Amsterdam: The Brief Life of a City

In july 1764 Biker Ray mentions a new hunt on homosexuals . Ten amsterdammers were put in chains on charge of sodomy , while hundreds of others fled . Several homosexuals who were unable to flee because they lacked the funds and connections , committed suicide by hanging , drowning , and cutting their own throats .

The smaller canals were emptied mainly for health reasons . It was hope that this would rid the city of the cholera epidemics that visited Amsterdam regulary during the nineteenth century .This proved to be a sucess.