A History of the City of Brooklyn and Kings County, Volume I. — John Shaqi
A History of the City of Brooklyn and Kings County, Volume I.Ostrander, Stephen M.
History
A History of the City of Brooklyn and Kings County, Volume I.
Ostrander, Stephen M.
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) -- History; Kings County (N.Y.) -- History
If the physical condition of the town offended Stuyvesant, so, also, did
the moral condition. The new Director called for a "thorough
reformation." There must be an end of drunkenness, Sabbath-breaking, and
the selling of liquors to the Indians. Stuyvesant saw the necessity of
conciliating the Indians, and the efforts which he made to this end were
gratifying to the Long Island settlers.
To protect the outlying settlements from the incursions of the savages,
and to provide means for the payment of the annual presents and
perquisites to the Indians, Stuyvesant consented to give the various
towns representation in the government. The grand old democratic
principle of taxation and representation going hand in hand was thus
recognized. It was these sentiments, which early took root in
Breuckelen, that resulted in the Revolutionary War, and established the
fact that taxation without representation was unjustifiable. As a result
of this consent, an election was held in Breuckelen and the other towns,
and eighteen of the most respectable and honored men in the community
were chosen, from whom nine were selected by the Director and Council as
an advisory board. They were to confer with the Director and Council and
to promote the welfare of the people. They were also to consult upon all
measures proposed by the Director and Council, and to give their advice.
The Director was empowered to preside at all meetings of this board.
The members held seats in the Council, taking turns weekly, three
sitting at a time; on court days acting in a judicial capacity to try
cases and render judgment.
The administration, at least in its earlier years, saw an increase in
the rate of immigration. During Stuyvesant's administration many stone
houses appeared in New Amsterdam, and on Long Island came an improved
class of habitations.
The houses of the Dutch period, and of the later period that imitated
the primitive architecture of that time, are among the most interesting
objects of study that remain on Long Island. The first Long Island
houses had resembled those of the Indians. Very soon afterward the
character of the dwellings became more solid and permanent, and after
the Indian war came comfortable one-story houses, thatched with straw,
and with big stone chimneys. Most of the Dutch houses on Long Island,
even in later times, were of wood. A brickyard was established at New
Amsterdam in 1660; but in those days it was thought that the baking of
brick of greater thickness than two inches could not be effectual, and
building with such small brick as then came from the maker was very
expensive.
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