The author mentioned, Russel Shorto, has written some very interesting books - both about New Amsterdam (& New Netherlands) and Amsterdam.
7
Anthony the Turk's father was not a nice person. He was a Barbary Coast pirate and slaver who organized and executed slave raids on Iceland and Ireland, as well as selling those he captured on ships that he and his men captured. As one of his direct descendants, do I owe reparations to Icelanders and Irish? And should I get a rebate for having Icelandic and Irish ancestors?
15
@Stan The reparations answer depends upon whether Italy must pay reparations to the British for their
enslavement, murder and occupation by Roman Emperor Claudius. (History perhaps affords several other applicable examples).
5
@Stan However bad a person he was, he was a single instance of his kind, and recognized as a troublemaker by the people of his time. I think that is very different from having an entire society built on his business model and his set of values, and destroying entire tribes and nations in the process.
Nobody is asking Germany today to pay for the crimes of German individuals abroad. But they were rightfully asked to pay reparations when their entire society embarked on a mission to harm other nations.
I do not support reparations in the US, but I think your analogy is weak.
2
"He reportedly converted to Islam, possibly by force"
No mention of any evidence, direct or circumstantial, for the claim of forced conversion.
About his son: "But historical sources indicate that a Quran said to have belonged to him was auctioned in the mid-20th century, suggesting that his Muslim heritage was meaningful to him"
Forced converts would hardly raise sons who would cherish the Quran and their Muslim heritage in a hostile environment.
9
This past summer, my wife and I took a river cruise up the Rhine, ending in Amsterdam, where we spent a few days. The Dutch are very proud of the fact that over a several centuries they built a far-flung empire extending around the globe.
They are now able to admit that the Dutch naval heroes were, by today’s definition, pirates. Marriage between a Dutch pirate and an indigenous woman was fairly common, and in Indonesia – the largest Dutch conquest -- that woman was probably a Muslim.
Anthony Jansen van Salee, or Anthony the Turk, came by his larcenous and quarrelsome ways honestly. Thinking about the religious and ethnic diversity of Brooklyn in the 17th century is a real hoot in the age of a latecomer bigot like Donald Trump.
9
Why are museum staff handling that document with bare hands?
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@Ken Sudhues It's best practice to handle most rare materials with clean, dry hands rather than wearing gloves. This blog post from Alexandra Alvis at the Smithsonian has lots of good information about it: https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2019/11/21/no-love-for-white-gloves-or-the-cotton-menace/#.XefRFpNKjq1
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Clean, gloveless hands are the safest way to handle documents and is the current best practice used by most museums, archives, and libraries.
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@Ken Sudhues I wondered the same myself. But if you look at the pic closely it is possible that the whole document is covered with a sheet of something clear, possibly laid down to create a barrier.
I am with a Dutch Reformed Congregation that dates to at least 1665 and has been on the same spot in Port Richmond since 1680. We have no Consistory Minutes for the Revolutionary War - the British burned down our 1717 church. I am convinced they will turn up some day.
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@Mary Bullock
If the church burned, how are the Minutes going to turn up?
This article also confirms that the Muslims were capturing non-Muslim seamen to use as slaves. George Washington sent an envoy to deal with the problem and they were told the Koran allows this. Finally Thomas Jefferson formed the US Marines to deal with the problem.
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@Jane S The marines were actually recreated to fight against the French, but they became famous for their wars against the berbers
6
Makes me cringe to see everyone poking the document with oily fingers. Wear cotton gloves, please.
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@D Carmicheal I doubt the curator's fingers are oily - it's actually best practice to handle most rare materials with clean, dry hands rather than wearing gloves. This blog post from Alexandra Alvis at the Smithsonian has lots of good information about it: https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2019/11/21/no-love-for-white-gloves-or-the-cotton-menace/#.XefRFpNKjq1
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As a descendant of Anthony and Grietje, and still a resident of this City, BRAVO!
I followed this auction, visited the document before the sale, and even put a bid on it (which was immediately eclipsed). This document is essentially the receipt that Van Salee kept personally (and which most likely explains why his signature was not required on it) and I do not know of any other artifact that can be positively linked to him.
