Dutch-Americans
Encyclopedia
A Dutch American is an American
of Dutch
descent.
Following the exploration of the American East Coast by Henry Hudson on behalf of the Dutch East India Company in 1609, Dutch settlement in the Americas started in 1613. From then on a number of villages, including New Amsterdam
on the East Coast
, which would become the future world metropolis of New York City
, were established by Dutch immigrants. According to the 2006 United States Census
, more than 5 million Americans claim total or partial Dutch
heritage Today the majority of the Dutch Americans live in Michigan
, California
, Montana
, Minnesota
, New York
, Wisconsin
, Idaho
, Utah
, Iowa
, Ohio
, West Virginia
, and Pennsylvania
.
Because of huge losses of trade ships on their long routes circumnavigating the African Cape, the so-called "spice trade" with the Dutch East Indies was very dangerous and of high risk for sailors, and for investors providing resources to commission and equip a vessel, and provide trade goods.
The individual traders that had bid against each other for over a century thus realised that greater profit and a better distribution of the risk could be attained by joining forces, which led to the world's first corporate, publicly traded multinational firm, the VOC, founded in 1602.
This took away the biggest financial risk, but the long and dangerous voyage remained. To reduce this risk as well, many explorers sought a northern passage, not knowing of its then-impossibility due to ice blockage. Returning, however, from another failed expedition to find a northern route to the Pacific Ocean, the first Dutch vessel arrived at what is now New York Harbor.
In 1602, Dutch government chartered the Dutch East India Company
(Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) with the mission of exploring a passage to the Indies and claiming any uncharted territories for the Dutch Republic.
The first Dutchmen
to come to the Americas
were explorers under the command of the English captain Henry Hudson
(himself in Dutch service) who arrived in 1609 and mapped what is now known as the Hudson River
on the ship De Halve Maen. Their initial goal was to find an alternative route to Asia
, but they found good farmland and plenty of wildlife instead.
The earliest Dutch settlement was built around 1613, it consisted of a number of small huts built by the crew of the "Tijger" (Tiger) a Dutch ship under the command of Captain Adriaen Block
which had caught fire while sailing on the Hudson in the winter of 1613. The ship was lost and Block and his crew established a camp ashore. In the spring, Block and his men did some explorations along the coast of Long Island. Block Island
still bears his name. Finally, they were sighted and rescued by another Dutch ship and the settlement was abandoned.
from the Dutch West India Company
of about twelve miles, extending as far inland as the owner wanted. These landowners were called patroon
s and had complete jurisdiction over their domains as well as extensive trading privileges. They also received these rights in perpetuity. In this way, a form of feudalism
, which had vanished in the Dutch Republic, was introduced in North America. The Patroonships were not a success; by 1635, the Dutch West India Company had bought back four of the five patroon ships originally registered in Amsterdam.
The Indians were, at this time, no longer consulted or offered/asked to sell their lands and the Dutch were confronted with a new phenomenon: Indian raids. As the local tribes had now realized that the Dutch were not simply visitors but people set to take over their land.
The Dutch realized that they had gone with the wrong approach as they offered great privileges to wealthy citizens instead of the poor ones. It was not until 1656 that the Dutch state abandoned its passivity and decided to actively support New Netherland
. The Dutch state issued a proclamation which stated that "all mechanics and farmers who can prove their ability to earn a living here shall receive free passage for themselves, their wives and children".
The result of all this was an increase in population from an estimated 2,000 in 1648 to 10,000 in 1660. Although the New Netherland were Dutch, only about half the settlers were ethnically Dutch (the other half consisted mainly of Walloons
and French Huguenots), and Manhattan grew increasingly multicultural. The rural areas, however, remained overwhelmingly Dutch for over two centuries. In 1664, the English seized the colony and renamed it New York
. The Dutch briefly recaptured the colony, but during peace talks decided (under English pressure) to trade it for Suriname
in South America which was more profitable.
in 1683.
Most of these settlers were Quakers who had come over in response to the appeal of William Penn
. Penn, himself a Dutch Briton
(his mother being from Rotterdam
), had paid three visits to the Netherlands, where he published several pamphlets. Germantown is now generally thought to be of German origin, but it remained almost exclusively Dutch until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Only then did German immigration gain momentum, and soon dominated the area.
During the early nineteenth century, large numbers of Dutch farmers, forced by high taxes and low wages, started immigrating to America. They mainly settled down in the Midwest, especially Michigan
, Illinois
and Iowa
. In the 1840s, Calvinist
immigrants desiring more religious freedom immigrated. West Michigan in particular has become associated with Dutch American culture, and the highly conservative
influence Dutch Reformed Church
, centering on the cities of Holland
and (to a lesser extent) Grand Rapids
.
Waves of Catholic Dutch emigrants, initially encouraged in the 1840s by Father Theodore J. Van den Broek
, emigrated from southern Netherlands to form communities in Wisconsin
, primarily to Little Chute, Hollandtown, and the outlying farming communities. Whole families and even neighborhoods left for America. Most of these early emigrants were from villages near Uden
, including Zeeland, Boekel
, Mill, Oploo and Gemert
.
The Dutch economy of the 1840s was stagnant and much of the motivation to emigrate was economic rather than political or religious. The emigrants were not poor, as the cost of passage, expenses and land purchase in America would have been substantial. They were not, however, affluent and many would have been risking most of their wealth on the chance of economic improvement. There were also political pressures at the time that favored mass emigrations of Catholics.
arrived from Indonesia via the Netherlands. After Indonesia, formerly known as the Dutch East Indies
, gained independence its Indo-European (Eurasian) population known as Indies Dutchmen (Dutch: Indische Nederlanders) repatriated to the Netherlands. Around 60,000 continued their diaspora to the USA. This particular group is also known as Dutch-Indonesians, Indonesian-Dutch, or Amerindos.
These Dutch Indos mainly entered the U.S.A. under legislative refugee measures and were sponsored by Christian organizations such as the Church World Service
and the Catholic Relief Services
. An accurate count of Indo immigrants is not available, as the U.S. Census classified people according to their self-determined ethnic affiliation. The Indos could have therefore been included in overlapping categories of "country of origin”, “other Asians," "total foreign”, “mixed parentage”, "total foreign-born” and “foreign mother tongue". However the Indos that settled in the USA via the legislative refugee measures number at least 25,000 people.
The original post-war refugee legislation of 1948, already adhering to a strict 'affidavit of support' policy, was still maintaining a colour bar making it difficult for Indos to emigrate to the USA. By 1951 American consulates in the Netherlands registered 33,500 requests and had waiting times of 3 to 5 years. Also the Walter-McCarren Act of 1953 adhered to the traditional American policy of minimizing immigrants from Asia. The yearly quota for Indonesia was limited to a 100 visas, even though Dutch foreign affairs attempted to profile Indos as refugees from the alleged pro-communist Sukarno administration.
The 1953 flood disaster in the Netherlands resulted in the Refugee Relief Act including a slot for 15,000 ethnic Dutch that had at least 50% European blood (one year later loosened to Dutch citizens with at least 2 Dutch grandparents) and an immaculate legal and political track record. In 1954 only 187 visas were actually granted. Partly influenced by the anti-Western rhetoric and policies of the Sukarno administration the anti-communist senator Francis E. Walter
pleaded for a second term of the Refugee Relief Act in 1957 and an additional slot of 15,000 visas in 1958.
In 1958 the Pastore-Walter Act (Act for the relief of certain distressed alliens) was passed allowing for a one off acceptance of 10,000 Dutchmen from Indonesia (excluding the regular annual quota of 3,136 visas). It was hoped however that only 10% of these Dutch refugees would in fact be racially mixed Indos and the American embassy in The Hague was frustrated with the fact that Canada, where they were more strict in their ethnic profiling, was getting the full blooded Dutch and the USA was getting Dutch "all rather heavily dark". Still in 1960 senators Pastore and Walter managed to get a second two-year term for their act which was used by a great number of Dutch Indos.
