Fort Amsterdam (subsequently named Fort James, Fort Willem Hendrick, Fort James (again), Fort William Henry, Fort Anne and Fort George) was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan that was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then English/British rule of New York from 1625 or 1626 until being torn down in 1790 after the American Revolution.
The fort was to change hands eight times in various battles including the Battle of Long Island in the American Revolution when volleys were exchanged between the fort and British emplacements on Governor's Island.
The construction of the fort marked the official founding date of New York City as recognized by the Seal of New York City. In October 1683 what would become the first session of the New York legislature convened at the fort.
Fort AmsterdamMap of Manhattan in 1660, based on the Castello Plan, with the fort on the left
Fort Amsterdam was designed by Cryn Fredericks, chief engineer of the New Netherland colony. Seventeenth-century Dutch forts all followed a similar design. Probably originally intended as a standard star-shaped fort, Fort Amsterdam had four sides with a bastion at each corner to better protect the walls. The fort was built of hard-packed earth or rubble as earthworks would absorb cannon fire without collapsing as stone walls might. Much of the construction was probably done by slaves of the Dutch West India Company.[1]
It was constructed at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, at the junction of the East and North rivers. Building commenced in 1625 under the direction of Willem Verhulst, the second director of the New Netherland colony. The elevation of the site was originally somewhat higher than today. The fort stood on a hill that sloped down to Pearl Street and Bowling Green.[2] (The hill was cut down in 1788, when the fort was demolished, and the site graded to about its present level.)
At the time, Manhattan was only lightly settled, as most of the Dutch West India Company operations were upriver along the Hudson in order to conduct trading operation for beaver pelts.[3] According to John Romeyn Brodhead, while the fort was under construction, three Wechquaesgeek individuals traveled south from the area of present day Westchester County to barter beaver skins. When they reached the Kolck, a pond near what is now Chinatown, they were set upon by three farmhands, and one of the two adults was killed. When the young boy who was with them grew older, he took his revenge for the murder of his uncle, which act served as a pretext for Kieft's War.[4]
The fort was the nucleus of the New Amsterdam settlement with a mission of protecting New Netherland colony operations in the Hudson River against attack from the English and the French. Although its main function was military, it also served as the center of trading activity. It contained a barracks, the church, a house for the West India Company director and a warehouse for the storage of company goods.[5]
Troops from the fort used the triangle between the Heerestraat and what came o be known as Whitehall Street for marching drills.
It is sometimes asserted that around 1620, the Dutch East India Company contacted the English architect Inigo Jones asking him to design a fortification for the harbor. Jones responded in a letter with a plan for a star-shaped fortification made of stone and lime and surrounded by a moat and defended with cannons. Jones advised the company against constructing a timber fort out of haste. The involvement of Jones cannot be corroborated with reliable documentary evidence.
English Rule (1664–1673)
Map of Manhattan in 1664 with the fort on the right
On September 8, 1664 the Dutch surrendered the fort and New Amsterdam in what amounted to one of the skirmishes in the bigger Second Anglo–Dutch War. The fort was renamed Fort James in honour of James II of England. New Amsterdam was renamed New York in recognition of James's title as Duke of York.
Dutch Rule (1673–1674)
In August 1673, the Dutch brought in a fleet of 21 ships and recaptured Manhattan. The fort was renamed Fort Willem Hendrick in honor of the Dutch leader who was Stadtholder and Prince of Orange. New York was renamed New Orange. The Dutch attack was part of the bigger Third Anglo-Dutch War. In 1674 the fort and New Orange was turned back over to the English in the Treaty of Westminster (1674) which ended the war (the Dutch got Suriname).
English Rule (1674–1689)
The English once again named the area "New York" and returned the Fort James name. During this period, the Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick who was the royal governor of New York convened the first legislature of New York in October 1683 for a meeting at the fort. Dongan was also the first to establish batteries of cannon just to the south of the fort.
Colonist Rule (1689–1691)
In 1689 German born colonist Jacob Leisler seized the fort in what was called Leisler's Rebellion and enacted a government of direct popular representation. By some counts, he also moved to redistribute wealth to the poor.
English/British Rule (1691–1775)
View of Fort George from the harbor
Leisler's rule ended in 1691 when British sovereign William III of England sent troops to evict him. The fort had earlier been named for Willem when he was head of the Dutch government. He was to become the sovereign of the English government by the overthrow of James in the Glorious Revolution. The fort was then renamed with a new Anglicized Fort William Henry name.[6]
The British recaptured the fort along with lower Manhattan in September and were to rule New York from the fort throughout the war.
American Rule (1783–1790)
The Americans took over the fort in Manhattan on the Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783. In 1788 Fort George (as it was then known) was razed, and its remnants were used to fill in the shore and expand the Battery.[8] The fort was torn down in 1790 and the Government House, intended as the presidential residence, was built on the site.
However, the need for new fortifications soon became apparent and in 1798 guns were placed in temporary fortifications on the Battery. Eventually a new fort Castle Clinton would be built just before the War of 1812.[9]
