New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty

The settlers of New Netherland were obligated to uphold religious toleration as a legal right by the Dutch Republic''s founding document, the 1579 Union of Utrecht, which stated that "everyone shall remain free in religion and that no one may be persecuted or investigated because of religion." For early American historians this statement, unique in the world at its time, lies at the root of Americ...