Brick Church in the American Revolution: Kindred Minds Presbyterian worship in New York City began under the Dutch West India Company, which founded a trading post, New Amsterdam, in 1624. What mattered to the Dutch was trade, and New Amsterdam offered an ideal harbor for their worldwide mercantile empire. The North River, now the Hudson, led them to the riches of the interior. In contrast, Pilgrims from England had arrived in the New World in 1620, seeking religious freedom. Of course,...