It's 1650 in New Amsterdam, and Brom Broeck, a young outspoken newspaper publisher is arrested for printing advanced opinions on the undemocratic rule of Govenor "Peg-Leg" Stuyvesant. While Brom is in prison, old "Peg-Leg" goes on the make for Brom's sweetheart. But, when "Peg-Leg" is forced to release Brom... Watch-out!

In 1647, the citizenry of New Amsterdam eagerly await the arrival of their new governor, Peter Stuyvesant. Meanwhile, Tienhoven, the head of the city council, convenes a meeting to order the arrest of crusading newspaper publisher Brom Broeck, who has accused the council of being scoundrels and thieves. Upon hearing the news, Tina, Tinhoven's daughter and Brom's sweetheart, hurries to the newspaper officer to warn Brom of his impending arrest. There, Tina chides Brom for failing to settle down and marry her. Soon after, Tienhoven and the jailer arrive and usher Brom to the stockades. After they leave, Tina organizes Brom's supporters to demonstrate at the stockades. When Stuyvesant arrives, Tina escorts him to the townsquare, where Brom is confined. Stuyvesant, a shrewd manipulator who regards his silver peg leg as a symbol of power and authority, realizes that Brom is being made into a martyr and orders his release. Stuyvesant then promises to abolish bribery and corruption, thus tricking the population into believing that he is their friend. To silence Brom, Stuyvesant offers him the job of "Secretary of Printing," and Brom naïvely accepts so that he can earn enough money to marry Tina. After confiscating the concilmen's property and businesses, the greedy Stuyvesant placates them with slick words and medals. Enchanted by Tina, Stuyvesant decides to eliminate Brom as his rival and slyly convinces the idealistic young man to leave New Amsterdam and travel to the colonies to promote unity. Agreeing to postpone his marriage for the good of his country, Brom departs on his mission. In his absence, Stuyvesant begins to woo Tina, who regards him as "an old pot roast." By the time Brom finally returns home, Tina is furious with him for leaving her. At the governor's ball, Tienhoven announces his daughter's engagement to Stuyvesant, and Tina, blaming Brom for her predicament, storms out. Later, at the barbershop, Brom threatens Tienhoven with the blade of a razor and insists that he break Tina's engagement. Meanwhile, at the Tienhoven house, Stuyvesant is pressing Tina to agree to an early wedding date. As Tina begs for more time, Brom and Tiehoven burst into the room. After Brom apologizes and kisses Tina, she forgives him, and Stuyvesant sentences him to spend five years in jail for his impertinence. Sneaking into the jail house, Tina jumps through the bars and into Brom's cell, ripping her skirts in the process. When Brom's Indian friends come to his cell window, Brom fashions a rope with Tina's skirts, ties it around his cell bars and asks Big Muscle, an Indian strongman, to yank the bars from the window. Brom then escapes into the woods, and when Tienhoven and Stuyvesant find Tina, the jilted Stuyvesant bribes her father into consenting to an immediate wedding. Meanwhile, Brom and his assistant, Tenpin, launch a campaign against the tyranny of the governor and call for a meeting of the colonists to overthrow the government. When Stuyvesant learns about the planned assembly, he schedules a fair on the day of the meeting and offers a large reward for Brom's arrest. On the day of the fair, Tenpin and Brom, wearing disguises, pass out pamphlets opposing the governor's policies, while Tina sneaks into the mansion and steals Stuyvesant's silver peg leg. Unable to leave the palace without his leg, Stuyvesant devises a plan to lure Brom there by announcing that the wedding is to be held at noon. Brom outsmarts Stuyvesant by diverting the crowd to the stockade, where he calls for a rebellion against the governor's policies. Brom's plan backfires, however, when the crowd erupts into an angry mob. Realizing that only Stuyvesant's slick words can calm the mob, Brom goes to the palace and offers the governor a chance to become an honest man by instituting order and democracy. Brom then returns Stuyvesant's peg leg, now stripped of its silver plating, and Stuyvesant welcomes the colonlists as partners in the union. Brom and Stuyvesant shake hands, inaugurating a new political era.