) and created their own as in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
. [Wermuth 2001]
In 1764, Dr. Archibald Laidlie
preached the first English sermon to the Dutch Reformed congregation in New York City. Ten years later English was introduced in the schools. In Kingston, Dutch was used in church as late as 1808. A few years before, a traveler had reported that on Long Island and along the North River in Albany, Dutch was still the lingua franca
of the elderly.
Francis Adrian van der Kemp, who came to the United States as a refugee in 1788, wrote that his wife was able to converse in Dutch with the wives of Alexander Hamilton
and General George Clinton
. In 1847, immigrants from the Netherlands were welcomed in Dutch by the Reverend Isaac Wyckoff upon their arrival in New York. Wyckoff himself was a descendant of one of the first settlers in Rensselaerswyck, who had learned to speak English at school.
Until recently many communities in New Jersey adhered to the tradition of a monthly church service in Dutch. As late as 1905, Dutch was still heard among the old people in the Ramapo Valley of that state. Dutch is still spoken by the elderly and their children in Western Michigan. It was not until 1910 that Roseland Christian School
in Chicago
switched to an English curriculum from Dutch.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the Dutch language was hardly spoken in North America, with the exception of first generation Dutch immigrants. The marks of the Dutch heritage - in language, in reference to historical Dutch people (for example Stuyvesant
) and in reference to Dutch places (for example Brooklyn
which stems from Breukelen
) - can still be seen. There are about 35 Dutch restaurants and bakeries in the United States, most of them founded in the 20th century.
New York City for example has many originally Dutch street and place names which range from Coney Island and Brooklyn to Wall Street and Broadway. And up the river in New York State Piermont, Orangeburg, Blauvelt and Haverstraw, just to name a few places. In the Hudson Valley region there are many places and waterways whose names incorporate the word -kill, Dutch for "stream" or "riverbed", including the Catskill Mountains, Peekskill, and the Kill van Kull.
There are also some words in American-English that are of Dutch origin, like "cookie" (koekje) and "boss" (baas). And in some family names a couple of Dutch characteristics still remain. Like (a) the prefix "van" (as in Martin van Buren
), (b) the prefix "de"(/"der"/"des"/"den") (as in Jared DeVries
), (c) a combination of the two "van de ..." (as in Robert J. Van de Graaff
), or (d) "ter"/"te"("ten"), which mean respectively (a) 'of' (possessive or locative), (b) 'the' (definite article), (c) 'of the ...' and (d) 'at the' ('of the'/'in the') (locative).
Similarities between Dutch and English are abundant. Examples include the article 'the' ('de' in Dutch), the words 'book' (boek), 'house' (huis), 'pen' (pen), and, 'street' (straat), among others. Dutch and English are both part of the West Germanic
language group and share several aspects. Adaptation of place names
between the languages is common, as was the case of New York, where several landmarks like Conyne Eylandt became more suitable to Anglophones (Coney Island
).
Contact between other languages also created various creoles
with Dutch as the base language. Two examples, Jersey Dutch
and Mohawk Dutch
, are now extinct. This is possibly due to the ease of transition from Dutch to English, stemming from a shared linguistic genealogy.
Little Chute, Wisconsin remained a Dutch-speaking community—known locally as “speaking Hollander”—into the twentieth century. As late as 1898, church sermons and event announcements were in Dutch. Dutch newspapers continued in the area—mainly in De Pere by Catholic clergymen—were published up until World War I . The only remaining publication that is written exclusively in Dutch is Maandblad de Krant, which is published monthly in Penticton, British Columbia
and mailed to subscribers throughout the United States
from Oroville, Washington
.
The American state of Rhode Island
is a surviving example of Dutch influence in Colonial America. In 1614, was christened as "Roodt Eylandt" (Rood Eiland in modern Dutch), meaning 'Red Island', referring to the red clay found on the island.
. The American crew was delighted when the governor of the island ordered that his fort's cannons be fired in a friendly salute. The first ever given by a foreign power to the flag of the United States
, it was a risky and courageous act. Indeed, angered by Dutch trading and contraband with the rebellious colonies, the British seized the island a few years later. The Dutch recaptured the island in 1784.
, later to become the second president of the United States
, was received by the States General
in The Hague
and recognized as Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America. It was also the day that the house he had purchased at Fluwelen Burgwal 18 in The Hague was to become the first American Embassy in the world.
Many of the Dutch heritage festivals that take place around the United States coincide with the blooming of tulips in a particular region. The Tulip Time Festival
in Holland, Michigan
is the largest such festival with other notable gatherings such as the Pella Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa; the Tulip Festival in Orange City, Iowa; Dutch Days in Fulton, Illinois; Let's Go Dutch Days in Baldwin, Wisconsin; Holland Days in Lynden, Washington; Holland Happening in Oak Harbor, Washington; and the Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest in Woodburn, Oregon. Often Dutch heritage festivals coincide with the blooming of the tulip. See Tulip Festival
for additional explanations of some of these festivals. A Dutch Festival is also held at Hofstra University
in Hempstead, New York; and a Holland Festival in Long Beach, California. A traditional Dutch Kermis Festival is celebrated in October in Little Chute, WI. During late November and early December a Dutch Winterfest is held in Holland, MI, to coincide with the traditional arrival of Sinterklaas
; the "Dutch Santa Claus."
date to 1628. By 1740, it had 65 congregations in New York
and New Jersey
, served by ministers trained in Europe. Schools were few but to obtain their own ministers they formed "Queens College" (now Rutgers University
) in 1766. In 1771, there were 34 ministers for over 100 churches. Until 1764, in at least three Dutch churches in New York City, all sermons were in Dutch; Theodore Roosevelt
reports his grandfather's church used Dutch as late as 1810. Other churches with roots in Dutch immigration to the United States include the Christian Reformed Church
, the Protestant Reformed Churches
, the United Reformed Churches
, the Netherlands Reformed Congregations
, the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregations
and the Free Reformed Church
. Along with the Reformed churches, Roman Catholicism is the other major religion of Dutch Americans. Beginning in 1848, a significant number of Roman Catholics from the Dutch provinces of Noord Brabant and southern Gelderland
went to create many settlements in northeastern Wisconsin
.
to the United States of America. In the aftermath of World War II
, several tens of thousands of Dutch immigrants joined them, mainly moving to California and Washington. In several counties in Michigan and Iowa, Dutch Americans remain the largest ethnic group. Nowadays, most Dutch Americans (27%) live in California
, followed by New York
, Michigan
and Pennsylvania
.
According to the 2000 United States Census
, more than 5 million Americans claim total or partial Dutch
heritage. They are particularly concentrated around Grand Rapids, Michigan
; Rock Rapids, Iowa
; Sioux City, Iowa
; Des Moines, Iowa
; Fulton, Illinois
, and Celeryville, Ohio
. These areas are surrounded with towns and villages that were founded by Dutch settlers in the 19th century, such as Holland, Michigan
and Zeeland, Michigan
; Pella, Iowa
, and Orange City, Iowa
. Other Dutch enclaves include Lynden, Washington
, Ripon, California
, and places in New Jersey. It is estimated that, by 1927, as many as 40,000 Dutch settlers, primarily from Noord Brabant and Limburg
, had immigrated to the United States, with the largest concentrations in the area near Little Chute, Wisconsin. By the early twentieth century, Little Chute was the largest Catholic Dutch community in the United States.
In California, the San Joaquin Delta
had a major Dutch, Belgian
and Frisian
influence as settlers from those countries arrived since the 1850s after California had statehood. They drained away swamps and created artificial islands known as polders, constructed dikes to back away the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flowing into the San Francisco Bay, also turned them into fertile farmlands and set up inland ports such as Stockton
. Also their communities like Lathrop
, Galt
, Rio Vista
and French Camp
which were named for Belgians from Belgium
are of both French (Walloon
) or Dutch (Flemish
) origin.
