The first three hundred years of colonization of Manhattan Island and its resounding impact on our culture and our world. Created and hosted by actor, writer, and New Yorker Chance Kelly, the series illustrates how this place is an island unto itself, not just geographically, but idealistically, philosophically and spiritually. Island uncovers our true lost American History. It examines the city's effect on religious and personal freedoms throughout the world. Chance's own heritage is central to much of this story directly as his great, great, great uncle Honest John Kelly, himself emerged from the slums of Five Points to become one of the first Irish-Catholic Congressmen in 1856, and would later reform the reeling Tammany Hall in the wake of the Boss Tweed era. John Kelly was a fiercely courageous advocate for oppressed immigrants from everywhere. Island is the character-driven portrait of the inimitable souls responsible for a place founded on capitalism but perpetuated on an infectious and unapologetic measure of tolerance. Our narrative begins in 1609 when Henry Hudson happens upon Manhattan and the river that would come to bear his name, and culminates in 1909 when Western interloper William Randolph Hearst has infiltrated New York publishing and the fistfight that is Manhattan politics. Climb aboard this voyage of discovery as we tell the epic story, over three centuries, of the forging of the epicenter of the universe. Researched, written and produced by Chance Kelly and Dr. Jaap Jacobs. Research Associate James Edward Malin. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
By 1634, a year into the chaotic administration of the sniveling Wouter van Twiller, the mood on the Manhattans was edgy.
It was tense.
It was strained.
And the only thing that the beleaguered colonists of this vastly disparate and sputtering civilization seemed to be able to agree on, was that it was desperately in need of reform.
Reform in structure, and reform in spirit.
Our dramatic conclusion to Season Two is now here --
Episode 14: SALVATION
Climb aboard --
--history is cool :)
31 Dec 2023
Episode 13: Trouble
Griet's smile widened at the prospect of these 53 combat mariners and 104 Company soldiers disembarking de Soutbergh, having accompanied the incoming Governor and incoming Minister to this Island, as she readies herself for a bit of a business boom...
And with this morning's arrival, Supercargo Hans Jorisz Hontom certainly promises to continue imposing his own special brand of chaos on this Island, unlike anyone else.
And along with his return, comes the return of yet another key player of the earliest days of this place -- someone who goes all the way back to the earliest voyages of Adriaen Block. But long experience does not necessarily dictate long integrity -- and sure enough, with Hans Jorisz Hontom as half of any duo, trouble can't be far away.
But with the arrival of the feckless Wouter van Twiller, the trouble is just getting started on this raw and increasingly uncivilized island of Manhattan.
Episode 13 - Trouble.
Climb aboard...history is cool ;)
31 Dec 2023
Episode 12: Governor
A young revolutionary once wrote that "...in the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility."
And with the insurgence of Marcus de Vogelaer's vehemently anti-patroon faction, his planted Provincial Secretary Jan Remunde wasted no time in teaming up with the increasingly embittered first Minister in order to effect that very big lie. And in short order, scored a decisive victory, by manipulating the dismissal of Walloon Pierre Minuit.
And in the fallout of this upheaval, the Island now being called "the Manhattans" would be introduced to a young man who would eventually be the namesake of today's "Governor's Island" -- a 26-year old former clerk (who just happened to also have an uncle by the name of Kiliaen van Rensselaer.)
Yes, this story is complicated.
And as this inexperienced incoming "Governor" tacked east toward the Strand at Pearl Street, it was not the sight of the three active windmills that actually caught his attention...but rather the posture of a buxom German woman provocatively perched atop that dock, with her hazel eyes locked directly into his...
And if nothing else, the one thing this paunchy Dutch boy knew for sure was that he was not in Amsterdam anymore.
Episode 12 - Governor.
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#historyiscool :)
31 Dec 2023
Episode 11: Patroon
31 Dec 2023
Episode 10: Minister
As Walloon Pierre Minuit stared into the dark eyes of those twenty-two displaced Angolans, huddled together along de Heere Wegh, alongside that fledgling "construction project" of sorts at the Island's southern tip, his refugee heart wrestled with the dutiful commitment that he had made to his employer. Because this Walloon, whose family had been in exile his entire life, had never enslaved anyone. And so, this life-long refugee and stalwart servant of God was going to need to dig deep -- into his own soul, in order to arrive at a reckoning -- one that would not only square him with the people before him -- but most ultimately with his God.
