The English takeover of New Amsterdam occurred in 1664, when an English fleet arrived and demanded surrender. With the Treaty of Westminster in 1674, the British ruled New Amsterdam and renamed it New York City. Their rule made slavery stricter, with harsher laws and fewer freedoms than under Dutch rule. The Dutch West India Company (WIC), which owned the enslaved, used them in large municipal labor gangs. English individuals owned enslaved people and used them for domestic s