Not included among Dutch Americans are the Pennsylvania Dutch
, a group of German American
s who settled in Pennsylvania in the colonial era and whose name is a corruption of the word "Deutsch", meaning "German".
was an early Dutch settler of New York's Hudson River Valley.
In art, Willem de Kooning
was a leading Abstract Expressionist painter, often depicting the human form in violent brush strokes and daring color juxtapositions. Muralist Anthony Heinsbergen
interior designs are still seen today in most of the world's movie theaters.
In literature, Jan-Willem van de Wetering is renowned for his detective fiction
; his most popular creation being that of Grijpstra and de Gier. Edward W. Bok
was a Pulitzer Prize
-winning autobiographer and magazine editor. He is also credited with coining the term "living room
". Greta Van Susteren
's father was a Dutch American. Calvin Ziegler
published poetry in Pennsylvania Dutch
in the 19th Century.
In entertainment, actor, presenter
and entertainer Dick Van Dyke
is of Dutch descent, with a career spanning six decade
s. He is best known for his starring roles in Mary Poppins
, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
, The Dick Van Dyke Show
and Diagnosis: Murder
. The X-men trilogy
starred Dutch actress Famke Janssen
and Rebecca Romijn
who is perhaps best known for her TV-roles on such comedies as Ugly Betty
. Anneliese van der Pol
, a singer and actress, is the star of Disney's Thats so Raven. Iconic star Audrey Hepburn
was born in Belgium
to a Dutch expatriate. Musicians Eddie
and Alex van Halen
are the lead guitarist, respectively drummer and co-founders of the band Van Halen
, born to a Dutch father and Dutch-Indonesian mother. Don Van Vliet, stage name of musician Captain Beefheart
, changed his middle name from Glen to the preposition to 1965 to honor his Dutch heritage. Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar
, known from the series Saved by the Bell
, was born to a Dutch father and a Dutch-Indonesian mother. Matt Groening
, the author of The Simpsons
and Futurama
has Dutch Mennonite
ancestors, his family name originating from the Dutch town of Groningen.
In politics, Peter Stuyvesant
was the last Director-General
of the colony of New Netherland
. Stuyvesant greatly expanded the settle of New Amsterdam
, today known as New York
. Stuyvesant's administration built the protective wall on Wall Street
, and the canal that became Broad Street, known today as Broadway
. The prestigious Stuyvesant High School
is named after him. During the American Civil War
, Martin Kalbfleisch
served as a US Representative for the state of New York
. Today, Pete Hoekstra
is a long-running congressman for the state of Michigan
. Jacob Aaron Westervelt was a renowned and prolific shipbuilder and Mayor of New York (1853–1855)
In science and technology, Nicolaas Bloembergen
won the Nobel Prize
in 1981 for his work in laser spectroscopy. He was also awarded the Lorentz Medal
in 1978. Physicists Samuel Abraham Goudsmit
and George Eugene Uhlenbeck
proposed the concept of electron spin. Goudsmit was also the scientific head of the Operation Alsos
mission in the Manhattan Project
. Tjalling Koopmans
was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1975.
In astronomy, Maarten Schmidt
pioneered the research of quasars. Astronomer Gerard Kuiper
discovered two new moons in our solar system
and predicted the existence of the Kuiper belt
, which is named in his honor. Popular astronomer Bart J. Bok won the Klumpke-Roberts Award
in 1982 and the Bruce Medal
in 1977. Jan Schilt
invented the Schilt photometer
.
In sports, baseball player and twice World Series
champion Bert Blyleven
gained fame for his curveball
.
In religion, Albertus van Raalte
was a Reformed Church of America pastor who led the Dutch immigrants who founded the city of Holland, Michigan
in 1846. Louis Berkhof
, a Reformed systematic theologian, is greatly studied today in seminaries and Bible colleges. Herman Hoeksema
, a theologian, was instrumental in the series of events that precipitated the creation of the Protestant Reformed Church. Prominent Christian
author Lewis B. Smedes
wrote Forgive and Forget
, an influential work discussing a religious view on sexuality
and forgiveness
.
Primary sources
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
of Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
descent.
Following the exploration of the American East Coast by Henry Hudson on behalf of the Dutch East India Company in 1609, Dutch settlement in the Americas started in 1613. From then on a number of villages, including New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
on the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, which would become the future world metropolis of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, were established by Dutch immigrants. According to the 2006 United States Census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
, more than 5 million Americans claim total or partial Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
heritage Today the majority of the Dutch Americans live in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Early exploration
The individual traders that had bid against each other for over a century thus realised that greater profit and a better distribution of the risk could be attained by joining forces, which led to the world's first corporate, publicly traded multinational firm, the VOC, founded in 1602.
This took away the biggest financial risk, but the long and dangerous voyage remained. To reduce this risk as well, many explorers sought a northern passage, not knowing of its then-impossibility due to ice blockage. Returning, however, from another failed expedition to find a northern route to the Pacific Ocean, the first Dutch vessel arrived at what is now New York Harbor.
In 1602, Dutch government chartered the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) with the mission of exploring a passage to the Indies and claiming any uncharted territories for the Dutch Republic.
The first Dutchmen
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
to come to the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
were explorers under the command of the English captain Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator in the early 17th century. Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a prospective Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle...
(himself in Dutch service) who arrived in 1609 and mapped what is now known as the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
on the ship De Halve Maen. Their initial goal was to find an alternative route to Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, but they found good farmland and plenty of wildlife instead.
Oldest Dutch settlement
Adriaen Block
Adriaen Block was a Dutch private trader and navigator who is best known for exploring the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during four voyages from 1611 to 1614, following the 1609 expedition by Henry Hudson...
which had caught fire while sailing on the Hudson in the winter of 1613. The ship was lost and Block and his crew established a camp ashore. In the spring, Block and his men did some explorations along the coast of Long Island. Block Island
Block Island
Block Island is part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and is located in the Atlantic Ocean approximately south of the coast of Rhode Island, east of Montauk Point on Long Island, and is separated from the Rhode Island mainland by Block Island Sound. The United States Census Bureau defines Block...
still bears his name. Finally, they were sighted and rescued by another Dutch ship and the settlement was abandoned.
Seventeenth-century migration
In 1629, Dutch officials tried to expand the northern colony through a plan that promised "Liberties and Exemptions" to anyone who would ship fifty colonists to America at his own expense. Anyone who did this would be allowed to buy a stretch of land along the HudsonHudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
from the Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
of about twelve miles, extending as far inland as the owner wanted. These landowners were called patroon
Patroon
In the United States, a patroon was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America...
s and had complete jurisdiction over their domains as well as extensive trading privileges. They also received these rights in perpetuity. In this way, a form of feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
, which had vanished in the Dutch Republic, was introduced in North America. The Patroonships were not a success; by 1635, the Dutch West India Company had bought back four of the five patroon ships originally registered in Amsterdam.
The Indians were, at this time, no longer consulted or offered/asked to sell their lands and the Dutch were confronted with a new phenomenon: Indian raids. As the local tribes had now realized that the Dutch were not simply visitors but people set to take over their land.
The Dutch realized that they had gone with the wrong approach as they offered great privileges to wealthy citizens instead of the poor ones. It was not until 1656 that the Dutch state abandoned its passivity and decided to actively support New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
. The Dutch state issued a proclamation which stated that "all mechanics and farmers who can prove their ability to earn a living here shall receive free passage for themselves, their wives and children".
