Description
Book SynopsisDuring the forty years of the Dutch presence in colonial America, their intrusion led to the betrayal of their own values and the betrayal of the indigenous peoples. They reaped the shame of reproaching themselves for unjust wars and faced a native insurgency that they could neither negotiate nor satisfactorily quell.
Trade Review"Merwick is unafraid of 'weighing up' the evidence carefully to recapture the 'moral murkiness' that dominated seventeenth-century Netherlanders' efforts. . . . [A] beautifully constructed work." *
Australasian Journal of American Studies *
"Merwick's book is certainly interesting, often beautifully written, but it is also a strong contribution to historical scholarship." *
American Historical Review *
Table of ContentsSoundings
PART I. ALONGSHORE
1. Alongshore: Stories to Tell of the Virginias
2. "The Island"
PART II. SHARED BEACHES
3. The Quarterdeck and Trading Station
4. Natives and Strangers
PART III. STAYING ALONGSHORE
5. Sovereign People
6. Masters of Their Lands
7. Inland Drownings
PART IV. OMENS OF A TRAGEDY COMING ON
8. Bells of War
9. "Only This and Nothing More"
10. The Connecticut Valley: The Strangers' Ways of Violence
PART V. DEADLY ENCOUNTER
11. The Indian War Seen
12. The Indian War Given Words
13. The War's Haunting
PART VI. CROSS-COLONIZATION
14. Watchful Waiting
15. Alongshore Compromised
16. Considerations on a Just War
PART VII. FINAL LOGGED ENTRIES
17. Cultural Entanglement
18. No Closure
Weighing Up
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
