Twelve Men

The Twelve Men was a council of 12 citizens chosen by the residents of New Netherland to advise Director Willem Kieft, on relations with the Native Americans in the wake of the murder of Claes Swits.^[1] Elected on 29 August 1641, the temporary council was the first representational form of democracy in the Dutch colony. The next two such bodies were known as the Eight Men and the Nine Men.^[2]

^ Jacobs, Jaap (2005). New Netherland: A Dutch Colony In Seventeenth-Century America. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-12906-5. Both in the way it was set up and in the extent of its rights, the council of Twelve Men, as did the two later advisory bodies ...
^ "New Amsterdam Notable Citizens". Geni.com. Retrieved 2012-12-31.

[Jaap-1] Jacobs, Jaap (2005). New Netherland: A Dutch Colony In Seventeenth-Century America. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-12906-5. Both in the way it was set up and in the extent of its rights, the council of Twelve Men, as did the two later advisory bodies ...

[2] "New Amsterdam Notable Citizens". Geni.com. Retrieved 2012-12-31.

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