Susanah Shaw Romney locates the foundations of the early modern Dutch empire in interpersonal transactions among women and men.

Peter Van Winkle (1808–1872) was a Unionist U.S. Senator from West Virginia during the Civil War and one of the state’s first senators after its 1863 admission, previously serving in Virginia politics and constitutional conventions.

By the time Petrus Stuyvesant surrendered Fort Amsterdam in 1664, Dutch cultural traditions had already taken root—shaping life along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, western Long Island, and parts of New Jersey. These early Netherlandic influences helped lay the foundation for the region’s lasting identity and evolving American story.

Frederik Ruysch (1638–1731) was a Dutch anatomist and a pioneer in the techniques of preserving organs and tissue. He was born in Den Haag and studied medicine at the University of Leiden, obtaining his medical doctorate in 1664.

This work examines the Middle Colonies—New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—as a region at the center of imperial contests among competing European powers and Native American nations and at the fulcrum of an emerging British-Atlantic world of culture and trade.

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1899–1992) was an American businessman, aviation investor, film financier, government official, and philanthropist who helped found Pan American World Airways, built mining enterprises, served in federal posts, and supported major American arts institutions.

Although Dutch rule in North America ended in 1664, their cultural legacy persisted. Washington Irving observed its strong presence in 1820, and even decades later, travelers remarked on the striking similarities between New York and the Netherlands. Today, Dutch influence remains evident in regional place names, legal traditions, religion, food, and folklore—woven deeply into the fabric of American life.

Drawings from 1630 propose coats of arms for New Netherland and New Amsterdam. One was adopted; others rejected for omitting Amsterdam’s heraldic lions.

This work examines the Middle Colonies—New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—as a region at the center of imperial contests among competing European powers and Native American nations and at the fulcrum of an emerging British-Atlantic world of culture and trade.