New York
The new New Amsterdam
The Duke of York
Diversity Couldn't Keep Us All
Yea religious toleration kept the diversity going in the region, but some people didn't want to take the risk of being a part of the colony, due to the feudal land policies and of course England's failure to restore self-government. WellSome people like I stayed. Though times were a bit hard because the governors used customs duties to raise the revenue in order to run the colony, on top of that, they also sent a profit to James. Their attempts to regulate trade and direct the economy didn't please the local merchants, therefore harming the economy. James finally gave into New York so that we would have an elective assembly. This excited me because of the possibility in getting our civil liberties and to continue the right to self-government. Well, I was right, the king approved a "Charter of Liberties and Privileges." This meant we were granted the right to vote and to be taxed only by our elective representative. The charter also provided for a trial by jury, due process, freedom of conscience for Christians, and women got certain property rights. Unfortunately, the king stated that he wouldn't approve the charter on two grounds: New Yorkers would have more rights than any other colonists and the New York assembly could undermine the power of Parliament. Of course due to the lack of secure self-government, we as New Yorkers fell to fight among ourselves and the political instability slowed New York's population growth.