England Seizes New Amsterdam from the Dutch
In August 1664 an English fleet of four warships arrived in the harbour of New Amsterdam and demanded the Dutch surrender without firing a shot. Governor Peter Stuyvesant, lacking the military means to resist and unsupported by the colonists, capitulated on 9 September 1664. Charles II granted the territory to his brother James, Duke of York, who renamed the city New York. The bloodless takeover was formalised in the Treaty of Breda (1667) and permanently transferred the most strategically important harbour on the North American coast from Dutch to English control.
- Year: 1664 CE
- Category: Military
