Fortifications of New Netherland
Defensive works of the Dutch colony in North America.
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The fortifications of New Netherland were a response to the colony's need for defense against attack. In 1653, New Amsterdam erected a wall of heavy planks along its northern edge, running from the Hudson River to the East River. The Dutch West India Company, chartered in 1621, oversaw early settlement and fortification, beginning with the landing on Noten Island in 1624. That same year, regulations required settlers throughout the province to construct stockades, with the most extensive at Wiltwyck.
Quick Facts
- Wall construction date
- 1653
- Wall location
- New Amsterdam, northern edge of town
- Wall dimensions
- five to six feet high, heavy planks laid horizontally
- Wall endpoints
- Hudson River to East River
- Wall abandonment
- 1699
- First settlers landed
- 1624
Facts from the source article.
More in Military History of the Thirteen Colonies
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Fortifications of New Netherland (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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