The Flushing Remonstrance was a forerunner to the first amendment of the U.S.
Constitution that gives people the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. On December 27,
1657, it was signed by 30 Flushing residents who risked fines and banishment
imposed by Governor Peter Stuyvesant in order to state their call for freedom.
Helen M. Marshall, President of the Borough of Queens, looks upon the
original document in the Queens Library at Flushing.
What follows is a list of programs and events surrounding the declaration
of this important document in our nation's history. *
A visitor surveys one of the panels showcasing the history and developmentn
of the Flushing Remonstrance
FLUSHING REMONSTRANCE TRAVELING EXHIBIT
Queensborough Community College Holocaust
The exhibition features 14two-color, foam board panels with photos and narrative.
A two-color 20-page booklet will accompany the exhibit, which packs, neatly
into its own traveling trunk.
Dr. Arthur Flug, Director
he Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center
222-05 56th Avenue Bayside, NY 11364-1497
The Flushing Remonstrance —
as it was in
The Flushing Remonstrance
[Series A1809 Dutch
Colonial Council Minutes,
vol. 8, pp.
The recorded copy of the Flushing Remonstrance
has long been recognized as the earliest political assertion
of freedom of conscience and religion in New York.
For further information contact:
NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES
Education Center 11A42 Albany, NY 12230 Phone 518-474-8955
Remonstrance” was a petition of inhabitants of Flushing, Long Island,
to Pieter Stuyvesant, Director General of New Netherland, dated
December 27, 1657. The remonstrance objected to Stuyvesant’s order
barring Quakers from the town, and asserted that the order was
contrary to “liberty of conscience” under the customs of Holland
and the Dutch patent or charter to the town of Flushing .
The text and signatures on the original document
were evidently copied and incorporated into the minutes of the
Council and were maintained in the secretary’s office. What happened
to the original petition is unknown, but it may have been returned
to the individual who presented it to Stuyvesant. The signatures
on the copy of the remonstrance in the minutes appear to be in
the same handwriting, a clear indication that the document is
a contemporary copy, not the original.
The Dutch colonial council minutes and other
records of the government of New Netherland were transferred
to the new British government in 1664. The records were maintained
by the secretary of the province of New York until 1783, when
they were transferred to the custody of the Secretary of State
of New York. The Secretary of State transferred the Dutch records,
including the copy of the Flushing Remonstrance, to the New York
State Library in 1881. The Dutch records were transferred from
the Library to the newly-established New York State Archives
in 1978. Thus the Dutch records have been in the continuous custody
of the government of New York since 1664.
The Flushing Remonstrance is an iconic record
of early Dutch colonial government that proclaimed the necessity
of religious freedom of conscience and toleration. In Biblical
language, the document cited divine authority as superseding
human authority. The recorded copy of
the Flushing Remonstrance has long been recognized as the earliest
political assertion of freedom of conscience and religion in
The document has been exhibited publicly
twelve times since 1945 (six times since 1986). Locations of
exhibits have included Manhattan, Flushing, and Albany. The
document was also part of the New York Freedom Train exhibit
of historic documents, which toured the state in 1949-50.
The Flushing Remonstrance,
written in 1657,
will be on display in Queens
for larger view
Governor Peter Stuyvesant
who fined and imprisoned those
who would entertain Quakers
in their home.
The original Quaker
Quaker Meeting House
as it is today
on Northern Blvd.
Read the text of
which formed the basis of the
First Amendment in the
|Remonstrance of the Inhabitants
of the Town of Flushing
to Governor Stuyvesant,
December 27, 1657
You have been pleased to send unto us a certain prohibition
or command that we should not receive or entertain any of those
people called Quakers because they are supposed to be, by some,
seducers of the people. For our part we cannot condemn them
in this case, neither can we stretch out our hands against
them, for out of Christ God is a consuming fire, and it is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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.
And for those jealousies and suspicions which some have of
them, that they are destructive unto Magistracy and Ministerye,
that cannot bee, for the Magistrate hath his sword in his hand
and the Minister hath the sword in his hand, as witnesse those
two great examples, which all Magistrates and Ministers are
to follow, Moses and Christ, whom God raised up maintained
and defended against all enemies both of flesh and spirit;
and therefore that of God will stand, and that which is of
man will come to nothing. And as the Lord hath taught Moses
or the civil power to give an outward liberty in the state,
by the law written in his heart designed for the good of all,
and can truly judge who is good, who is evil, who is true and
who is false, and can pass definitive sentence of life or death
against that man which arises up against the fundamental law
of the States General; soe he hath made his ministers a savor
of life unto life and a savor of death unto death.
The law of love, peace and liberty in the states extending
to Jews, Turks and Egyptians, as they are considered sons of
Adam, which is the glory of the outward state of Holland, soe
love, peace and liberty, extending to all in Christ Jesus,
condemns hatred, war and bondage. And because our Saviour sayeth
it is impossible but that offences will come, but woe unto
him by whom they cometh, our desire is not to offend one of
his little ones, in whatsoever form, name or title hee appears
in, whether Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist or Quaker, but
shall be glad to see anything of God in any of them, desiring
to doe unto all men as we desire all men should doe unto us,
which is the true law both of Church and State; for our Saviour
sayeth this is the law and the prophets.
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
|The marke of William Noble
|William Thorne, Seignior
||The marke of Micah Tue
|The marke of William Thorne, Jr.
||The marke of Philip Ud
||Robert Field, senior
||Robert Field, junior
||Nich Colas Parsell
|The marke of William Pidgion
|The marke of George Clere