10/17/2026
On Peter Stuyvesant and Sephardic Jews in New York
The first Jews most likely arrived in New York in September 1654. This immediately caused issues for the Director-General of New Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant. In April 1655, Stuyvesant received a letter from the Dutch East Indies Company detailing how Jews previously living in Recife, a former Dutch colony in Brazil, would be granted entry to New Amsterdam. Stuyvesant protested the petition adamantly.
In previous exchanges between Stuyvesant and the Dutch East Indies Company, Stuyvesant remarked, “Jewish settlers should not be granted the same liberties enjoyed by Jews in Holland, lest members of other persecuted minority groups, such as Roman Catholics, be attracted to the colony.”
His bigotry was palpable when he wrote, “the deceitful race, such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ, be not allowed to further infect and trouble this new colony.” Additionally, Stuyvesant was the biggest slave owner at the time with 40 slaves. When the 23 Jews arrived in New Amsterdam from Brazil, Stuyvesant seized all their possessions and sold them at auctions. He then jailed two people and requested the expulsion of the Jews, which was denied on the basis of Dutch religious tolerance.
The Sephardic Jews, who settled in New Amsterdam, faced other forms of discrimination imposed by Stuyvesant, which was seen in their exclusion from the colonial militia, facing higher rates of taxation, in addition to being prohibited from holding public office, and opening a retail shop or synagogue. The Jews protested the discrimination to the Dutch government in Holland after Stuyvesant denied them trade permits; in turn, Stuyvesant was reprimanded and they stated that Jews could own real estate and trade, but nothing more.
Published in 1657, The Flushing Remonstrance petitioned Peter Stuyvesant for more religious freedom for, “the law of love, peace, and liberty in the states extending to Jews, Turks, and Egyptians…as they are all considered sons of Adam…condemn hatred, war and bondage.” Not only were the Jews in Flushing pleading for their own advancement, but also for Christians and Muslims. It would not be until the First Amendment was ratified in 1789 that religious freedom would be protected. The Remonstrance is regarded as the precursor to the First Amendment despite Stuyvesant’s best efforts to expel Judaism from New Amsterdam.
Sources and further reading:
https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/.../the-case-against.../
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/43057824.pdf
The Island at the Center of the World, Russel Shorto
Image: Statue of Peter Stuyvesant Statue in Stuyvesant Square (wiki commons)
By Jess Mild
