The Flushing Remonstrance, 1657 - Document that inspired Bill of Rights

[Donkees]

Excerpt:

In 1645, the settlement of Vlissengen (known today as Flushing, Queens, NY) became part of New Netherland. Largely settled by English families, Vlissengen proved to be fertile ground for Quakers who were persecuted at home in England. Quaker religious teachings spread throughout Vlissengen and Long Island, threatening the dominance of the Dutch Reformed Church in New Netherland. Consequently, Peter Stuyvesant, the governor of New Netherland, forbade colonists from allowing Quaker meetings to be held in any home.

A Flushing colonist held a Quaker meeting in his home, and he was fined and banished. Flushing citizens protested, and in 1657 they wrote a demand for religious freedom that is today known as the Flushing Remonstrance. Today, the Flushing Remonstrance is regarded as the precursor to the U.S. Constitution’s provision on freedom of religion on the Bill of Rights.

Excerpts:

Wee desire therefore in this case not to judge least we be judged, neither to condemn least we be condemned, but rather let every man stand or fall to his own Master. Wee are bounde by the law to do good unto all men, especially to those of the household of faith. And though for the present we seem to be unsensible for the law and the Law giver, yet when death and the Law assault us, if wee have our advocate to seeke, who shall plead for us in this case of conscience betwixt God and our own souls; the powers of this world can neither attach us, neither excuse us, for if God justifye who can condemn and if God condemn there is none can justifye.

Therefore if any of these said persons come in love unto us, we cannot in conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give them free egresse and regresse unto our Town, and houses, as God shall persuade our consciences, for we are bounde by the law of God and man to doe good unto all men and evil to noe man. And this is according to the patent and charter of our Towne, given unto us in the name of the States General, which we are not willing to infringe, and violate, but shall houlde to our patent and shall remaine, your humble subjects, the inhabitants of Vlishing.

Written this 27th of December in the year 1657, by mee.

Edward Hart, Clericus

https://www.thirteen.org/dutchny/interactives/document-the-flushing-remonstrance/#remonstrance


The document was damaged in a fire that swept through Albany in 1911.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/flushing-remonstrance.htm

[marybourg]

1. I believe that was John Bowne who offered his home

as a meeting place. The home still stands (as far as I know) in Flushing.

[Historic NY]

2. Yes on Bowne St.

[link:https://www.bownehouse.org/|

[Donkees]

4. Thank you ...

John Bowne is best known for his courageous stand for liberty of conscience. This unique principle had been guaranteed in the 1645 Charter of the Town of Flushing, granted by the Dutch West India Company. It was the language of this Charter that John Bowne utilized in 1662-1664, when he challenged the edict of Governor Peter Stuyvesant which forbade the practice of religions other than the Dutch Reformed Church.

Bowne’s non-violent protest against Stuyvesant’s edict was the first to succeed. The 1657 Flushing Remonstrance, a document signed by 30 local Flushing residents, was ignored by Stuyvesant, who punished a few of the signers, but his ban on religious diversity remained in effect. It was John Bowne who forced the issue by allowing Quakers to gather in his home for worship. John’s wife Hannah had joined the Society of Friends (as they were known) and became a minister. Family lore is that Bowne was converted by Hannah and there is evidence he was a Quaker by 1661 when they attended out-of-state Friends meetings together, as well as hosting Quaker meetings in their house.

Punishment was swift. In 1662, Stuyvesant sent his Schout (sheriff) Waldron to arrest Bowne in and take him to jail in New Amsterdam (Manhattan). Bowne remained there for several months. When it became clear that Bowne would not recant, repent, or pay the fine demanded, Stuyvesant had him deported. Bowne made his way to England, and then to Holland, where, citing the language of the Charter which guaranteed “ Liberty of Conscience”, he testified at his trial before the Dutch West India Company. The Company agreed and ordered Stuyvesant to permit freedom of religion in the colony.

This freedom evolved over 100 years later into the guarantees in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Also guaranteed there are the rights of assembly and freedom of speech- all principles advanced by John Bowne in 1662 when he welcomed Quakers into his home.

https://www.bownehouse.org/the-bownes

[brush]

3. What? Mind blown. I've never heard of this. How can that be?

All during school, middle, high school, college and some grad school, I've never heard of "The Flushing Remonstrance."

I'm not a historian or avid history buff but it seems I would've heard of this before now as a precursor to the freedom of religion clause in "The Bill of Rights." The founding fathers are always credited with the First Amendment/Freedom of Religion clause (even though much of our foundational documents flowed from the Magna Carta), but somehow I've never heard of "The Flushing Remonstrance."

And I even lived in NY and Queens for nearly 30 years.

This is an amazingly important document that seems to be part of hidden history. Thanks for posting.

[Donkees]

5. ''The Flushing Remonstrance tended to get overlooked by early U.S. historians ... ''

The Flushing Remonstrance tended to get overlooked by early U.S. historians, who, in an attempt to forge a national identity, emphasized the new country’s ties to England, said Tabetha J. Garman, a history professor at Northeast State Community College in Blountville, Tenn., and author of the 2012 book Designed for the Good of All: The Flushing Remonstrance and Religious Freedom in America. The Remonstrance, a product of Dutch New Netherland, did not fit that narrative.

In telling the story of religious freedom in America, early historians, Garman said, shifted the emphasis to the Puritans and the Pilgrims, portraying them as advocates of religious freedom when in fact they wanted that concept only for themselves and never embraced pluralism.

“The influences of the Germans, Dutch, Swedes, Africans, Spanish, Native culture and everyone else that was here were ignored in favor of an imagined hegemony,” Garman told Church & State. “That emphasis on England in the early days of our country kind of set up our history to be Anglocentric – historians that followed built on these original works, casting the Eng­lish colonists as the star, and everyone else as background players.”

