Rip Van Dam
Encyclopedia
Acting (law)
In law, when someone is said to be acting in a position it can mean one of three things.*The position has not yet been formally created.*The person is only occupying the position temporarily, to ensure continuity.*The person does not have a mandate....
of the Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
from 1731 to 1732. As one of the leaders of the republican liberal party, Van Dam confronted the subsequent royal governor
Royal governor
Royal governor is an informal term used to refer to a colonial or provincial Governor, or by extension a Governor-General or similar gubernatorial official, appointed by a king or other monarch....
William Cosby.
Early life
Rip Van Dam was born, about 1660, at BeverwyckBeverwyck
Beverwijck was a fur-trading community north of Fort Orange on the Hudson River in New Netherland that was to become Albany, New York, when the English took control of the colony in 1664....
, Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, New York, where he was raised. His father was Claes Ripse Van Dam, a middle class local socialite who traded through his carpentry
Carpentry
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
business and operated as a contractor. By him, Van Dam was related to the Dutch Church
Reformed 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...
of Albany. Van Dam's mother was named Maria Bords.
Merchant of New York
In Albany, Van Dam was employed since his adolescence by Robert StoryRobert Story
Robert "Bob" Story is a Republican Party member of the Montana Senate, representing District 30 since 2002. Story is serving as the President of the Montana Senate.- References :...
, a businessman of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City, who was trading around. Subsequently, Van Dam was sent to New York, to study business management earnestly, and he became a prominent merchant, running his own business. Van Dam was married, in 1684, to Sarah Van Der Spiegle of New York, begetting 9 children at least.
Politician
During the New York Province royal governanceRoyal governor
Royal governor is an informal term used to refer to a colonial or provincial Governor, or by extension a Governor-General or similar gubernatorial official, appointed by a king or other monarch....
of Lord Bellomont
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont
Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont , known as The Lord Coote between 1683 and 1689, was a member of the English Parliament and a colonial governor...
, Van Dam resisted his restrictions of commerce and Bellomont reacted confiscating some vessels of Van Dam, which would have infracted the laws of customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
. By such struggle, Van Dam became engaged into politics. In 1699, Van Dam was elected to represent New York City into the New York State assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
, in Albany, and he became the opposition leader.
Councilman of the Royal Governor
Van Dam rallied those merchants who had been affected by Bellomont's restrictions and together they issued a complain to the King of England, William IIIWilliam III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
. Effectively, in response, the new royal governor Lord Cornbury
Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon , styled Viscount Cornbury between 1674 and 1709, was Governor of New York and New Jersey between 1701 and 1708, and is perhaps best known for the claims of his cross-dressing while in office.-Career:Born The Hon...
removed some councilmen, in 1701, accusing them with promotion of political disorder. Into one of the vacancies of councilman, Van Dam was appointed instead, in 1702. Indeed, it was uncommon that a native of Albany became a royal governor councilman as it was an office which was usually reserved for prominent noble figures and wealthy New Yorkers. It functioned in New York city.
Van Dam served as a councilman for 30 years. As a councilman's rank was determined by the length of his tenure, eventually Van Dam reached the presidency of the council as the oldest member and, often, he represented the royal governor. For instance, Van Dam travelled annually to Albany, to renew the English-Iroquoian
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
alliance on the governor's behalf.
Acting Governor
After the royal governor John MontgomerieJohn Montgomerie
Colonel John Montgomerie was colonial governor of New York and New Jersey from 1728 to 1731.Montgomerie was born in the parish of Beith in Scotland and served as Member or Parliament for Ayrshire between 1710 and 1722....
's death, Van Dam who was the council president was appointed temporary acting governor of New York Province, in 1731.
Against the new Royal Governor
By opposing the Molasses actSugar and Molasses Act
The Molasses Act of March 1733 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain , which imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on imports of molasses from non-British colonies. Parliament created the act largely at the insistence of large plantation owners in the British West Indies...
, Van Dam was rewarded, receiving 1,000 pounds
New York pound
The pound was the currency of New York until 1793. Initially, the British pound and some foreign currencies circulated, supplemented by local paper money from 1709...
by the assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
. Besides, the assembly had disposed a bill through which the liberal institutions of New York got much money. In April 1732, the designated royal governor William Cosby arrived. Disliking such liberal manoeuvres, Cosby decided that Van Dam should restore half of his salary of interim governor. Van Dam durst replying that, before he might comply for such demands, Cosby should return the privilege fortunes, which were being defalcated out of the English treasury for fake provincial expenditures, by Cosby since his appointment. Cosby assumed in August 1732 but Van Dam refused to take his corresponding oath of councilman.