The result of all this was an increase in population from an estimated 2,000 in 1648 to 10,000 in 1660. Although the New Netherland were Dutch, only about half the settlers were ethnically Dutch (the other half consisted mainly of Walloons
Walloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
and French Huguenots), and Manhattan grew increasingly multicultural. The rural areas, however, remained overwhelmingly Dutch for over two centuries. In 1664, the English seized the colony and renamed it New York
History of New York
The history of New York begins around 10,000 BCE, when the first Native Americans arrived. By 1100 CE, New York's main tribes, the Iroquoian and Algonquian cultures, had developed. New York was discovered by the French in 1524 and first claimed in 1609 by the Dutch...
. The Dutch briefly recaptured the colony, but during peace talks decided (under English pressure) to trade it for Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
in South America which was more profitable.
Eighteenth and nineteenth-century migration
In the hundred years of British rule that followed the change of ownership of New Netherland, Dutch immigration to America came to an almost complete standstill. The only major group of organized settlers after the British takeover were a colony of two hundred Dutchmen and women who founded what is now GermantownGermantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Germantown is a neighborhood in the northwest section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, about 7–8 miles northwest from the center of the city...
in 1683.
Most of these settlers were Quakers who had come over in response to the appeal of William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
. Penn, himself a Dutch Briton
Dutch community in the United Kingdom
Dutch people in the United Kingdom include people born in the Netherlands and British people of Dutch ancestry. The 2001 UK Census recorded 40,438 Dutch-born people residing in the UK.-External links:******...
(his mother being from Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
), had paid three visits to the Netherlands, where he published several pamphlets. Germantown is now generally thought to be of German origin, but it remained almost exclusively Dutch until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Only then did German immigration gain momentum, and soon dominated the area.
During the early nineteenth century, large numbers of Dutch farmers, forced by high taxes and low wages, started immigrating to America. They mainly settled down in the Midwest, especially Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
and Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. In the 1840s, Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
immigrants desiring more religious freedom immigrated. West Michigan in particular has become associated with Dutch American culture, and the highly conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
influence Dutch Reformed Church
Dutch Reformed Church
The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...
, centering on the cities of Holland
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
and (to a lesser extent) Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
.
Theodore J. Van den Broek
Theodore J. van den Broek was a Dutch Dominican missionary to the United States.-Life:The second child of Abraham van den Broek and Elisabeth de Meijne, he was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands in June 1784. His paternal grandparents were Abraham van den Broek and Alida Verhaar from Uden, Noord...
, emigrated from southern Netherlands to form communities in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, primarily to Little Chute, Hollandtown, and the outlying farming communities. Whole families and even neighborhoods left for America. Most of these early emigrants were from villages near Uden
Uden
Uden is a municipality and a town in the province of Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.- History :Uden was first recorded around 1190 as “Uthen”. However, earlier settlements have been found in the areas of the modern day Moleneind, Vorstenburg and Bitswijk and evidence of ice-age settlements has been...
, including Zeeland, Boekel
Boekel
Boekel is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands.-External links:**...
, Mill, Oploo and Gemert
Gemert
Gemert is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Gemert-Bakel. On January 1, 2009 there were 15.268 inhabitants in Gemert.Gemert was a separate municipality until 1997, when it merged with Bakel....
.
The Dutch economy of the 1840s was stagnant and much of the motivation to emigrate was economic rather than political or religious. The emigrants were not poor, as the cost of passage, expenses and land purchase in America would have been substantial. They were not, however, affluent and many would have been risking most of their wealth on the chance of economic improvement. There were also political pressures at the time that favored mass emigrations of Catholics.
Twentieth-century migration
A significant number of Dutchmen emigrating to the USA after World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
arrived from Indonesia via the Netherlands. After Indonesia, formerly known as the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, gained independence its Indo-European (Eurasian) population known as Indies Dutchmen (Dutch: Indische Nederlanders) repatriated to the Netherlands. Around 60,000 continued their diaspora to the USA. This particular group is also known as Dutch-Indonesians, Indonesian-Dutch, or Amerindos.
"Nine tenths of the so called Europeans (in the Dutch East Indies) are the offspring of whites married to native women. These mixed people are called Indo-Europeans… They have formed the backbone of officialdom. In general they feel the same loyalty to Holland as do the white Netherlanders. They have full rights as Dutch citizens and they are Christians and follow Dutch customs. This group has suffered more than any other during the Japanese occupation.” Official US Army publication for the benefit of G.I.’s, 1944.
These Dutch Indos mainly entered the U.S.A. under legislative refugee measures and were sponsored by Christian organizations such as the Church World Service
Church World Service
Founded in 1946, Church World Service is a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations and communions in the United States, providing sustainable self-help, development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance around the world...
and the Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the U.S. bishops, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 90 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and...
. An accurate count of Indo immigrants is not available, as the U.S. Census classified people according to their self-determined ethnic affiliation. The Indos could have therefore been included in overlapping categories of "country of origin”, “other Asians," "total foreign”, “mixed parentage”, "total foreign-born” and “foreign mother tongue". However the Indos that settled in the USA via the legislative refugee measures number at least 25,000 people.
The original post-war refugee legislation of 1948, already adhering to a strict 'affidavit of support' policy, was still maintaining a colour bar making it difficult for Indos to emigrate to the USA. By 1951 American consulates in the Netherlands registered 33,500 requests and had waiting times of 3 to 5 years. Also the Walter-McCarren Act of 1953 adhered to the traditional American policy of minimizing immigrants from Asia. The yearly quota for Indonesia was limited to a 100 visas, even though Dutch foreign affairs attempted to profile Indos as refugees from the alleged pro-communist Sukarno administration.
The 1953 flood disaster in the Netherlands resulted in the Refugee Relief Act including a slot for 15,000 ethnic Dutch that had at least 50% European blood (one year later loosened to Dutch citizens with at least 2 Dutch grandparents) and an immaculate legal and political track record. In 1954 only 187 visas were actually granted. Partly influenced by the anti-Western rhetoric and policies of the Sukarno administration the anti-communist senator Francis E. Walter
Francis E. Walter
Francis Eugene Walter was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
pleaded for a second term of the Refugee Relief Act in 1957 and an additional slot of 15,000 visas in 1958.
In 1958 the Pastore-Walter Act (Act for the relief of certain distressed alliens) was passed allowing for a one off acceptance of 10,000 Dutchmen from Indonesia (excluding the regular annual quota of 3,136 visas). It was hoped however that only 10% of these Dutch refugees would in fact be racially mixed Indos and the American embassy in The Hague was frustrated with the fact that Canada, where they were more strict in their ethnic profiling, was getting the full blooded Dutch and the USA was getting Dutch "all rather heavily dark". Still in 1960 senators Pastore and Walter managed to get a second two-year term for their act which was used by a great number of Dutch Indos.
Dutch (American) influence on America
- During the American war of Independence the Dutch were active allies of the American rebels. From the island of Sint Eustatius they gave the Thirteen colonies one of the few opportunities to acquire arms. In 1778, British Lord StormontDavid Murray, 2nd Earl of MansfieldDavid Murray, 2nd Earl of Mansfield KT, PC , known from 1748 to 1793 as The Viscount Stormont, was a British politician. He succeeded to both the Mansfield and Stormont lines of the Murray family, inheriting two titles and two fortunes.-Life:Mansfield was the son of David Murray, 6th Viscount of...
claimed in parliament that "if Sint Eustatius had sunk into the sea three years before, the United Kingdom would already have dealt with George Washington".
- The Dutch were the first to salute the flag, and therefore the first to acknowledge the independence of, the United States on 16 November 1776.
- The Louisiana PurchaseLouisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
, also known as the "Great Land Acquisition", of 1803, is often seen as one of the most important events in American history after the Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration of independenceA declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
. At the time it had a total cost of $15.000.000,- and it was financed in three ways. First of all by a down payment of $3.000.000,- in gold by the US government, and then two loans, one by the London-based Barings Bank, and one by the Amsterdam based Hope Bank. The original receipt still exists and is currently property of the Dutch ING GroupING GroupThe ING Group is a global financial institution offering retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is the Dutch member of the Inter-Alpha Group of Banks, a cooperative consortium of 11 prominent European banks...
