a series of attacks...

Green's Different View.(Your Letters)(Poem)
October 1, 2007... Green's Different View Green is like grass with morning dew. Green can be deadly like acid. Green can be like the ocean, vast and beautiful. Green is like a happy frog that just caught a fly. Green is like a big...

Bad Microwave.(Your Letters)(Poem)
October 1, 2007... Bad Microwave Biting! Swirling! Eating! Churning! My microwave is out of control. I tried to calm it, but that didn't work. Wherever I go, my microwave lurks. I gave it ice cream. I gave it my homework. ...

School.(Your Letters)(Poem)
October 1, 2007... School Every day, I go to school. And while I'm there, I feel like a fool. All I do is sit and write. Sometimes I do it half the night. When I go back, things are the same. Boy, it's such a terrible shame. ...

Still life.(Your Letters)
October 1, 2007... Still Life [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Kelsey Bell Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey

Freedom Rides of 1961.
October 1, 2007... Freedom Rides of 1961 (April 2008) America and Citizenship (May 2008) Celebrating Abraham Lincoln (September 2008) Write to us! Draw a picture or write a poem or short essay that connects to one of the above COBBLESTONE themes on which we...

Funky Animals.(Your Letters)(Poem)
October 1, 2007... Funky Animals Monkeys will swing from many trees, Pandas will eat lots of bamboo, Fishes, they will swim through the seas, When dogs sneeze, there is a lot of goo. Henry Burnett Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina...

Friendship.(Your Letters)(Poem)
October 1, 2007... Friendship We all have that feeling, that work of art that lies beneath our caring heart, it's not something we paint or put on shelves. It's something we must find within ourselves. This wonderful thing we all...

Whirling Wind.(Your Letters)(Poem)
October 1, 2007... Whirling Wind Wind is whirling all around me, leaves are flowing everywhere. Trees are looking bare and skies are dreary. The wind, sounding like a whispering ghost, blows all around me. Abby Weitzel ...

New York.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... New York by Craig A. Doherty and Katherine M. Doherty (New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2005, www.factsonfile.com), part of The Thirteen Colonies series, explores New York's early history and includes several chapters devoted to the Dutch...

The New York Colony.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... The New York Colony by Dennis B. Fradin (Chicago: Children's Press, 1998, www.scholastic.com/) devotes more than half of its pages to the colony's pre-18th-century history. Scattered throughout the book are biographical sidebars on many...

New York: Colonial Histories.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... New York: Colonial Histories by Gardell Dano Christensen (Nashville: Thomas Nelson. Inc., 1969, out of print but available through libraries) is slightly outdated but still a worthwhile read for the way it brings to dramatic life the people and...

New York, 1609-1776.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... New York, 1609-1776 by Michael Burgan (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2006, www.nationalgeographic.com), part of the Voices From Colonial America series, devotes more than half of its pages to the Dutch role in settling and...

Teacher resources.(Digging Deeper)
October 1, 2007... The New Netherland Museum (see "Places to Visit") offers several publications for classroom use. Included are lesson plans that rely on primary source documents to guide in-depth studies of New York's Dutch history. Fourth graders, for example,...

New York: The History of New York Colony, 1624-1776.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] New York: The History of New York Colony, 1624-1776 by Roberta Wiener (Chicago: Raintree Publishers, 2005, www.heinemannraintree.com)' Few Americans are aware of New York's tumultuous early history. This short book...

On the web.
October 1, 2007... The New Netherland Project's Web site, www.nnp.org/, offers a brief history of the organization's efforts to transcribe Dutch colonial documents, plus a wealth of additional resources for both Dutch- and English-speakers. Just scroll down to...

Philipsburg Manor.(Places to Visit)
October 1, 2007... Philipsburg Manor, Sleepy Hollow, New York, www.hudsonvalley.org/philipsburg/index.htm. This property originally belonged to Frederick Philipse, a Dutch patroon. Visitors can see a working gristmill, chat with costumed interpreters, tour the...

New Netherland Museum.
October 1, 2007... New Netherland Museum, Albany, New York, www.newnetherland.org/. The museum organizes trips aboard a replica of the HolfMoon, the ship that Henry Hudson sailed in 1609 when he journeyed up the river that was later named for him (see page 36 to...

South Street Seaport Museum.
October 1, 2007... South Street Seaport Museum, New York, New York, www.southstseaport.org/ archaeology/nyunearthed.shtm. The museum's special archaeology arm, New York Unearthed, gives visitors a chance to help reconstruct history through the study of artifacts...

Ethan rates it ...(Website overview)
October 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Did you know that it wasn't just the English who settled America? The Dutch settled New Netherland around the same time the English were landing at Jamestown and Cape Cod! learned this and a lot more at...

Historic wall street.(Flashback to ...)
October 1, 2007... In 1624, Peter Minuit arrived on Manhattan with a small band of settlers. Two years later, he purchased Manhattan Island from the Indians for jewelry and goods valued at 60 guilders, or about 24 dollars. Minuit built a fort with a blockhouse, a...

Brain ticklers.
October 1, 2007... Give your brain a little tickle to see how well you read and understood this issue on the Dutch settlement of New Netherland. If you believe the answer to be false, give yourself the ultimate test and see whether you can explain why it is...

A final word.
October 1, 2007... Imagine if the residents of New Amsterdam had resisted the English attempt to take over their colony in 1664. How might history have turned out differently?

Cartoon connection with Ebenezer & the Colonel.(Comic)(Cartoon)
October 1, 2007... It's amazing! This huge, vibrant city start out as the tiny Dutch settlement of a NEW AMSTERDAM. OK. I'm amazed already. WHEN'S LUNCH?! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I like to imagine all the people who played a role in the city's...

Righteous rodents!(Creature Feature)
October 1, 2007... Several thousand years ago, huge beavers as big as bears roamed freely over North America. Today, the beaver is the second-largest rodent in the world--South America's capybara is the only one that's bigger. With their powerful jaws and sharp,...