Volumes XXII, Administrative Papers of Governors Richard Nicolls and Francis Lovelace, 1664–1673
Colonel Richard Nicolls, conqueror of New Netherland and first Governor of New York (1664-1668), won the approval of the Dutch inhabitants by granting them a remarkable degree of personal freedom and local autonomy. Although he required greater conformity from the English settlements in the colony, he exhibited patience and understanding toward their residents, most of whom were Puritans and Quakers, distrustful of royal commissioners such as Nicolls. He met resistance to his authority with firmness but without reprisals, and officers who did not practice a similar restraint were cashiered. “We cannot expect they love us,” he admitted of the residents in his instructions to one officer (pages 32-33), but he offered charity and brotherhood nonetheless.
New York’s second Governor, Francis Lovelace (1668-1673), also showed a firm hand in restraining members of the army of occupation, while for disputes between individuals or communities he encouraged arbitration and compromise, referring many cases on appeal back to local jurisdictions in preference to using his office to impose settlements. At the same time he laid the groundwork for the centralized authority desired by the King and the Duke of York, extending English forms of law and admin istration to a number of Dutch localities and granting special privileges to leading individuals well disposed toward the government. This effort was interrupted by the Dutch reconquest of the colony in 1673, and when English government resumed a year later it was with less patience and understanding than had been exhibited by the first two governors.
Volumes XXII, Administrative Papers of Governors Richard Nicolls and Francis Lovelace, 1664–1673