The copy in the New York State Archives is the Company's copy, which has all the signatures and seals. Hopefully, they will loan it to BHS so the two documents can have reunion!
Congratulations, and thank you, Brooklyn Historical Society!
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He's my great-grand something according to Ancestry research!
3
Estevanico, or Esteban the Moor, proceeded van Salee in America by 100 years. He came to Florida in 1528 with the Narváez Expedition, and explored the American West. The four men, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, Alonso del Castillo Maldonado and Estevanico, in 1534 traveled west into Texas and Northern Mexico. They were the first Europeans and the first African to enter the American west. He was believed to killed at Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico 1539.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estevanico
13
The claim that Anthony van Sales was the "first" person of Muslim origin to settle in America is probably overstated. Captive Africans began arriving in Virginia in 1619 and were apparently of Angolan origin. However, later arriving captive African may have been Muslim and predate van Sales. This is a big unknown, but perhaps given this unknown, a little qualification is in order regarding van Sales being the "first" muslim to settle in America. Sometimes we forget as a country that persons of African origin "settled" in this country a few years before the much celebrated "Pilgrims" arrived, and the vast majority of others of European origin for that matter as well.
15
Frankly this does not live up to the hype, and the person in question is a poor ambassador for anybody. Don't we flagellate the Dutch and English colonists on a regular basis for their perceived racism? And here's a quarrelsome individual hailed as a pioneer.
Up is down, down is up, and black is white.
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"Muslim" is a word like "Christian" denoting a believer is a certain set of beliefs. It is not an ethnicity although it is used this way in the article. The NYT should pay more attention to this both in columns and in its own reports.
18
This is such a unique piece of NY historical documentation. I'm just a little horrified by the photos showing the archivists running their naked (and acidic) fingers across the lines on the pages. Please folks, put on your cotton gloves!
4
What happened to the land besides becoming Coney Island? How long did it stay in his family?
4
How is the author defining "settled"? The article erases the significant number of Muslim people forcibly brought to the Americas and enslaved.
8
Why is New York one of the capitals of the world? Because the Dutch, in their infinite wisdom, cared much less about the color or your skin or your religion than they did about whether you were smart and hard working.
15
True. New York City from its inception has been all about money, which saved it from the sort of pious fascism that presided over our New England states.
Even better, its laws are based on Roman law, not English.
I like Boston, and heaven knows its denizens have brains aplenty. But New York City is the capital of the world because people of all kinds, and from everywhere, have always come here to make money. They didn't all succeed spectacularly, but they all helped make this a tolerant, savvy, energetic place to live. And like them or not, rich people like the Vanderbilts, Astors, Morgans, and others made it a beautiful place to live.
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@B.
Actually, it is the capital of the world because of its excellent harbor. Geography determines.
2
They apparently wanted to partake in the illlimination of the Native Americans. They shouldn't be concerned with what's happening in the Middle East to them. After all as the saying goes, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. TTFN.
1
Muslims currently make up less than 2% of the US population, and disassociation with organized religion is currently the fastest growing demographic concerning belief. However, fertility rates have fallen below mortality rates in western nations, and in Muslims nations fertility rates are through the roof while mortality rates decrease due to access to western medicine, therefore as it becomes necessary for the US to import human capital, the Muslim population will grow quickly. If you're tired of living under a Christian majority, just wait until you live under sharia law.
12
Let me think of something positive to say that won't disrupt the New York Times narratives. Eh, nothing coming to mind. So much for free speech. The NYT is all about it until it's not something its editors want to say. It's no wonder concerns have become frustrations that lead to violence.
10
Muslim is a religion, not an ethnicity.
16
According to the NYT, It's okay to be opposed to the sexism of Sharia law, but it's not okay to voice concerns about sharia law being implemented in the nation.
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I think "Muslim origin" should be "Islamic origin" in the description of the cover photo. Really cool story, so interesting.
3
Of course, the first Muslim in America into a Jewish neighborhood. 
