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New Amsterdam to New York

The Dutch colonial capital became New York when an English fleet took it without a shot in 1664, named for the king’s brother, James, Duke of York. The Dutch took it back in 1673 and called it New Orange, but only for a year.

Written from cited sourcesLast checked 25 September 2026Suggest a correction

  1. New Amsterdamuntil 1664
  2. New York1664–1673
  3. New Orange1673–1674
  4. New York1674–

The English take New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam was the capital of the Dutch colony of New Netherland: around fifteen streets at the southern tip of Manhattan.[4] In 1664 King Charles II of England granted his brother James, Duke of York, a huge stretch of North America from Virginia to Massachusetts that took in all of New Netherland.[5]

The Duke sent four ships under Colonel Richard Nicolls, which reached Gravesend Bay in late August. Director-General Peter Stuyvesant tore up the demand to surrender, but the townspeople had no wish to fight, and Nicolls’s terms were generous: freedom of religion for the Dutch and respect for their property and contracts.[2]

The Articles of Capitulation are dated 27 August Old Style, which converts to 6 September in the New Style calendar. Stuyvesant and his council gave their consent on 8 September, and the Dutch soldiers marched out. Not a shot was fired.[2] The city took the name New York, after the Duke who had organised the expedition,[1] and the fort became Fort James.[2]

New Orange, for a year

In 1673 a fleet from Zeeland under Cornelis Evertsen and Jacob Benckes sailed into the harbour with eight warships and opened fire on the fort. The Dutch renamed the city New Orange, for Prince William of Orange, and made Captain Anthony Colve its military governor.[3]

The Treaty of Westminster of 1674 gave the colony back to England. When word reached Colve, he released the city’s officials from their oath and surrendered the province to Major Edmund Andros on 11 November 1674, and the city was New York again.[3]

Which birthday?

For much of the 20th century New York City’s seal carried the year 1664, when the English took over. In the 1970s City Council President Paul O’Dwyer campaigned, successfully, to change it to 1625, a date from the Dutch period.[2]

Timeline

  1. 16646 September 1664 (27 August Old Style)

    Articles of Capitulation

    The terms for handing New Amsterdam to the English are drawn up, dated 27 August by the English calendar.[2]

  2. 16648 September 1664

    New Amsterdam becomes New York

    Stuyvesant and his council consent to the surrender, the Dutch garrison marches out, and the city is renamed for the Duke of York.[2][1]

  3. 1673

    New York becomes New Orange

    A Dutch fleet from Zeeland retakes the city and names it for Prince William of Orange.[3]

  4. 167411 November 1674

    New Orange becomes New York again

    Governor Anthony Colve surrenders the province to Major Edmund Andros under the Treaty of Westminster.[3]

Sources

  1. [1]
  2. [2]
  3. [3]
    The Dutch & the English, part 5: the return of the Dutch and what became of the wall · NYC Department of Records & Information Services (Michael Lorenzini) · 1 June 2017

    Gives the surrender to “Major Edmund Andrews”, the usual spelling being Andros. Some accounts date it 10 November.

  4. [4]
    A tour of New Netherland: New Amsterdam · New Netherland Institute
  5. [5]
    British conquest: New Amsterdam becomes New York · NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, NYC Archaeological Repository

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