Transcript
A (0:01)
Cooler weather calls for pieces that feel cozy, look polished and actually last and Quince makes that easy. They've got $50 Mongolian cashmere sweaters that feel unbelievably soft, premium denim that fits like a dream, and outerwear you'll wear for years. Their wool coats in particular. They have that designer level style at a fraction of the price and the quality is honestly top notch. The reason Quince can do this is simple. They partner directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen. That means luxury quality staples without the steep price tag. It's a wardrobe upgrade that's smart, stylish and effortless. For me, a few Quint's pieces have become go to staples this fall. My cashmere sweater is perfect for layering and their denim is in constant rotation. Quint has really become a one stop shop for everything from closet essentials to a few must have home items. And you can find all of your fall staples at quints. Go to quince.com Interesting for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q U-I-N-E.com Interesting to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quint.com Interesting need contract help for those workload peaks and backlogged projects? You're not alone. Robert half found that 67% of companies surveyed said they will increase their use of contract talent. That's why their recruiters leverage their experience and use award winning AI to quickly find the skilled candidates you want. Learn about their specialized talent in finance, accounting, technology, marketing, legal and administrative support at Robert Half. They know talent. Visit roberthalf.com talent today.
B (1:58)
Hello friends. Welcome. So glad you're here with me for another episode of here's Where It Gets Interesting. And today we'll continue to talk about some key players of the Jacksonian era.
A (2:09)
Our next President's wife actually passed away.
B (2:11)
Almost two decades before she would have been first lady and although it was cut short, the story of her life has so many interesting correlations to our history here in the United States of America. So let's explore some of our country's historical foundations through the life of Hannah Van Buren, the wife of our eighth president, Martin Van Buren. I'm Sharon McMahon and here's where it gets interesting. Consider these words Frolic, Spooky Wiggle loiter cookies. Can you do you see a connection between them? I would be surprised if you can. Right? They don't seem like they have much in common, but they actually do. They're common words, but they all have Dutch origins. And when we think about the European colonization of America, our minds conjure up key facts we've memorized in history classes like the Pilgrims and Jamestown and the British. Right. But there was actually another lesser known and extremely important influence on our nation's beginning. It came from the Dutch settlers who arrived on American shores early in the 17th century. In 1623, a group of explorers called the Dutch West India Company officially established a province in America called New Netherland. This New Netherland was made up of a huge swath of of land from what is now eastern New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and portions of Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The following year, a large group of those settlers began to congregate and form a city at the tip of an island at the mouth of the Hudson River. Today we call that place Lower Manhattan in New York City. In 1626, the official sale of the land was finalized and the city of New Amsterdam was established on the southern end of Manhattan island in the area that we now refer to as the Financial District. And we're going to talk a little bit more about that in a moment. And how the sale of this land went down really depends on who is giving an account of it. As part of their settlement for Manhattan, the Dutch claim that they purchased the island from the Native Americans for trade goods like iron kettles and axes. These items were invaluable to the Native Americans since they couldn't produce these things themselves and thus they were highly desirable, certainly worthy of a land trade. But the Native Americans had a completely different concept of land ownership than the European colonists did. They believed that they were renting out Manhattan for temporary use, not selling it forever. Over the next few decades, New Amsterdam grew to be the capital of New Netherland and the busiest seaport in the Western Hemisphere. The Dutch who lived there were not interested in spreading out. They were staunch capitalists who cared more about trade opportunities. They were not there to conquer the land. In other words, they established a relationship of equal business partners with the Iroquois tribes and developed a large fur trading industry. And even back then, when there were only about 250 brick and stone homes there, Manhattan was a melting pot. Joining the Dutch in this New Amsterdam were the Scottish, English, French, Scandinavians, Germans, Muslims, Jews, and members of several indigenous tribes. A Jesuit newspaper reported in 1643 that New Amsterdam's few hundred residents spoke 18 different languages between them. And as you can imagine, it didn't take long for other countries to notice the success of New Amsterdam. The trade was highly profitable. The seaport was booming, and for the most part, it was a genuinely nice place to live. The English had been building up their own trade and founding colonies around the new world. In March of 1664, King Charles II of England decided to award his brother James, then the Duke of York, the gift of colony land, including New Amsterdam. Isn't that nice? Isn't it so nice that he gave his brother a gift of something that did not belong to him? It's like giving your sibling the house next door, even though you don't own it. Like, congratulations, this is your house. Now poses a few small problems. Mainly that the King of England had no legal claim to the land that had been established by the Dutch. And so King Charles II set out to handle that little problem, that small, tiny detail, in his own way. In Late August of 1664, four English warships carrying hundreds of soldiers on board sailed into the New Amsterdam harbor and demanded a surrender. The arrival of these English ships did not come as a surprise to New Amsterdam. It was not a super sneaky attack. We're talking about a major trade hub here. Information flowed freely, and sailors and tradewaters knew how to differentiate between other trade ships and warships. So the leaders of New Amsterdam were well aware of King Charles II's plan. So here's what they did. Dutch officials in the city gathered a team together and constructed a sturdy wooden wall about 9ft high and 2,300ft long. And that wall that they built to hold back their potential invaders, we now call that Wall Street. It's amazing to think that what happens on those financial district blocks of New York City, how decisions made there now impact billions of people around the world. It's amazing to think that that began as nothing more than a literal wall. So when the English arrived, they demanded the handover of New Amsterdam. And there were only two choices at hand for the Dutch who controlled the region. Go to war with England or negotiate a treaty and proceed with a bloodless capture of their prosperous territory. Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch director general, chose a peaceful transfer of power. On September 8, 1664, New Amsterdam was surrendered to the British, who renamed it New York, after King Charles II's brother, James, the Duke of York. But Peter Stuyvesant didn't just surrender in a foolish manner. The terms of the treaty were very carefully planned out. Knowing he was outmanned and with prominent city residents strongly persuading him to stand down so no blood would be shed, Peter agreed to the takeover with very specific stipulations. Firstly, the English would not be allowed to expel any of the residents or seize their property. Secondly, the Dutch would also maintain leadership throughout the city by resident appointed governors. And so it was that New York City transferred to English control, but it still maintained a Dutch cultural and linguistic presence. The distinct architectural style of the homes has lived on in many parts of the city and many political historians credit those early Dutch leaders with influencing a great deal of early American culture. As the Dutch residents began to spread out beyond Manhattan, they built up communities in the surrounding areas and gave them Dutch based names that you're likely familiar with like Brooklyn, Harlem, Coney island, and even Broadway.
