- Council of twelve men
The Council of Twelve Men was a group of 12 men chosen on 29 August
1641 by the residents ofNew Amsterdam to advise theDirector-General of New Netherland ,Willem Kieft , on relations with the Native Americans due to the murder of Claes Swits. [cite book |last=Jacobs |first=Jaap |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=New Netherland: A Dutch Colony In Seventeenth-Century America |year=2005 |publisher= |quote=Both in the way it was set up and in the extent of its rights, the council of Twelve Men, as did the two later advisory bodies ... | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Uex2budtSOUC&pg=RA1-PA136&dq |isbn=9004129065 ]Three Questions
The councilmen were asked 3 questions:
#Whether it is not just to punish the barbarous murder of Claes Swits committed by an Indian and, in case the Indians refuse to surrender the murderer at our request, whether it is not justifiable to ruin the entire village to which he belongs?
#In what manner the same ought be put into effect and at what time?
#By whom it may be undertaken?War
They did not counsel war, as desired by
Willem Kieft . They proposed a friendly request to be sent to the Indians to surrender the murderer. BecauseWillem Kieft was not happy with the reply of the council of twelve, he disassembled the council onFebruary 8 ,1642 .Kieft then ordered theDutch West India Company soldiers to attack nearby Indian villages. Attacks between the Indians and the West India Company soldiers led to a near devastation of New Amsterdam in1643 .Nascent Democracy
Although the council was not permanent, it was the first representational form of democracy in the Dutch colony. The next time a council was created it was a
council of eight men .Councilmen
The twelve council members were: [New York State; O'Callaghan, EB; Broadhead, John Romeyn: "Documents relative to the colonial history of the state of New York", p. 415, 1856]
*
David Pietersen de Vries (chairman)
*Maryn Adriaensen
*Jacques Benteyn
*Jan Jansen Damen
*Gerrit Dircksen
*Hendrik Jansen
*Jochem Pietersen Kuyter
*Frederick Lubbertsen
*Abram Molenaar
*Joris Jansen Rapalje
*Jacob Stoffelsen
*Abraham Ver PlanckReferences
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