, which has its headquarters in Amsterdam.
- In 1626, Peter MinuitPeter MinuitPeter Minuit, Pieter Minuit, Pierre Minuit or Peter Minnewit was a Walloon from Wesel, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, then part of the Duchy of Cleves. He was the Director-General of the Dutch colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1633, and he founded the Swedish colony of...
obtained the island of Manhattan from the Indians in exchange for goods with a total value of 60 guilders ($24). He established the town of New Amsterdam, the future New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The names of some other settlements that were established still exist today as boroughs and neighborhoods of New York: BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
(BreukelenBreukelenBreukelen is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is situated to the north west of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and close to the lakes of the Loosdrechtse Plassen, an area of natural and touristic interest...
), Staten IslandStaten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
(named after the Dutch parliament, the 'Staten Generaal'), HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
(HaarlemHaarlemHaarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
), Coney IslandConey IslandConey Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
(Konijnen Eiland, means Rabbit Island) and FlushingFlushing, QueensFlushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
(Vlissingen) .
- At least five American presidents had Dutch ancestry:
- Martin van BurenMartin Van BurenMartin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
, was the eighth President of the United States. He was a key organizer of the Democratic Party and the first president who was not of English, Irish, Scottish, or Welsh descent. He is also the only president not to have spoken English as his first language, but rather grew up speaking Dutch. - Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, was the 26th President of the United States. Roosevelt is most famous for his personality; his energy, his vast range of interests and achievements, his model of masculinity, and his “cowboy” persona. In 1901, he became President after the assassination of President William McKinley. Roosevelt was a Progressive reformer who sought to move the Republican Party into the Progressive camp. - Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, was the 32nd President of the United States. Elected to four terms in office, he served from 1933 to 1945, and is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms. A central figure of the twentieth century, he has consistently been ranked as one of the three greatest U.S. presidents in scholarly surveys. - George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
and George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, were the 41st and 43rd Presidents of the United States respectively. They count members of the Schuyler familySchuyler familyThe Schuyler family was a prominent family in New York and New Jersey. Notable family members include:*Alexander Hamilton*Angelica Schuyler Church*Arent Schuyler*Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton*James Alexander Hamilton*Philip Jeremiah Schuyler...
and the related Beekman family among their ancestors.
- Martin van Buren
Dutch traditions
The Dutch introduced their own folklore, most famously Sinterklaas (the foundation of the modern day Santa ClausSanta Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
) and created their own as in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., written while he was living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820...
. [Wermuth 2001]
Dutch language and Dutch names in North America
The first Dutch settlers lived in small isolated communities, and as a consequence were barely exposed to English. As the Dutch lost their own colonies in North America to the British, the Dutch settlers increasingly were exposed to other immigrants and their languages and the Dutch language gradually started to disappear.In 1764, Dr. Archibald Laidlie
Archibald Laidlie
Archibald Laidlie was a clergyman of the Dutch reformed church in the United States.-References:...
preached the first English sermon to the Dutch Reformed congregation in New York City. Ten years later English was introduced in the schools. In Kingston, Dutch was used in church as late as 1808. A few years before, a traveler had reported that on Long Island and along the North River in Albany, Dutch was still the lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
of the elderly.
Francis Adrian van der Kemp, who came to the United States as a refugee in 1788, wrote that his wife was able to converse in Dutch with the wives of Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
and General George Clinton
George Clinton (vice president)
George Clinton was an American soldier and politician, considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was the first Governor of New York, and then the fourth Vice President of the United States , serving under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. He and John C...
. In 1847, immigrants from the Netherlands were welcomed in Dutch by the Reverend Isaac Wyckoff upon their arrival in New York. Wyckoff himself was a descendant of one of the first settlers in Rensselaerswyck, who had learned to speak English at school.
Until recently many communities in New Jersey adhered to the tradition of a monthly church service in Dutch. As late as 1905, Dutch was still heard among the old people in the Ramapo Valley of that state. Dutch is still spoken by the elderly and their children in Western Michigan. It was not until 1910 that Roseland Christian School
Roseland Christian School
Roseland Christian School is a private, coeducational elementary school on the far south side of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in Roseland as a school for the children of Dutch immigrants in the area. Today it mainly serves the African American community that lives in Roseland.-History:The...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
switched to an English curriculum from Dutch.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the Dutch language was hardly spoken in North America, with the exception of first generation Dutch immigrants. The marks of the Dutch heritage - in language, in reference to historical Dutch people (for example Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
) and in reference to Dutch places (for example Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
which stems from Breukelen
Breukelen
Breukelen is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is situated to the north west of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and close to the lakes of the Loosdrechtse Plassen, an area of natural and touristic interest...
) - can still be seen. There are about 35 Dutch restaurants and bakeries in the United States, most of them founded in the 20th century.
New York City for example has many originally Dutch street and place names which range from Coney Island and Brooklyn to Wall Street and Broadway. And up the river in New York State Piermont, Orangeburg, Blauvelt and Haverstraw, just to name a few places. In the Hudson Valley region there are many places and waterways whose names incorporate the word -kill, Dutch for "stream" or "riverbed", including the Catskill Mountains, Peekskill, and the Kill van Kull.
There are also some words in American-English that are of Dutch origin, like "cookie" (koekje) and "boss" (baas). And in some family names a couple of Dutch characteristics still remain. Like (a) the prefix "van" (as in Martin van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
), (b) the prefix "de"(/"der"/"des"/"den") (as in Jared DeVries
Jared DeVries
Jared Jay DeVries [] is an American football defensive end who played for the Detroit Lions in NFL. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at Iowa...
), (c) a combination of the two "van de ..." (as in Robert J. Van de Graaff
Robert J. Van de Graaff
Robert Jemison Van de Graaff, was an American physicist, noted for his design and construction of high voltage generators, who taught at Princeton University and MIT.-Biography:...
), or (d) "ter"/"te"("ten"), which mean respectively (a) 'of' (possessive or locative), (b) 'the' (definite article), (c) 'of the ...' and (d) 'at the' ('of the'/'in the') (locative).
Similarities between Dutch and English are abundant. Examples include the article 'the' ('de' in Dutch), the words 'book' (boek), 'house' (huis), 'pen' (pen), and, 'street' (straat), among others. Dutch and English are both part of the West Germanic
West Germanic languages
The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of languages and include languages such as German, English, Dutch, Afrikaans, the Frisian languages, and Yiddish...
language group and share several aspects. Adaptation of place names
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
between the languages is common, as was the case of New York, where several landmarks like Conyne Eylandt became more suitable to Anglophones (Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
).
Contact between other languages also created various creoles
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
with Dutch as the base language. Two examples, Jersey Dutch
Jersey Dutch
Jersey Dutch was a variant of the Dutch language spoken in and around Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey from the late 17th century until the early 20th century. It may have been a partial creole language based on Zeelandic and West Flemish Dutch dialects with English and possibly some...
and Mohawk Dutch
Mohawk Dutch
Mohawk Dutch is a now extinct Dutch-based creole language mainly spoken during the 17th century west of Albany, New York, by the Dutch colonists who traded with or to a lesser extent mixed with the local population from the Mohawk nation....
, are now extinct. This is possibly due to the ease of transition from Dutch to English, stemming from a shared linguistic genealogy.
Little Chute, Wisconsin remained a Dutch-speaking community—known locally as “speaking Hollander”—into the twentieth century. As late as 1898, church sermons and event announcements were in Dutch. Dutch newspapers continued in the area—mainly in De Pere by Catholic clergymen—were published up until World War I . The only remaining publication that is written exclusively in Dutch is Maandblad de Krant, which is published monthly in Penticton, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and mailed to subscribers throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from Oroville, Washington
Oroville, Washington
Oroville is a town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,686 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Oroville is located at ....
