The council of Eight Men was an early representational democracy in

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...

. It replaced the previous

Twelve Men The Council of Twelve Men was a group of 12 men, chosen on 29 August 1641 by the residents of New Netherland to advise the Director of New Netherland, Willem Kieft, on relations with the Native Americans due to the murder of Claes Swits. Although ...

and was followed by the

Nine Men The council of Nine Men was a citizens board and a form of representational democracy in New Netherland. It replaced the previous councils, the Twelve Men and the Eight Men. Members of the council were elected in 1647, 1649, 1650 and 1652. On J ...

Council

In 1643

Abraham Pietersen Van Deusen Abraham Pietersen van Deursen (before November 11, 1607 – c. 1670), aka Abraham Pietersen van Deusen, was an immigrant from Holland who settled in New Amsterdam and become one of the Council of twelve men, Council of 12 that was the first repres ...

who had served on the council of twelve men was appointed to a new council of eight men. The council contacted the States-General and blamed governor

Willem Kieft Willem Kieft (September 1597 – September 27, 1647) was a Dutch merchant and the Director of New Netherland (of which New Amsterdam was the capital) from 1638 to 1647. Life and career Willem Kieft was appointed to the rank of director ...

for the declining economic condition of the nascent colony, and the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

with the Native Americans. They requested that a new

Director-General of New Netherland This is a list of Directors, appointed by the Dutch West India Company, of the 17th century Dutch province of New Netherland (''Nieuw-Nederland'' in Dutch) in North America. Only the last, Peter Stuyvesant, held the title of Director General. As t ...

be appointed and that the people themselves be given more influence in the new government. Director General Kieft was dismissed, and

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Net ...

took his place and Stuyvesant remained in power until the colony was turned over to the British in 1664. Kieft returned to Holland, but the vessel, the '' Princess Amelia'' was lost at sea and his body was never recovered. John Franklin Jameson (1859–1937) writes:

The commonalty were called together; they were sore distressed. They chose eight, instead of the previous twelve, persons to aid in consulting for the best; but the occupation every one had to take care of his own, prevented anything beneficial being adopted at that time. nevertheless it was resolved that as many Englishmen as were to be got in the country should be enlisted, who were indeed now proposing to depart; the third part of these were to be paid by the commonalty; this promise was made by the commonalty but was not followed by the pay.

Council Members

The council members were: *

Isaac Allerton Isaac Allerton Sr. (c. 1586 – 1658/9), and his family, were passengers in 1620 on the historic voyage of the ship ''Mayflower''. Allerton was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact. In Plymouth Colony he was active in colony governmental affair ...

* Jan Jansen Dam, who was replaced by

Jan Everts Bout Jan Evertsz Bout (March 1601 or 1602, Barneveld, Gelderland – 1671 Gowanus), was an early and prominent Dutch settler in the 17th century colonial province of New Netherland. In 1634 one of the first ''" bouweries"'', or homesteads, in the c ...

* Barent Dircksen * Oloff Stevense Van Cortlandt * Thomas Hal, sometimes spelled as Thomas Hall *

Jochem Pietersen Kuyter Jochem Pietersen Kuyter (died 1654) was an early colonist to New Netherland, and one of the first settlers of what would become Harlem on the island of Manhattan. He became an influential member of the community and served on the citizen boards kno ...

Cornelis Melyn Cornelis Melyn (1600 – c. 1662) was an early Dutch settler in New Netherland and Patroon of Staten Island. He was the chairman of the council of eight men, which was a part of early steps toward representative democracy in the Dutch colony. E ...

, was chairman * Abraham Pietersen Van Deursen * Wolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven *

Captain John Underhill John Underhill (7 October 1597 – 21 July 1672) was an early English settler and soldier in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Province of New Hampshire, where he also served as governor; the New Haven Colony, New Netherland, and later the Pro ...

, appointed in 1645

References

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Council

Council Members

See also

References

Further reading