[ 132 ] STEVE J. STERN Jacob Leisler assumed control of the uprising in June. Until March 1691 he ruled in New York City and sometimes in other areas too.41 Leisler's Rebellion had strong Dutch overtones in New York City. Thomas Archdeacon's demographic research has shown that national background was the single most important determinant of Leislerian or anti-Leislerian loyalties in New York City. His thesis is that economic opportunity for Dutch merchants in the city narrowed after the English conquest because trade required connections with creditors and agencies in England. Thus Leisler's Rebellion expressed Dutch hostility to English power and status and to the Dutch elites, identified with the new anglicized order. Contemporaries recognized that Leisler's most loyal and active supporters were Dutch. Bayard claimed that Leisler fooled "ignorant and innocent people, almost none but of the Dutch Nation" into thinking that William of Orange would end English rule in New York. One Leislerian accused Nicholson of calling New Yorkers "a conquered people" who could not "claim rights and privileges as Englishmen in England!' Leisler's actions caused "sev- erall English Merchants & Gentlemen for safety of their lives to [depart] this Citty!' On Long Island, recalled Rev. Rudolphus Varick, "many Englishmen, especially, were robbed!'42 Though Leisler's Rebellion reflected ethnic tension in New York City, the center of heterogeneity, it did not involve the response of a Dutch provincial interest to opportunities offered by political instability. Leisler's Rebellion was predominantly, but not exclusively, a Dutch movement.48 More important the Dutch hostility and resent- 41 Deposition of Hendrick Cuyler, June 10,1689, "Documents Relating to the Administration of Jacob Leisler" Collections, NYHS, 1868, 293 for quotation; Bernard Mason, "Aspects of the New York Revolt of 1689" New York History, XXX (April 1949), 176; Declaration of Militia, May 31,1689, Doc. Hist. N.Y., II, 7. Nicholson later claimed that he made no threats, but simply said he would "rather see their Towne burnt or sunck" than continue to live in fear. N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 640. Whatever the case, Cuyler had only a limited understanding of English, and Nicholson would have been wiser to hold his tongue. His words lent credence to rumors of Catholic conspiracies. 421 am grateful to Thomas Archdeacon for lending me an abstract of "The Age of Leisler: New York City, 1689-1710: A Social and Demographic Interpretation" (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1971). Bayard's Narrative, N.Y. Col. Docs., IH, 639; Deposition of Charles Lodwicke, July 25, 1689, "Documents Relating to the Administration of Jacob Leisler" 295; Bayard's journal entry, June 23, 1689, N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 602; Varick to Classis of Amsterdam, April 9,1693, Ecc. Rec, II, 1049. 48 The committee of safety that appointed Leisler commander included Englishmen