HISTORY   OF   THE   SCHOOL

OF  THE

collegiate   reformed   DUTCH   CHURCH,

IN   THE   CITY   OF   NEW   YORK.
 

CHAPTER     I.*

a   brief   outline   of   the   discovery    and    SETTLEMENT    OF    NEW
AMSTERDAM :   1609---1633.

CjPECIAL preconcerted efforts, authorized by Government or
/^ induced by religious persecution, led to the settlement by
the English of ten out of the thirteen original colonies, extend¬
ing on the sea-coast from Maine to Georgia, inclusive. How,
then, did Holland obtain a foothold on this continent, and how
came the Dutch Government, with its Church and School, to be
the first established in the Empire State f

A brief outline of the circumstances which led to the discovery
and subsequent colonization of New Amsterdam will not only
afford a solution to these questions, but also demonstrate the
fact that a public school was established therein as soon as the
circumstances of the settlers permitted it.

The discovery of America by Columbus, while attempting to
reach China and Cathay by a westward passage, did not in the
least repress the efforts prompted by the commercial spirit of the
age, to accomplish that undertaking. The voyages made for
that purpose resulted in the exploration of most of the large
rivers and estuaries on the entire eastern sea-board of the conti¬
nent. The southern route, discovered by Magellan in 1520,
affording no advantages over the accustomed route through the
Indian Seas, a passage was sought for on the north-west. Fore¬
most and most persevering in this enterprise was England ; no

* The contents of this chapter were culled from the first eight chapters
of Brodhead's New York; and here, as elsewhere throughout the work, his
language has at times been appropriated.