The Nine Men was a council of citizens elected by the residents of
New Netherland
New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...
to advise its
Director General
A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant ( – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as the Directors of New Netherland, director-general of New Netherland from 1647 to 1664, when the colony was pro ...
on the governance of the colony. It replaced the previous body, the
Eight Men
The Eight Men was a group of eight residents chosen by the people of New Netherland in 1643 to advise Director Willem Kieft on his governance of the colony. An early form of representational democracy in colonial North America, it replaced the s ...
, which itself had superseded the
Twelve Men
The Twelve Men was a council of citizens chosen by the residents of New Netherland to advise Director Willem Kieft on relations with the Native Americans in the wake of the murder of Claes Swits. Elected on 29 August 1641, the temporary council ...
. Members of this early form of representational democracy in North America were elected in 1647, 1649, 1650 and 1652.
On July 26, 1649, eleven current and former members of the board signed the ''Petition of the Commonality of New Netherland'', which requested that the
Estates-General take action to encourage
economic freedom and force local government like that in the Netherlands, removing the colony from the control of the
Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...
. It became the basis for the municipal government when the city of
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...
received its charter in 1653.
Members
Members and the year of election:
*Key
:
= Member of the council
:
= Chairman
See also
*
Burgomaster
Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, ) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch .
In so ...
*
Voorleser
Voorleser was the title given to a responsible citizen in New Netherland and later Dutch Empire, Dutch colonies who had semi-official duties in local law, education and religion.
Etymology
The word ''voorleser'' as used in English language, Engli ...
*
Schepen A schepen (Dutch, ; . ') or échevin (French, , ) or Schöffe (German, ) is a municipal officer in Belgium and formerly the Netherlands, where it has been replaced by the (a municipal executive).
In modern Belgium, the ''schepen'' or ''échevin'' ...
*
Schout
In Dutch language, Dutch-speaking areas, a ''schout'' was a local official appointed to carry out administrative, law enforcement and prosecutorial tasks. The office was abolished with the introduction of administrative reforms during the Napoleon ...
*
Maryn Adriansen
*
Abraham Isaacsen Verplanck
Abraham Isaacsen Verplanck (1606–1690), also known as Abraham Isaacse Ver Planck, was an early and prominent settler in New Netherlands. A land developer and speculator, he was the progenitor of an extensive Verplanck (disambiguation), Verplanck ...
References
{{reflist
Nonets
*
1647 establishments in the Dutch Empire