March 11 - 1665: New Code Guarantees Protestants religious rights

My name is Peter and I live with my family on our farm outside New Amsterdam. Something very strange has happened. My family is from the Netherlands, like most of the people in the city. We sailed here many years ago. It was a long trip but we landed on this island in North America. My father built a farm – we have cows and goats. I feed the cows hay and help clean the stalls. I also help Mother with our vegetable garden. It is my job to pull the weeds. We sell our vegetables in the city during the week, but everything stops on Sunday.

Sunday is an important day in our house. Father and Mother do not work outside. My brother and sisters wash when we get up. We get dressed in our fanciest clothes. Father drives the wagon to our church inside the city wall. Everyone in the city and farms outside the wall come too. After the service we have a big dinner, sometimes the pastor and his wife come. It is an important time to thank God for all our blessings in this new land!

Last year we learned our city lost a war we did not fight. Our enemy England beat the Dutch and we were the prize. The English came in and took over our city of 1,500, and all the farms outside the walls. They took our flag down and changed the laws – they even changed the name of our town to New York!

But they did not change our church or our religion. We heard that the English make everyone become a member of the Church of England. The king becomes the leader of our city as well as our soul. They did something different here, though. Today we heard that the leaders in the council had passed a law saying we could practice the faith of our Dutch fathers. They made a law that even though they were in charge of the city no one could stop us from worshiping our Protestant faith.

At first I was confused. My friend Daniel is Jewish. He came from Brazil when he was a baby. He and his family lived there until the Portuguese took it back from the Dutch. They escaped persecution and ended up here, instead of Europe. His family was not allowed to build a synagogue, a Jewish temple, in New Amsterdam when they arrived. Father explained that the English were changing the rules for them too. I hope Daniel and his family can go to their church soon.

March 11 - 1665: New Code Guarantees Protestants religious rights

Before Reading: Are there laws in the US about where you have to go to Church?

Check Comprehension: : Where does this family live? (They live in a city called New Amsterdam, but the English change it to New York) What was different about the English conquerors? (Normally they made everyone join the Church of England, but this time they didn’t.) Were all religions treated fairly? (The Dutch Protestants wouldn’t let the Jews in their city build a synagogue.)

Discussion Questions: Everyone in the New Amsterdam came from somewhere else – how did they get along? Answers will include the fact they didn’t get along. The English treated the Dutch better than the Dutch treated the Jews. But discussion will continue that they should have been treated fairly.