.
The American state of Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
is a surviving example of Dutch influence in Colonial America. In 1614, was christened as "Roodt Eylandt" (Rood Eiland in modern Dutch), meaning 'Red Island', referring to the red clay found on the island.
Dutch-American Heritage Day
As of 1990, November 16 is "Dutch-American Heritage Day". On November 16, 1776, a small American warship, the Andrew Doria, sailed into the harbour of the Dutch island of Sint Eustatius in the West Indies. Only four months before, the United States had declared its independence from Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. The American crew was delighted when the governor of the island ordered that his fort's cannons be fired in a friendly salute. The first ever given by a foreign power to the flag of the United States
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
, it was a risky and courageous act. Indeed, angered by Dutch trading and contraband with the rebellious colonies, the British seized the island a few years later. The Dutch recaptured the island in 1784.
Dutch-American Friendship Day
April 19 is Dutch-American Friendship Day, which remembers the day in 1782 when John AdamsJohn Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
, later to become the second president of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, was received by the States General
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and recognized as Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America. It was also the day that the house he had purchased at Fluwelen Burgwal 18 in The Hague was to become the first American Embassy in the world.
Dutch Heritage Festivals
Tulip Time Festival
Tulip Time Festival is an annual festival held in Holland, Michigan. Tulip festivals are held in many cities around the United States of America that were founded or largely inhabited by Dutch settlers. It has been held every year in mid-May since 1929 and is currently the largest tulip festival in...
in Holland, Michigan
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
is the largest such festival with other notable gatherings such as the Pella Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa; the Tulip Festival in Orange City, Iowa; Dutch Days in Fulton, Illinois; Let's Go Dutch Days in Baldwin, Wisconsin; Holland Days in Lynden, Washington; Holland Happening in Oak Harbor, Washington; and the Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest in Woodburn, Oregon. Often Dutch heritage festivals coincide with the blooming of the tulip. See Tulip Festival
Tulip Festival
Tulip Festivals are held in several cities around the world, including a number in North America — most often cities with Dutch heritage — such as Albany ; Ottawa ; Gatineau ; Montreal ; Holland ; Lehi ; Orange City ; Pella ; Mount Vernon ; and Woodburn , and in other countries such as Australia and...
for additional explanations of some of these festivals. A Dutch Festival is also held at Hofstra University
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private, nonsectarian institution of higher learning located in the Village of Hempstead, New York, United States, about east of New York City: less than an hour away by train or car...
in Hempstead, New York; and a Holland Festival in Long Beach, California. A traditional Dutch Kermis Festival is celebrated in October in Little Chute, WI. During late November and early December a Dutch Winterfest is held in Holland, MI, to coincide with the traditional arrival of Sinterklaas
Sinterklaas
Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders and Artois...
; the "Dutch Santa Claus."
Religion
The beginnings of the Reformed Church in AmericaReformed Church in America
The Reformed Church in America is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 170,000 members, with the total declining in recent decades. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1819, it...
date to 1628. By 1740, it had 65 congregations in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, served by ministers trained in Europe. Schools were few but to obtain their own ministers they formed "Queens College" (now Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
) in 1766. In 1771, there were 34 ministers for over 100 churches. Until 1764, in at least three Dutch churches in New York City, all sermons were in Dutch; Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
reports his grandfather's church used Dutch as late as 1810. Other churches with roots in Dutch immigration to the United States include the Christian Reformed Church
Christian Reformed Church in North America
The Christian Reformed Church in North America is a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. Having roots in the Dutch Reformed churches of the Netherlands, the Christian Reformed Church was founded by Gijsbert Haan and Dutch immigrants who left the Reformed Church in...
, the Protestant Reformed Churches
Protestant Reformed Churches in America
The Protestant Reformed Churches in America ' or ' is a Protestant denomination of 29 churches and over 7,000 members.-History:...
, the United Reformed Churches
United Reformed Churches in North America
The United Reformed Churches in North America is a theologically conservative federation of churches. The United Reformed Churches trace their roots back to the earlier Protestant movements in Europe, and to the Reformed churches in Belgium and the Netherlands...
, the Netherlands Reformed Congregations
Netherlands Reformed Congregations
The Netherlands Reformed Congregations, is a highly conservative denomination with congregations mostly in Canada, the United States, and the Netherlands.-Baptism:...
, the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregations
Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregations
The Heritage Reformed Congregations are a conservative federation of churches with congregations in the United States and Canada.-History:Formed in 1993 due to a split in the Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States....
and the Free Reformed Church
Free Reformed Churches of North America
The Free Reformed Churches of North America is a theologically conservative federation of churches in the Dutch Calvinist tradition with congregations in the United States and Canada. It officially adopted its current name in 1974...
. Along with the Reformed churches, Roman Catholicism is the other major religion of Dutch Americans. Beginning in 1848, a significant number of Roman Catholics from the Dutch provinces of Noord Brabant and southern Gelderland
Gelderland
Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...
went to create many settlements in northeastern Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
Numbers
Between 1820 and 1900, 340,000 Dutch emigrated from the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
to the United States of America. In the aftermath of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, several tens of thousands of Dutch immigrants joined them, mainly moving to California and Washington. In several counties in Michigan and Iowa, Dutch Americans remain the largest ethnic group. Nowadays, most Dutch Americans (27%) live in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, followed by New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
According to the 2000 United States Census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
, more than 5 million Americans claim total or partial Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
heritage. They are particularly concentrated around Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
; Rock Rapids, Iowa
Rock Rapids, Iowa
Rock Rapids is a city in Lyon County in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa, an area known for its strong Dutch heritage and conservative politics. It is the county seat of Lyon County and home to Central Lyon Schools. The population was 2,549 in the 2010 census, a decline from 2,573...
; Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state....
; Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
; Fulton, Illinois
Fulton, Illinois
Fulton is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,481 at the 2010 census, down from 3,881 at the 2000 census. Fulton is located across the Mississippi River from Clinton, Iowa.-Geography:...
, and Celeryville, Ohio
Celeryville, Ohio
Celeryville is a census-designated place on the boundary between the New Haven and Richmond Townships of Huron County, Ohio, United States. Celeryville is located approximately one mile south of Willard, and the community relies on Willard's social services....
. These areas are surrounded with towns and villages that were founded by Dutch settlers in the 19th century, such as Holland, Michigan
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
and Zeeland, Michigan
Zeeland, Michigan
Zeeland is a city in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,805 at the 2000 census. The city is located at the western edge of Zeeland Charter Township which is politically independent. Its name is derived from the Dutch province of Zeeland...
; Pella, Iowa
Pella, Iowa
Pella is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,832 at the 2000 census. Pella is the home of Central College as well as several manufacturing companies, including Pella Corporation and Vermeer Manufacturing Company.- History :...
, and Orange City, Iowa
Orange City, Iowa
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,582 people, 1,719 households, and 1,285 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,808.5 people per square mile . There were 1,805 housing units at an average density of 584.8 per square mile...
. Other Dutch enclaves include Lynden, Washington
Lynden, Washington
Lynden is the second largest city in Whatcom County. Named and established in 1874 on the site of the Nooksack Indian village Squahalish , the town of Lynden began as a pioneer settlement headed by Holden and Phoebe Judson and is today home to one of the largest Dutch American communities in the...
, Ripon, California
Ripon, California
Ripon is a city located in . The population was 14,297 at the 2010 census.-History:Ripon, on the site previously known as Murphy's Ferry, Stanislaus City, & Stanislaus Station, was renamed for , which was itself named for a city in Yorkshire, England...
, and places in New Jersey. It is estimated that, by 1927, as many as 40,000 Dutch settlers, primarily from Noord Brabant and Limburg
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
, had immigrated to the United States, with the largest concentrations in the area near Little Chute, Wisconsin. By the early twentieth century, Little Chute was the largest Catholic Dutch community in the United States.
