What if the Dutch never lost New Netherland?

[Romulus Augustulus]

Okay...about Vermont. Here's my take...it has the advantage of being funny, too, sort of. Vermont is settled by a particularly tough and independent bunch of German speakers. They don't really like direct rule from Nieuw Netherland, since they don't like Dutch speakers that much. Eventually, they manage to gain de facto independence, the same way the Green Mountain Boys did for Vermont. The area becomes known as Groeneberg.

 

[B_Munro]

Hendrik Van Loon, in the "If: or, history rewritten" collection had a bit called "If the Dutch had Kept New Amsterdam": the Dutch either cede northern and western NY to the Brits or fail to occupy them, creating a connection between the southern and northern colonies, but New Amsterdam survives as an independent enclave.

It becomes a major center for smuggling weapons during the revolutionary war (which, as in our TL, leads to the independence of all the colonies south of Canada), and, IIRC, it becomes independent itself during the Napoleonic occupation of the netherlands.

As time goes on, the population becomes increasingly anglicized due to extense inflow of US citizens, and in 1841 it becomes part of the US. It however does maintain some special legal privileges of it's own - which becomes manifest during Prohibition, during which it uses a resulting legal loophole to become the only non-dry state in the Union...

Bruce

 

[Norman]

But WI Pilgrims landed in VA?

I seem to recall that the Pilgrims landed in Mass by accident, aiming instead for the South (Southern NJ?)

WI they hit what they were aiming at and subsequent Germans settled North?

 

[JHPier]

I seem to recall that the Pilgrims landed in Mass by accident, aiming instead for the South (Southern NJ?)

WI they hit what they were aiming at and subsequent Germans settled North?

New Amsterdam was founded several years before the Pilgrims sailed.

 

[NomadicSky]

So my very first map

Could be the real New Netherland
I was also thinking that maybe N.N. might achieve independence after Napoleon takes over by way of the Dutch government escaping to New Amsterdam, and after Napoleon is put down the Netherlands gains a new government and the red white blue modern dutch flag. While N.N. keeps the old government and the orange,white,blue falg of the old netherlands

 

[Nicole]

Could be the real New Netherland
I was also thinking that maybe N.N. might achieve independence after Napoleon takes over by way of the Dutch government escaping to New Amsterdam, and after Napoleon is put down the Netherlands gains a new government and the red white blue modern dutch flag. While N.N. keeps the old government and the orange,white,blue falg of the old netherlands

Hm.. so the government of the United Provinces flees to New Amsterdam (Hey, portugal fled to Brazil), and when the Kingdom of the Netherlands is established at the Congress of Vienna, the more republican members of the Estates-General decide to stay in New Amsterdam? However, the Orange flag was considered "Royalist", and died out around 1660.. Hmm. Perhaps the French Revolution of this TL is smaller, and the Batavian and Helvetic Republics are still established. However, the Revolution does not extend across Europe, and the United Provinces government, including the House of Orange, flees to New Amsterdam, and brings back the Orange flag to 1) Distinguish their ships from a Helvetic Republic that uses a plain Red-White-Blue flag (Different than OTL...), and 2) To show support for the House of Orange, who had power in the United Provinces but not in the Batavian Republic.

 

[NomadicSky]

So maybe it would be

The Kingdom of New Netherland
make the European one a republic and have several members of Dutch nobility take a strong hold in the country
maybe an alternate take on the flag