Cosby was enraged by Van Dam's stubbornness so he filed a lawsuit against him to despoil the half of his acting governor salary. Van Dam was processed through a chancery court
Court of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...
(with neither a jury nor a faithful following of the law texts) whereas his defence was taken by William Smith and James Alexander
James Alexander (lawyer)
James Alexander was a lawyer and statesman in colonial New York. He served in the Colonial Assembly and as Attorney General of the colony in 1721-1723. His son William was later a Major General in the Continental Army during the American revolution...
. The court of chancery was quite unpopular amongst the New Yorkers. Nonetheless, it was upheld although one of the three Supreme Court judges, the Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris (1671-1746)
Lewis Morris , chief justice of New York and British governor of New Jersey, was the first lord of the manor of Morrisania in New York .-Biography:...
, voted against it, in 1733, arguing the illegality of such type of chambers of justice. Despite his judicial victory, Cosby reacted so Van Dam was dismissdismissed off the governor council and Morris was ousted. Nonetheless, Morris' liberal party won the elections in that same year, against the royal party
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
.
In 1734, Van Dam's Heads of Articles of Complaint Against governor Cosby was published, at Boston, Massachusetts. Under the appellative of The Morrisites, the liberal party of New York aligned for Van Dam's claims, with his active participation. Oppositely, the royal loyalists, The Court Party, stood with Cosby.
John Peter Zenger
John Peter Zenger
John Peter Zenger was a German-American printer, publisher, editor, and journalist in New York City. He was a defendant in a landmark legal case in American jurisprudence that determined that truth was a defense against charges of libel and "laid the foundation for American press freedom."-...
's aggressively liberal New York Weekly Journal newspaper, of which Van Dam had been a founder (1733), used the Van Dam case much in its every day crusade of free government. Usually, like the other liberal figures of New York, Van Dam wrote unsigned articles which were published by Zenger. In 1734, Cosby burned piles of the publication, prosecuting Zenger in the historical Zenger's trial of 1735.
The Successor
Usually, Van Dam was absent, off the regular sessions of the governor's council. By this reason, Van Dam was suspended by Cosby, who issued this secret order during his deathbed.Thus, Van Dam didn't assume the New York governorship after Cosby's decease (1736). Instead, the corresponding councilman George Clarke
George Clarke
George Clarke , the son of Sir William Clarke, enrolled at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1676. He was elected a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 1680. He became Judge Advocate to the Army and was William III of England's Secretary at War from 1690 to 1704...
, who was of the royal party actually, did. Van Dam demanded the office and, when Clarke refused, the two of them called for respective council sessions. Van Dam was supported by the Chief Justice James DeLancey
James DeLancey
James DeLancey served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York.DeLancey was born in New York City on November 27, 1703, the first son of Etienne DeLancey and Anne-daughter of Stephanus Van Cortlandt...
and his adherents were ready to use the weapons to defend Van Dam's claim. Nonetheless, the conflict ended because, from London, several communiques endorsed Clarke's interim governorship.
Death
Van Dam filed his willWill (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
in 1746, detailing his own estate extensively. He died in New York city, in 10 June 1749.
Sources
- New York State Online history book, by Thomas E. Gray & Susan P. Owens. Glencoe, McGraw-HillMcGraw-HillThe McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial, education, publishing, broadcasting, and business services...
. - Van Dam's Profile. University of Missouri–Kansas CityUniversity of Missouri–Kansas CityThe University of Missouri–Kansas City is a public university located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It is a branch of the University of Missouri System. Its main campus is in Kansas City's Rockhill neighborhood east of the Country Club Plaza...
(UMKC) - Details of Zenger's Trial. University of Missouri–Kansas CityUniversity of Missouri–Kansas CityThe University of Missouri–Kansas City is a public university located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It is a branch of the University of Missouri System. Its main campus is in Kansas City's Rockhill neighborhood east of the Country Club Plaza...
(UMKC) - Biography, from The People of Colonial Albany site.
- About Zengel's Trial. U.S. Department of State. http://America.gov
- Colonial New York. Online publication, by Sanderson Beck
External links
- Rip Van Dam - New York State Museum