But although overlooked, the vision of the Flushing Remonstrance is notable for its foresight; indeed, it seems to predict the America to come. At a time when the vast majority of Americans were Christians, the Remonstrance envisions a truly pluralistic nation. Its call for encompassing the rights of “Turks and Egyptians” is a recognition of Islam, a faith that had virtually no presence in the colonial era except for its practice among some enslaved people.

Garman and other scholars believe the Flushing Remonstrance might have influenced the religious freedom provisions of the First Amendment, although there is no evidence that the founders were aware of it.

https://www.au.org/the-latest/church-and-state/articles/powerful-proclamation-the-flushing-remonstrance-is-an-eloquent-plea-for-religious-freedom-why-dont-more-americans-know-about-it/

[marybourg]

6. Yes, I think she's correct.

There’s a dominant narrative, and this bit of history lay outside of it. We see the same things happening today. It must just be part of the human coping mechanism.

[brush]

7. Thanks so much. It's so interesting, and telling, how...

early policies were shifted towards Anglocentric views.

It should be noted though that Jefferson himself owned a Quran and was aware of Mohamedans and their faith. I doubt he was the only founding father with knowledge of the Muslim faith.

Why Thomas Jefferson Owned a Qur'an | At the Smithsonian
Smithsonian Magazine
https://www.smithsonianmag.com › why-thomas-jeffer...
Jan 31, 2018 — “God, say they, is Allah, and Jesus Christ is Mohammed. The religion is the same, but different countries have different names.” We can see the ...
Missing: reference ?Mohamedans

[Donkees]

8. In 1779, Jefferson proposed "The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom"

In 1779, Jefferson proposed "The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom", which was adopted in 1786. Its goal was complete separation of church and state; it declared the opinions of men to be beyond the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate. He asserted that the mind is not subject to coercion, "that our civil rights have no dependence on religious opinions," and that the opinions of men are not the concern of civil government. Over time, this became one of the American charters of freedom.[34]This elevated declaration of the freedom of the mind was hailed in Europe as "an example of legislative wisdom and liberality never before known."

In his 1787 Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson stated:

"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth. ... Our sister states of Pennsylvania and New York, however, have long subsisted without any establishment at all. The experiment was new and doubtful when they made it. It has answered beyond conception. They flourish infinitely. Religion is well supported; of various kinds, indeed, but all good enough; all sufficient to preserve peace and order: or if a sect arises, whose tenets would subvert morals, good sense has fair play, and reasons and laughs it out of doors, without suffering the state to be troubled with it. They do not hang more malefactors than we do. They are not more disturbed with religious dissensions. On the contrary, their harmony is unparalleled, and can be ascribed to nothing but their unbounded tolerance, because there is no other circumstance in which they differ from every nation on earth. They have made the happy discovery, that the way to silence religious disputes, is to take no notice of them. Let us too give this experiment fair play, and get rid, while we may, of those tyrannical laws."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_of_Thomas_Jefferson

Almost a hundred years before Jefferson was born, the Flushing Remonstrance was on the right path.


Thanks for your link on the Quran. It was an interesting read.

[brush]

9. Jefferson was such a learned man, ahead of his time...

and yet had to be in constant internal conflict with himself over his enslavement of other human beings and his long-time mistress Sally Hemings, with which he had children.

I believe there is correspondence between him and a friend of his regret of enslavement and how he/they would be judged in the hereafter. Yet he never freed his enslaved humans.

[Donkees]

10. General Kosciuszko, a man ahead of his time ...

Few know the story of the Polish General Tadeusz Kosciuszko who fought for freedom on both sides of the Atlantic and gave Thomas Jefferson his fortune in America to free African slaves.

On March 2nd 2018, the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) hosted a public discussion on the extraordinary life and deeds of Gen. Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish military engineer, statesman and military leader, who not only became a national hero in his own country, but also played a pivotal role in the War of Independence and advocated for the manumission of African slaves in the United States.

General Kosciuszko fought for human rights and defended the ideals of freedom, justice and equality for all. “Few know that Kosciuszko, one of George Washington’s most important military engineers and strategists in the Revolutionary War, was the architect of the continental army victory against the British at Saratoga. This battle became the turning point in the revolution because it convinced Louis XVI and France to join the American cause against the British,” said Koniuszewski.

Kosciuszko left his entire American fortune for US President, Thomas Jefferson, to free and educate African slaves, including Jefferson’s own slaves, which made him a beneficiary and executor of the historical will. “The Kosciuszko testament had the power to change American history but Jefferson would never fulfill the wishes of his Polish friend,” Koniuszewski added.


https://neweasterneurope.eu/2018/03/29/general-kosciuszko-man-ahead-time/

[brush]

11. Thanks for this. Sad to hear Jefferson never fulfilled...

Last edited Mon Jul 17, 2023, 12:44 PM - Edit history (2)

Kosciuszko's wishes.

There's a Kosciuszko Bridge in NYC between Queens and Brooklyn, is it named after Gen. Kosciuszko?

[Donkees]

12. Yes. I remember the original one that was demolished

Jul 10, 2017
Remembering the old Kosciuszko Bridge before the demolition. How many frustrating hours of New York traffic did you spend in your life on this old metal rusted bridge? A lot and we hated every minute of it. Now that its gone in a way we are happy to see it go but are sad at the same time. We will always remember this green metal bridge. She served us well. May she go down in history. Enjoy this done aerial video to remember the history of this fine bridge as we look to the future. I took my time to make this video for all of you my fellow New Yorkers and for anyone else out there who relates.

[brush]

13. Thanks for the info of the new bridge.

Been gone from NY since 2006.