WI: Pilgrims land in Manhattan

What it says on the tin. The Mayflower sails west, ends up alongside Long Island instead of Cape Cod. They sail west and eventually set up shop on Manhattan Island, founding the ATL Plymouth there.

Results?
 
Well they have the awkward problem of having to deal with the Dutch already there. The Dutch had been settling there since 1609.
 
They thought they got away from the Dutch the first time, but it seems destiny had other plans! :p
I believe they didn't realy mind being ruled by the Dutch (since the Dutch government more or less left them alone), but they did mind being culturaly (and religiously) influenced by the Dutch (apparently they realy disliked thefact that their children were more Dutch than English). So I think a deal could be made with the Dutch rulers (we go live overthere and you leave us mostly alone and we don't do anything that bothers you, etc). The Dutch political structure is very suited for autonomous areas. All provinces were more or less independent in many ways. That said, the rulers in the New Netherlands weren't the Dutch, but the WIC (the Dutch west Indies Company) and they were a bit less accomodating than the Dutch republic was. So I can imagine that the Pilgrims get fed up by the WIC (kind of like the citizens of New Amsterdam were), they go complain with the Estate -General in the Netherlands (like the citizens of New Amsterdam did) and gain some kind of independence from the WIC, while still remaining connected to the Dutch republic (like theplan was with New Amsterdam until theAnglo-Dutch wars happened). So Pilgrim land could turn into a generality land, or maybe some variant of Drenthe.No full province, but with a lot of autonomy.
 
Well they have the awkward problem of having to deal with the Dutch already there. The Dutch had been settling there since 1609.

1609? New Amsterdam was founded earliest in 1624. Fort Orange/Beaverwick would probably just be peacefully abandoned or absorbed if that's what you are thinking of.

Yes the Dutch might've claimed the area, but a batch of Pilgrims soon to be joined by fellow Puritans in Massachusetts has shut the Dutch out of North America already in actual facts on the ground.

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What I find curious is the Pilgrims were more tolerant than Puritans proper (merely exiling people they disagreed with than executing them, and having a bunch of 'strangers' - AKA non-Separatists - on hand for labor and skills) and commercially-minded (witness their attempts to set up commercial trading posts in Maine). They were in some ways, an English version of New Netherland IMO - a New Amsterdam-lite, and no doubt influenced by their time in the Netherlands, as Pompejeus said. Throw in the site being ideal for all sorts of traders like OTL New York to make all sorts of types flock to it, and well....

So in an ironically funny way, New Plymouth City likely will end up a lot like OTL New York City in the long run. Just founded in 1620 by Englishmen. :p
 
Can't see it myself (leaving aside whether the 'Pilgrims' were at all significant to American history).

Whilst their last ports of call may have been in England, the Pligrims were leaving the Netherlands as the Dutch were becoming unhappy with the Pilgrims bigotry and the Pilgrims unhappy with their children absorbing Dutch liberalism (all in 17th century standards). The last place they would want to be was back under Dutch control and culture.
 
Well they have the awkward problem of having to deal with the Dutch already there. The Dutch had been settling there since 1609.

No permanent settlements in the area at the time. Plus, apparently, the Pilgims had considered sailing to the Hudso, but ran out of supplies.
 
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