And the Company, believe it or not, would actually assist him with that, when they beat the Plymouth Pilgrims to the punch by sending the first ordained minister to Manhattan. But the particular one they chose to send is no Protestant pacifist. No. Jonas Michaelius is every bit the fighting Flemish fanatic that his father was before him. And with his arrival, this wild Island is about to get a little bit wilder.
Episode 10 - Minister. Climb aboard.
31 May 2023
Episode 9: "Mayken"
In doing anything and everything he can to see to it that this fledgling "colony" survives, Minuit suddenly finds himself facing a reckoning - a moral stranglehold that forces the pious Calvinist, but devoted public servant to re-evaluate his every move.
Because by late summer 1627, when the "possessions" being taken from their Iberian enemies transition from silver and timber to twenty-two human beings from Angola, Governor Pierre Minuit needs to look deep inside the soul of Walloon Pierre Minuit in a powerful struggle between the tenets that drive his soul, and the Company that pays his salary.
Episode 9 - "Mayken".
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History is cool ;)
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31 May 2023
Episode 8: The Grand Design
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" (ancient Portuguese proverb) London Dispatch 1828
Ten years before Henry Hudson ever sailed up the river that now bears his name, the six chief Dutch captains occupying the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America formed "The Brotherhood of the Unleashed Lion" - a fraternity in which these defiantly stoic men vowed that no danger, threat nor adversity would ever dissuade them from acting in the interests of their beloved, nascent Dutch Republic. The objective of this Brotherhood? To inflict concerted and exacting harm upon their Iberian enemy with extreme prejudice; to covet the assets of Spain and Portugal and thereby harness that wealth to their own purpose. In other words, steal from the richest empire on Earth, and give to the youngest...and poorest.
And as the Directors of the newfound Dutch West India Company focus their efforts on this concept, they institute the Company's first major initiative, in 1623, that they called "The Grand Design", the purpose of which was to unleash this very lion, once and for all, in every way possible.
And as Governor Pierre Minuit, unrelenting refugee of the Eighty Years War, readies himself to pilot this rag-tag, ad-hoc, so-called "colony" to a place where no man has gone before, he finds himself at a perplexing intersection of profit and ideals.
Episode 8 - The Grand Design. This episode marks the start of Season Two.
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History is cool :)
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31 May 2023
Episode 7: ISLAND - Part Two (Season One conclusion)
The spirit of the Walloons rises to new heights, when Walloon Pierre Minuit goes from unpaid volunteer to Governor of this fledgling "colony" in a matter of a year. And when tragedy strikes the northern reaches of that colony, Minuit, a man of action, does what no one had ever thought to do before -- and suddenly this Island has more significance and importance to this colony than ever before.
Episode 7 - ISLAND: Part Two - Our Season One conclusion.
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History is cool :)
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31 May 2023
Episode 7: ISLAND - Part One
The Dutch West India Company finally find their boots on the ground in the fierce and passionate race of refugees who would not only become our bonafide "Manhattan Pilgrims", but would in fact forge the most impactful society ever known to man.
And by 1626, these Walloons would make their mark on this incredible Island, for evermore.
Episode 7 - ISLAND: Part One (of Two parts)
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History is cool :)
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31 May 2023
Episode 6: Wampum & Walloons
"To every time, there is a season."
And while Ecclesiastes' prophetic words sounded a bit different out of the mouths of the original settlers of this incredible place that we now call "New York", it meant the same thing in the seventeenth century as it does today.
And faced with the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, these bold, intrepid servants of God refused to accept the tyranny and oppression imposed upon them by the Holy Roman Empire and Hapsburg Spain. And in 1624, this fiercely passionate race of humans came here when no one else would and with their own sweat and blood they forged the roots of what would become the greatest city -- and eventually the greatest nation -- on Earth.
"Il y a un temps pour tout, un temps pour toute chose sous les cieux."
There is a time for everything.
And in 1624, it was the time for THEM.
