Join us for the last lecture in the 2025 New Sweden Legacy Lecture Series. The talk will be held in-person at the American Swedish Historical Museum.
Lecture Description: "Peter Stuyvesant's War on Swedes and other Lutherans" by Paul Finkelman
After the Dutch conquered the New Sweden colony, they allowed the settlers there to keep their own pastors. However, Stuyvesant, the Dutch colony's Director General and the Dutch clergy in New Netherland, was very unhappy about this. Stuyvesant and his pastors belittled and slandered the Swedish clergy and both made war on the Lutheran community in the New Netherland. Stuyvesant acceded to the peace agreement to allow a Lutheran pastor in what is today Delaware and southern New Jersey. But he vigorously and ruthlessly prevented Lutherans from having a pastor in New Amsterdam, what is today northern New Jersey, and upstate New York. Stuyvesant is most remembered for his anti-Semitism and his attempt to expel about two dozen Jews from New Amsterdam. Because of the famous Flushing Remonstrance, historians know about his persecution of Quakers and their supporters on Long Island. Less well known (mostly unknown even among many colonialists) was his vigorous persecution of Lutherans. This talk will explore this topic, and note that the Director General, for a variety of reasons, was much harsher to the Lutherans and Swedes than he was to the Jews. Ironically, his treatment of both groups, as well as Quakers, ultimately led to religious liberty in the New York colony after the Dutch were deposed.
Event Schedule:
9:00 a.m. – Registration Check-In Opens
9:30-10:30 – Lecture with Q&A
10:30-12:00 p.m. – Brunch and Conversation
Location:
American Swedish Historical Museum
1900 Pattison Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19145
Click Here for directions
This is a free event, registration required by Monday, April 7th. Space is limited so please register early. The lecture will be recorded and posted to YouTube the following week.
This month's virtual lecture is sponsored by the Delaware Swedish Colonial Society, the Swedish Colonial Society, and the University of Delaware.
This lecture series is presented in partnership with the Swedish Colonial Society, the American Swedish Historical Museum, the Delaware Swedish Colonial Society, the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, Old Swedes Historic Site, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, the New Sweden Centre, the New Sweden Alliance, the Finnish American Society of the Delaware Valley, and the University of Delaware.