In California, the San Joaquin Delta
San Joaquin County, California
San Joaquin County is a county located in Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, just east of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 685,306. The county seat is Stockton.-History:...
had a major Dutch, Belgian
Belgians
Belgians are people originating from the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe.-Etymology:Belgians are a relatively "new" people...
and Frisian
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...
influence as settlers from those countries arrived since the 1850s after California had statehood. They drained away swamps and created artificial islands known as polders, constructed dikes to back away the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers flowing into the San Francisco Bay, also turned them into fertile farmlands and set up inland ports such as Stockton
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
. Also their communities like Lathrop
Lathrop, California
Lathrop is a city located in . At the 2010 census Lathrop’s population was 18,023, and has a projected “build out” population of 70,000. The city is located in Northern California at the intersection of I-5 and 120 freeways.-Geography:...
, Galt
Galt, California
Galt is a city in Sacramento County, California, USA. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Rio Vista
Rio Vista, California
Rio Vista is a city located in the eastern end of Solano County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento River Delta region. The population was 7,360 at the 2010 census....
and French Camp
French Camp, California
French Camp is a census-designated place in San Joaquin County, California, United States. The population was 3,376 at the 2010 census, down from 4,109 at the 2000 census. San Joaquin General Hospital is located in French Camp....
which were named for Belgians from Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
are of both French (Walloon
Walloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
) or Dutch (Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
) origin.
Not included among Dutch Americans are the Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
, a group of German American
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
s who settled in Pennsylvania in the colonial era and whose name is a corruption of the word "Deutsch", meaning "German".
Notable Dutch Americans
Harmen Jansen KnickerbockerHarmen Jansen Knickerbocker
Harmen Jansen van Wijhe Knickerbacker was a Dutch colonist in New Netherland .He was a native of the village of Zaltbommel, Netherlands. The Wijhe portion of the name represents an earlier familial origin...
was an early Dutch settler of New York's Hudson River Valley.
In art, Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
was a leading Abstract Expressionist painter, often depicting the human form in violent brush strokes and daring color juxtapositions. Muralist Anthony Heinsbergen
Anthony Heinsbergen
Anthony Heinsbergen was an American muralist considered the foremost designer of North American movie theatre interiors....
interior designs are still seen today in most of the world's movie theaters.
In literature, Jan-Willem van de Wetering is renowned for his detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
; his most popular creation being that of Grijpstra and de Gier. Edward W. Bok
Edward W. Bok
Edward William Bok was a Dutch born American editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He was editor of the Ladies Home Journal for thirty years...
was a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning autobiographer and magazine editor. He is also credited with coining the term "living room
Living room
A living room, also known as sitting room, lounge room or lounge , is a room for entertaining adult guests, reading, or other activities...
". Greta Van Susteren
Greta Van Susteren
Greta Van Susteren is an American commentator and television personality on the Fox News Channel, where she hosts On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren...
's father was a Dutch American. Calvin Ziegler
Calvin Ziegler
Charles Calvin Ziegler was a German-American poet from Rebersburg, Pennsylvania. His native language was Pennsylvania Dutch, and though he learned English in school he wrote his poetry in "Dutch"...
published poetry in Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
in the 19th Century.
In entertainment, actor, presenter
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
and entertainer Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
is of Dutch descent, with a career spanning six decade
Decade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
s. He is best known for his starring roles in Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
, The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
and Diagnosis: Murder
Diagnosis: Murder
Diagnosis: Murder is a mystery/medical/crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son, a homicide detective played by his real-life son Barry Van Dyke. The series began as a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman...
. The X-men trilogy
X-Men (film)
X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and Tyler Mane...
starred Dutch actress Famke Janssen
Famke Janssen
Famke Beumer Janssen is a Dutch actress and former fashion model. She is known for playing the villainous Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye and Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men film series .- Early life and education :...
and Rebecca Romijn
Rebecca Romijn
Rebecca Alie Romijn is an American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her recurring role as Alexis Meade on the television series Ugly Betty.-Early life:...
who is perhaps best known for her TV-roles on such comedies as Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
. Anneliese van der Pol
Anneliese van der Pol
Anneliese Louise van der Pol is a Dutch-American actress and singer. After an early career in musical theatre, she was cast as Chelsea Daniels in the Disney Channel Original Series That's So Raven, a role that gained her renown among young audiences. Van der Pol also has a career as a singer and...
, a singer and actress, is the star of Disney's Thats so Raven. Iconic star Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
was born in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
to a Dutch expatriate. Musicians Eddie
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
and Alex van Halen
Alex Van Halen
Alexander Arthur "Alex" Van Halen is a Dutch-born American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen. Originally, his brother Eddie had taken lessons for drums, while Alex practiced guitar...
are the lead guitarist, respectively drummer and co-founders of the band Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
, born to a Dutch father and Dutch-Indonesian mother. Don Van Vliet, stage name of musician Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
, changed his middle name from Glen to the preposition to 1965 to honor his Dutch heritage. Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Zack Morris in NBC's Saved by the Bell, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Detective John Clark in NYPD Blue, Jerry Kellerman in TNT's Raising the Bar, and more recently Peter...
, known from the series Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell...
, was born to a Dutch father and a Dutch-Indonesian mother. Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, the author of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
and Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
has Dutch Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
ancestors, his family name originating from the Dutch town of Groningen.
In politics, Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York...
was the last Director-General
Director-general
The term director-general is a title given the highest executive officer within a governmental, statutory, NGO, third sector or not-for-profit institution.-European Union:...
of the colony of New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
. Stuyvesant greatly expanded the settle of New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....
, today known as New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Stuyvesant's administration built the protective wall on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
, and the canal that became Broad Street, known today as Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
. The prestigious Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School , commonly referred to as Stuy , is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. Stuyvesant is noted for its strong academic...
is named after him. During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Martin Kalbfleisch
Martin Kalbfleisch
Martin Kalbfleisch was a United States Representative from New York during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
served as a US Representative for the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Today, Pete Hoekstra
Pete Hoekstra
Peter "Pete" Hoekstra is a former Republican U.S. Representative for who served in the House from 1993 until 2011. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Michigan in 2010 and is expected to run for the United States Senate against Debbie Stabenow in 2012.-Early life and education:Born...
is a long-running congressman for the state of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. Jacob Aaron Westervelt was a renowned and prolific shipbuilder and Mayor of New York (1853–1855)
In science and technology, Nicolaas Bloembergen
Nicolaas Bloembergen
Nicolaas Bloembergen is a Dutch-American physicist and Nobel laureate.He received his Ph.D. degree from University of Leiden in 1948; while pursuing his PhD at Harvard, Bloembergen also worked part-time as a graduate research assistant for Edward Mills Purcell at the MIT Radiation Laboratory...
won the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in 1981 for his work in laser spectroscopy. He was also awarded the Lorentz Medal
Lorentz Medal
Lorentz Medal is a prize awarded every four years by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. It was established in 1925 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the doctorate of Hendrik Lorentz. This solid gold medal is given for important contributions to theoretical physics, though...
in 1978. Physicists Samuel Abraham Goudsmit
Samuel Abraham Goudsmit
Samuel Abraham Goudsmit was a Dutch-American physicist famous for jointly proposing the concept of electron spin with George Eugene Uhlenbeck in 1925.-Biography:...
and George Eugene Uhlenbeck
George Eugene Uhlenbeck
George Eugene Uhlenbeck was a Dutch-American theoretical physicist.-Background and education:George Uhlenbeck was the son of Eugenius and Anne Beeger Uhlenbeck...
proposed the concept of electron spin. Goudsmit was also the scientific head of the Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos
Operation Alsos was an effort at the end of World War II by the Allies , branched off from the Manhattan Project, to investigate the German nuclear energy project, seize German nuclear resources, materials and personnel to further American research and to prevent their capture by the Soviets, and...
mission in the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
. Tjalling Koopmans
Tjalling Koopmans
Tjalling Charles Koopmans was the joint winner, with Leonid Kantorovich, of the 1975 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences....
was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1975.
