On February 11, 1644, eleven enslaved men including Paulo d’Angola and Simon Congo achieved a historic legal victory in New Netherland. By petitioning the Dutch West India Company, they secured "half-freedom," citing years of loyal service and broken promises of manumission. ​This landmark decision established the first free Black community in North America. The liberated families were granted land in "the Negroes’ Land," an area spanning present-day Greenwich Village and Lower Manhattan.​While the grants served as a strategic "buffer" against indigenous attacks, the community thrived as independent landowners and farmers. This early act of legal resistance remains a testament to the enduring quest for autonomy and justice in American history.