The Nine Men was a council of citizens elected by the residents of
New Netherland to advise its
Director General Peter Stuyvesant on the governance of the colony. It replaced the previous body, the
Eight Men, which itself had superseded the
Twelve Men. 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
*
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
*
Schout
*
Maryn Adriansen
*
Abraham Isaacsen Verplanck
References
{{reflist
Nonets
*
1647 establishments in the Dutch Empire