In astronomy, Maarten Schmidt
Maarten Schmidt
Maarten Schmidt is a Dutch astronomer who measured the distances of quasars.Born in Groningen, The Netherlands, Schmidt studied with Jan Hendrik Oort. He earned his Ph.D. degree from Leiden Observatory in 1956....
pioneered the research of quasars. Astronomer Gerard Kuiper
Gerard Kuiper
Gerard Peter Kuiper , Netherlands – December 24, 1973, Mexico City) was a Dutch-American astronomer after whom the Kuiper belt was named.-Early life:...
discovered two new moons in our solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
and predicted the existence of the Kuiper belt
Kuiper belt
The Kuiper belt , sometimes called the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, although it is far larger—20 times as wide and 20 to 200 times as massive...
, which is named in his honor. Popular astronomer Bart J. Bok won the Klumpke-Roberts Award
Klumpke-Roberts Award
The Klumpke-Roberts Award was established from a bequest by astronomer Dorothea Klumpke-Roberts and recognizes outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy...
in 1982 and the Bruce Medal
Bruce Medal
The Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal is awarded every year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. It is named after Catherine Wolfe Bruce, an American patroness of astronomy, and was first awarded in 1898...
in 1977. Jan Schilt
Jan Schilt
Jan Schilt was a Dutch-American astronomer, inventor of the Schilt photometer.-Biography:Schilt was born in 1894 in the Netherlands, and educated there under Jacobus Kapteyn...
invented the Schilt photometer
Photometer
In its widest sense, a photometer is an instrument for measuring light intensity or optical properties of solutions or surfaces. Photometers are used to measure:*Illuminance*Irradiance*Light absorption*Scattering of light*Reflection of light*Fluorescence...
.
In sports, baseball player and twice World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
champion Bert Blyleven
Bert Blyleven
Bert Blyleven is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from to , and was best known for his curveball. Blyleven was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011...
gained fame for his curveball
Curveball
The curveball is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate. Its close relatives are the slider and the slurve. The "curve" of the ball varies from pitcher to...
.
In religion, Albertus van Raalte
Albertus van Raalte
Albertus Christiaan van Raalte was an 19th century pastor in the Reformed Church in America...
was a Reformed Church of America pastor who led the Dutch immigrants who founded the city of Holland, Michigan
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
in 1846. Louis Berkhof
Louis Berkhof
Louis Berkhof was a Reformed systematic theologian whose written works have been influential in seminaries and Bible colleges in the United States and Canada and with individual Christians in general throughout the 20th century.-Personal life:...
, a Reformed systematic theologian, is greatly studied today in seminaries and Bible colleges. Herman Hoeksema
Herman Hoeksema
Herman Hoeksema was a Dutch Reformed theologian.Hoeksema was born on 1886-03-12 at Hoogezand, in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands and immigrated to the USA in 1904...
, a theologian, was instrumental in the series of events that precipitated the creation of the Protestant Reformed Church. Prominent Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
author Lewis B. Smedes
Lewis B. Smedes
Lewis Benedictus Smedes was a renowned Christian author, ethicist, and theologian in the Reformed tradition. He was a professor of theology and ethics for twenty-five years at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California...
wrote Forgive and Forget
Forgive and Forget
Forgive and Forget may refer to:*Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don't Deserve, a book by Lewis B. Smedes*"Forgive and Forget", a song by Alien Ant Farm from Up in the Attic...
, an influential work discussing a religious view on sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
and forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is typically defined as the process of concluding resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offense, difference or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as 'to grant free pardon and to give up all...
.
See also
- European AmericanEuropean AmericanA European American is a citizen or resident of the United States who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe...
- Hyphenated AmericanHyphenated AmericanIn the United States, the term hyphenated American is an epithet commonly used from 1890 to 1920 to disparage Americans who were of foreign birth or origin, and who displayed an allegiance to a foreign country. It was most commonly used to disparage German Americans or Irish Americans who called...
- Netherlands–United States relations
- Dutch, the magazineDutch, the magazineDutch, the Magazine is a bi-monthly Canadian magazine about The Netherlands and its people. It covers issues like society, politics, culture, history, food and travel. It covers the Netherlands and its inhabitants and Dutch settlements abroad, especially in North America. The magazine was launched...
Further reading
- Bratt, James H. Dutch Calvinism in Modern America: A History of a Conservative Subculture. Eerdmans, 1984.
- Corwin, S. T. History of the Dutch Reformed Church in the United States (1895).
- De Gerald, F. Jong The Dutch in America, 1609-1974. Twayne, 1975, short survey
- Doezema, Linda Pegman. Dutch Americans: A Guide to Information Sources. Gale Research, 1979. Bibliography
- Ganzevoort, Herman, and Mark Boekelman, eds. Dutch Immigration to North America. Toronto: Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1983.
- Goodfriend, Joyce D. Benjamin Schmidt, and Annette Stott, eds. Going Dutch: The Dutch Presence in America, 1609-2009 (2008)
- Kim, Sung Bok. Landlord and Tenant in Colonial New York: Manorial Society, 1664-1775 (1987)
- Kirk, Gordon W. The Promise of American Life: Social Mobility in a Nineteenth-Century Immigrant Community, Holland, Michigan, 1847-1894. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1978.
- Kroes, Rob. The Persistence of Ethnicity: Dutch Calvinist Pioneers in Amsterdam, Montana. University of Illinois Press, 1992.
- Kroes, Rob, and Henk-Otto Neuschafer, eds. The Dutch in North America: Their Immigration and Cultural Continuity. Amsterdam: Free University Press, 1991.
- Kromminga, John. The Christian Reformed Church: A Study in Orthodoxy. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1949.
- Adrian C. Leiby; The Revolutionary War in the Hackensack Valley: The Jersey Dutch and the Neutral Ground, 1775-1783 Rutgers University Press. 1962.
- Lucas, Henry. Netherlanders in America: Dutch Immigration to the United States and Canada, 1789-1950. University of Michigan Press, 1955.
- Nissenson, S. G. The Patroon's Domain 1937
- Schreuder, Yda. Dutch Catholic Immigrant Settlement in Wisconsin, 1850-1905. New York: Garland, 1989.
- Swierenga, Robert P. The Forerunners: Dutch Jewry in the North American Diaspora. Wayne State University Press, 1994.
- Swierenga, Robert P. ed. The Dutch in America: Immigration, Settlement, and Cultural Change. Rutgers University Press, 1985.
- Swierenga, Robert P., "Faith and Familiy --Dutch Immigration and Settlement in the United States, 1820–1920" (Ellis Island Series.) New York: Holmes and Meyer. 2000.
- Taylor, Lawrence J. Dutchmen on the Bay: The Ethnohistory of a Contractual Community. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983.
- Thernstrom, Stephan, ed. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups. Harvard University Press, 1980.
- Van Jacob Hinte. Netherlanders in America: A Study of Emigration and Settlement in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries of the of America. Ed. Robert P. Swierenga . Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1985. translation of a 1928 Dutch-language book
- Thomas S. Wermuth. Rip Van Winkle's Neighbors: The Transformation of Rural Society in the Hudson River Valley (2001)
- Wabeke, Bertus Harry Dutch emigration to North America, 1624-1860
- Carl Wittke, We Who Built America: The Saga of the Immigrant (1939), ch 2, 11
- Milwaukee Sentinel, July 15, 1898 article on Little Chute, Wisconsin
Primary sources
- Herbert J. Brinks, Dutch American Voices: Letters from the United States, 1850-1930 (1995)
- Lucas, Henry, ed. Dutch Immigrant Memoirs and Related Writings. 2 vols. Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 1955.