1
So Muslims were here before there were Trumps!
11
The term Turk was likely unlikely not seen as derogatory in 17th century Holland. Quite the opposite, with the Ottoman empire seen as an ally against Catholic Spain which was at war with Holland.
When Spain was beaten in a battle in 1604 they left 1500 Muslim galley slaves (Turks) that the Dutch freed and sent home. The grateful Ottoman empire started supporting the Dutch. The Ottomans were actually very in fashion. E.g. tulips from Turkey that became a national mania.
Turco is still commonly used in Latin America for any person of Arab, Middle Eastern or Jewish heritage and is not typically seen as derogatory.
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@erik
Correct. The Founding Fathers often referred to members of the Ottoman Empire (particularly Anatolia and Thrace) as "Turks." This title may also have extended to some others (e.g. Arabs in Ottoman-controlled territory) but not to Iranians (Persians) or Indians (who were often referred to as "Hindoos" no matter what their faith was.
George Washington specifically wished for more "Turks" and "Mahometans" to come to America to develop the country. This may have been because Morocco (under Ottoman suzerainty) was the first country to recognize the United States of America. Later on, Barbary pirate activity led to the U.S.'s first foreign conflict. Nonetheless, the U.S. saw this as a conflict with North Africa and not directly with the Ottoman Empire.
So the long-and-short of it is that that the term "Turk" was not seen as derogatory back then and today simply refers to a native of Turkey.
22
Salé is now just across a short bridge from Rabat, the capital of Morocco and in practice is part of Rabat. At the time, it was notorious for its pirates. Robinson Crusoe was "taken by a rover from Sallee".
Morocco was not part of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans conquered North Africa through Tunis, but did not rule Morocco.
7
One of the slogans of the Dutch independence war was "Liever Turks dan paaps" or "We'd rather be Turkish than popish".
8
ACK! She's touching an almost 400 year old document with bare hands! Very cool story!
14
@Marie Clean, bare hands are preferred by archivists and librarians these days for handling documents because when you wear gloves, your dexterity is reduced and the gloves' fabric can snag on any loose bits of paper, so you have a greater risk of damaging the document. This is accepted professional practice.
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@Curtana
That's just sloppy archival management practise.
I've been a professional historian for 25 years and I am always required to don cotton gloves when perusing historic documents like this. The curators and archivists I've worked with do the same, too. The oil and acid in our fingers can destroy both the ink and the parchment.
2
@Marie Bare, and clean, hands do far less damage than cotton gloves. When you wear gloves, especially "one size fits all" commercial gloves, it is impossible to feel how you are holding fragile items and such more damage has been done than with bare hands.
About the only place where cotton gloves are still used as the norm is with photos and film, to prevent oils form the fingers from staining the film and prints. :)
21
"it reveals deep questions about race and gender, identity and self-identity, that resonate in our time."
This claim may well be true, in the most general sense. But any historian would caution against projecting our contemporary identity politics on those of the distant past.
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@short of time American racism is not a think "of the distant past," unfortunately. It has been, and remains, the core of American identity itself.
10
@short of time American racism is not a thing "of the distant past," unfortunately. It has been, and remains, the core of American identity itself.
2
In 1638, Antonij du Turck (Antony Jansen Salee) of Fez (Fees, or Vees) lived on his Manhattan farm which was bounded by today's 222 Broadway to the northwest corner of Pearl Street and Maiden Lane.
18
@Jake My ancestors have deeds from nearby (along Broadway) that date to 1645, in the archives in Albany. The name was Pannebecker - tile maker - they baked roof tiles when thatched roofs were banned due to fire. They were Dutch Reformed.
4
@Jake My ancestors have deeds from nearby (along Broadway) that date to 1645, in the archives in Albany. The name was Pannebecker - tile maker - they baked roof tiles when thatched roofs were banned due to fire. They were Dutch Reformed.
By the way my Dutch Reformed congregation in Port RIchmond Staten Island dates to at least 1665 and counts among its members Cornelius Vanderbilt.
3
Oh I am looking forward to this exhibition!!
10