| New Netherland series |
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| Exploration |
| Fortifications: |
| Settlements: |
| The Patroon System |
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| People of New Netherland |
| Flushing Remonstrance |
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TheEight Men was a group of eight residents chosen by the people ofNew Netherland in 1643 to adviseDirectorWillem Kieft on his governance of the colony. An early form of representational democracy in colonial North America, it replaced the similarly selectedTwelve Men and was followed by theNine Men.
In 1643Abraham Pietersen Van Deusen, who had served on the council of theTwelve Men, was appointed to a new body of eight men. The group contacted theEstates-General of the Netherlands and blamed governorWillem Kieft for the declining economic condition of the nascent colony, andKieft's War with theNative Americans. They requested that a newdirector-general of New Netherland be appointed, and that the people be given more influence in the new government. Director-General Kieft was dismissed and replaced byPeter Stuyvesant. Kieft left for Holland in September 1647 to defend himself to the Estates-General, but thePrincess Amelia was lost at sea and his body was never recovered. Stuyvesant remained in power until the colony was turned over to the British in 1664.
John Franklin Jameson (1859–1937) wrote of the Eight Men:
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.
The council members were:[1][2]
Director-General William Kieft was an autocrat and ruled New Amsterdam in an arbitrary fashion, generating animosity throughout the colony. In 1643 a minor altercation with Indians evolved into a serious uprising followed by an ugly slaughter of Weckquaskeek Indians on Manhattan Island. Kieft feared a major Indian assault. Allerton was asked by Kieft to join a "group of 8 men" to help New Amsterdam. Because he was English and respected in New Haven, Kieft sent Allerton and another Englishman to New Haven in 1643 to ask for men and materials to help defend New Amsterdam. In addition, the "group of 8" was asked to propose measures to improve civility and law-and-order in New Amsterdam. New Haven refused to send men to support the Dutch but Kieft entered into an agreement with the Indians in 1645 that settled the dispute. Because of Kieft's dictatorial manner, several of the eight men petitioned the WIC directors to recall Kieft as Director-General. In time Kieft was replaced by Peter Stuyvesant, and the men initiating the recall petition were accused of insurrection and faced punishment. Allerton was the second signatory of the petition but was not the group's primary spokesman. In 1646, Allerton established a permanent residence in New Haven.
...replaced by Jan Evertz Bout....