The former were led by Leisler, the latter by Peter Schuyler (1657-1724), Nicholas Bayard (c. 1644-1707), Stephen van Cortlandt (1643-1700),William Nicolls (16 57-- 1723) and other representatives of the aristocratic Hudson Valley families.
The duke appointed Colonel Richard Nicolls governor and placed him in command of an expedition to effect its conquest.
Nicolls won over the burgomaster of New Amsterdam and other prominent citizens by the favourable terms which he offered, and Stuyvesant was forced, without fighting, into a formal surrender on the 8th of September.
The English executive, consisting of a governor and council, was much like the Dutch, but Nicolls, by his conciliatory spirit, made his administration more agreeable than Stuyvesant's.
Nicolls resigned the governorship in 1668, but his successor, Francis Lovelace, continued his policy - autocratic government, arbitrary in form but mild in practice, and progressive in the matter of religious toleration.
