The Little-Known 17th-Century Origins of Occupy Wall Street
Everyone knows that the Tea Party fancies itself an intellectual ancestor of the 1773 Boston Tea Party. But what many people do not realize is that America’s other prominent decentralized activist movement, Occupy Wall Street, also boasts historical cred—the revolutionary findings:
Back in the mid-17th century, when New York was still New Amsterdam and young settlers were nostalgic for a hip, authentic military citadel named Fort Amsterdam, fur traders occupied an area of southern Manhattan known as “de Waal Straat,” or Wall Street.
Though the origins of the conflict have been obfuscated by the passage of time, historians have been able to piece together details about the month-long demonstration by analyzing back issues of Van Der Huffinjtön Pöst, a left-leaning palimpsest, and POLITIKÖ!, a thrice-daily, inexplicably capitalized leaflet.
A January 1, 1626, article published on the front page of Van Der Huffinjtön Pöst outlines the concerns of many fur-traders:
“Fur Traders Gather for Occupy De Waal Straat
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dozens of fur traders gathered in lower New Amsterdam today to protest the growing inequality between themselves and furriers. Johann Vries, a fur-trader who has worked for Bartholomeus Buskirk de Graaf’s Discount Furrier since he was nine, said that he was angry about the unfair wages, disproportionately distributed wealth, and the torpor of New Amsterdam director general Peter Minuit.”
Fur traders slept outside the furriers’ headquarters for nearly 30 days, braving freezing cold-temperatures, snow, and unsanitary living conditions that actually weren’t so different from anywhere else, given that it was 1626. That the traders had nearly unlimited access to fur helped them keep warm.
For weeks, furriers scoffed at the atomized nature of the protest and culturally aware references on demonstrators’ propaganda. Many animal skins were stretched into squares and fastened to sticks—an apparatus of social change not dissimilar to today’s foam boards from Staples hot-glued to brooms. Such animal-pelt signs featured devastatingly satirical puns: “BARTHOLOMEUS BUSKIRK DE GRAAF’S DISCOUNT FURRIER IS FACELESS AND DEAD … LIKE A DISCOUNT FUR WHOSE FACE HAS BEEN REMOVED” was a popular slogan.
Historians believe it was funnier in its original Dutch.
By February, the furriers eventually relented to the traders’ demands, including access to free leeches to treat disease. According to a POLITIKÖ! piece from February 2, 1626: “Fur traders are very happy, but what’s unknown is how their success will affect the 2012 presidential race, which is just 386 years away.” The 2,634,299 follow-ups to this article have yet to provide an answer.