New York in the summer of 1696 was an ink spot on the tip of the map of Manhattan, a struggling seaport with a meager population of 5,000, about a fifth of them African slaves. A public whipping post stood just off the dock, and New Yorkers wanting their slaves "corrected" were expected by law to tip eighteen pence to both the town-whipper and to the bell-ringer who drew the crowds.
While London boasted 300,000 inhabitants and the architectural marvels of Christopher Wren, New York claimed only a handful of paved streets and a rundown city hall building. Hungry pigs helped the city's one sanitation man, a Mr. Vanderspiegle. "[New Yorkers] seem not very strict in keeping the Sabbath," wrote a doctor venturing south from Puritan New England. "You should see some shelling peas at their door, children playing at their usual games in the streets and ye taverns filled."
Dutch women wore scandalously short dresses extending to just ... read full excerpt from: The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd ebook