Let us never forget the story of our true "Manhattan Pilgrims". Let us never forget the story of the Walloons.
Episode 6 - Wampum & Walloons.
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History is cool :)
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31 May 2023
Episode 5: New Netherland
After toiling away in this fertile new land for the entirety of his young adult life, Jacob Eelkens was certain that the advent of this "New Netherland Company" would be his opportunity to shine in this priceless market. But upon Captain Hendrick Carstyaensen's return to the Hudson, Jacob would be shattered to learn that not only was he and his uncle Hendrick Eelkens not included in the exclusive list of investors for this company, but that Jacob's entire existence here, would now be thoroughly regulated by this newfound entity.
And suddenly Jacob's childhood as a shamed outcast in Rouen, France cloaks the fallen Catholic in a murky darkness, and when he retreats to the hills above Sapokanikan, he formulates his own, odd three-way alliance, between himself, the increasingly detached Orson, and the man who most wants to see Hendrick Carstyaensen disappear -- the inimitable Hans Jorisz Hontom.
Episode 5 - New Netherland.
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History is cool :)
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31 May 2023
Episode 4: Onrust
Over the long winter of 1613, Manhattan's first immigrant, Juan Rodrigues, becomes an integral component of the Sachem's trade and in the process an invaluable asset to the Dutch traders upon their return.
But, Rodrigues' choice of Dutchmen to trade with is certainly NOT the ones who brought him to this island, Thijs Volkertz Mossel and the despicable Hans Jorisz Hontom. Rather, Rodrigues, now thoroughly versed in the finer points of this burgeoning trade system, makes it quite clear to Carstyaensen and Block that it is they whom he wishes to work for and as "a free man", feels it is his right to make that choice. But, unfortunately, just as Frans Jansen has said, this Mossel and Hontom are nothing but trouble...or ONRUST, which is exactly what unfolds on this wild and untamed Island of Manna-hata in the spring of 1614.
Episode 4 - Onrust.
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History is cool :)
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31 May 2023
Episode 3: "Jan"
Following two successful voyages to this fertile new land called "Manna-hata", Lambert van Tweenhuysen recognizes the inevitable reality of the competition developing over this lucrative new fur trade. And as Adriaen Block and Hendrick Carstyaensen race back to their Sachem at Sapokanikan for a third time, the rude encroachment of this new wave of poachers creates newfound trouble on this otherwise idyllic island. And with the sudden presence of a dark-skin crewman being called "Jan", there emerges a newfound sense of unrest, for Jacob Eelkens and the entire Adriaen Block team. And as a direct result of the untoward ways of one such poacher, Captain Thijs Volkertz Mossel and his despicable supercargo Hans Jorisz Hontom, results the defection of the one they're calling "Jan", creating Manhattan's very first immigrant -- who hails not from the Netherlands, France, Spain nor England, but rather, from the island that was tagged by Columbus as "Hispanola", or the one we call the Dominican Republic today.
Episode 3 - "Jan".
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31 May 2023
Episode 2: Orson & Valentine
In the tattered wake of Henry Hudson, Adriaen Block navigates the onrust that develops amongst both the Algonquins and the Dutch alike. And in the process, he becomes ward to two Algonquin teens whose Sachem father has requested that the Captain take boys to Amsterdam to further educate them in this growing fur trade. But the unintended consequences of this undertaking would darken the efforts of the noble Adriaen Block and his eager, fallen Catholic apprentice Jacob Eelkens in immeasurable ways.
Ep. 2 - Orson & Valentine, 1612.
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31 May 2023
Episode 1: Manna-hata
In 1609, the Dutch East India Company hired who they thought was the right navigator to go find the fabled waterway shortcut to Asia. But while they not only mis-calculated the ulterior designs of the slippery Englishman named Henry Hudson, they were also very interested to learn about the magnificent trove of beaver skins that his Dutch crewmen just happened to have received in trade -- directly from the natives of this place. The place which Hudson's ancient man of the sea Robert Juet recorded as "Manna-hata" before any other European had ever recorded it as such. And from that point forward, life upon this raw, fertile island, and in effect, upon the entire vast Earth, would never be the same again.
Episode 1: Manna-hata 1609.
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