When looking at local history, it is important to understand the Europeans who influenced the area. For the area of New York City, the first major European presence was Dutch. In looking at Dutch New York, students can understand the names of various places as well as why certain things exist in New York City. This lesson can best be placed with the Unit of Study that focuses on New York State History. This topic is super beneficial to those lessons that discuss the Dutch presence in the area. The topic also helps to bring the Revolutionary War and English influences that also led to the creation of the area we know today as Bay Ridge. Some of these topics seem so abstract or distant from the minds of young students, but by bringing attention to events that occurred close to the area that the students attend school in can help build their understanding of history and especially local history.
Another great resource for this topic would be the Center for Brooklyn's History website. The Center for Brooklyn History made a wonderful curriculum with various primary sources and a planned out unit about the Dutch origins of Brooklyn. When looking to teach local history, it is so important to take notice of the resources available! The Center for Brooklyn's history also has a wonderful education liaison, where teachers and educators can establish connections for class visits!
Dutch Origins
As more Europeans realized the abundance of resources in the New World, many of them began to settle in the area of current day New York City. The natural harbor allowed for easy transportation with ships. This allowed for the Dutch West India Company to send resources and people to start the colony of New Amsterdam. As the colony of New Amsterdam was established, some Dutch men began to explore the area of present day Bay Ridge and New Utrecht, in Brooklyn, NY.
Gezicht op New Utrecht, Long Island, Amerika, Cornelis Apostool, 1806 is a painting by Gezicht op New Utrecht which was uploaded on September 7th, 2017.
The Dutch West India company sent representatives to survey the land and see if there were additional resources and areas to settle in. One such individual named Jacques Corteljou, was influential in starting settlements in this area. Corteljou petitioned the government of New Netherland to let him establish a town to further the prosperity of their colony. In setting up the new town, Corteljou named it New Utrecht after his mentor and boss Van Werckhoven's home of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The plot of land Corteljou chose was approved in 1657. The Dutch presence was very strong in the town, and those who were living there made the best efforts to continue the success of their settlement.
Since the town was a farming community, it was not exactly prosperous. The surviving records show that there was not a surplus in crops, and that not much money was exchanged during the early days of New Utrecht. This would have made life quite hard for the residents of New Utrecht as they relied so heavily on the crops for their survival as well as prosperity. While the port of New Amsterdam was bustling, it was evident that New Utrecht and present day Bay Ridge was removed from the busy city. The quiet town was mainly self-contained, with settlers slowly arriving.
Eventually, the town was overtaken by the British who invaded and took control of New Amsterdam in 1683. The English allowed the people of New Utrecht to continue their cultural ways as it was difficult to force the people to adapt to an English way of life. This allowed for the continuation of using the Dutch language in official town documents until the mid 1700s. Despite the changes of culture, there are still some remains in the area of New Utrecht of the Dutch origins.
Take this Google Tour and MyMaps to see some areas of Dutch life that have persevered throughout history.
The Revolutionary War
Due to the longstanding British control, the British forced the residents of New Utrecht to side with them in the Revolutionary War. Just before one of the largest battles of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Brooklyn, the British invaded the area of South Brooklyn. From coming into the area of current day Bay Ridge and New Utrecht from current day Gravesend Bay and Denyse's Ferry Landing on current day Shore Road. The British were able to stay in this area and prepare for battle as they moved through Brooklyn. Since many of the Dutch were forced to side with the British, they were loyal to them. Their support for the British was also fueled from how the British allowed Corteljou to own and remain on the land of New Utrecht. The image below shows what Denyse's ferry landing looked like during the Revolutionary War. When looking at the image, it helps in understanding how terrifying it must have been to see the British troops arriving, as well as how it makes sense that Denyse would align himself with the British. By Denyse helping the British, it allowed him to maintain his land in New Utrecht as well as his home. For if he stood against the British he would have lost his land, and most likely his life.
Image accessed from
here.
When the British landed, they faced some backlash around the area of current day Fort Hamilton. The British ship, The Asia blasted cannons onto the area. Interestingly, the only house not damaged in the area belonged to Simon Cortelyou. Simon Cortelyou was a direct relative of Jacques Cortelyou. This is interesting as when the British landed in the area, they set up their headquarters in Cortelyou's house, according to Simon Cortelyou's great-grandson in an Americana magazine article in 1912. By having such a close connection to the British, history has identified the Cortelyou family as being "...anti-American in the most basic and literal way - as active opponents of the Revolution"(p.27) according to How Bay Ridge Became Bay Ridge by Henry Stewart. The history and knowledge of the Cortelyou family being Tories, or loyal to the British has remained. Despite this knowledge, the grave of Simon Cortelyou in Mackay place notes him as being a veteran of the Revolutionary War. This is an interesting part of local history where we can visit their grave site to this day.
Take this
Google Tour and
MyMaps to see some sights of significance in Bay Ridge during the Revolutionary War.
This topic includes two google tours. Google Tours are great resources that allow for teachers and students to go on field trips without leaving the classroom! Google tours can be used in replacement of field trips, as well as MyMaps on Google allow for planned walking tours or site visits. This technology is incredibly beneficial in the classroom during regular times, but even more so now in our digital and distanced age of the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers can use these resources as a way to connect real life locations in relation to the location of the school they are teaching in, as well as showing the actual locations of historical sites. According to the academic article Virtual Reality in the Language Classroom: Theory and practice,
"...there are many potentials in incorporating these technologies into language learning and teaching, such as enhanced motivation and engagement as well as contextualized learning."
There are many benefits to using Google tours and MyMaps from Google as they highlight and add to students learning both of language skills in the retelling and organization of sites, but also in contextualizing their learning of their local area.
In the Dutch Tour, the places highlighted are areas one could visit today. The places show the areas of significance to the Dutch influence in the area of New Utrecht. This is a great teaching point as students in the area of Bay Ridge or New Utrecht will be familiar with these surroundings. These sites are also still somewhat similar to what they looked like back in the 17th and 18th centuries when they were created. Activities for this section could include comparing and contrasting, as well as having students make comparisons of life in the past to life in the present. The second google tour highlights places where the British landed in Brooklyn before the battle of Brooklyn.
A creative project for students of any age would be to create their own images of what the arrival of the British might have looked like. For younger grades, the students can draw while the older grades can use technological applications such as photoshop or creative programs like Buncee. By having the students create their own images, it can help them to understand the significance of the Brooklyn's role in the Revolution as well as what the people living in the same area as they currently do.
Sources for this post:
https://www.brooklynhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/Dutch_Breukelen_Curriculum.pdf
Alizadeh, Mehrasa. "Virtual reality in the language classroom: Theory and practice." CALL-EJ 20, no. 3 (2019): 21-30.
https://www.brooklynhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/Dutch_Breukelen_Curriculum.pdf
Stewart, Henry. How Bay Ridge Became Bay Ridge. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 2019.
https://revolutionyc.com/tag/denyses-ferry/
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