Podcast – The Beginnings of New Netherlands

The Beginnings of New Netherlands
Greetings, today I will talk about the Dutch establishment of New Netherlands, which later became New York.
From the Book:
Colonial American History Stories – 1215 – 1664

Transcript:The Beginnings of New Netherland
Greetings, today I will talk about the Dutch establishment of New Netherlands, which later became New York.
March 29, 1624 – First Wave of Dutch Settlers Depart for New Netherlands
Until 1624, Dutch exploration of the New World consisted mainly of trading missions, not colonization.

Before getting started, I would encourage you to subscribe to the Mossy Feet Books You Tube channel for more great content. If you like my videos, please hit the “Like,” button. The more likes I get the more You Tube will show it to other people, allowing me to grow the channel. I I also entreat you to visit my website, http://www.mossyfeetbooks.com. There you will find sample chapters, podcasts, a slew of content and links to where you can buy my books. While visiting the web site you can subscribe to it and receive email notifications of when I publish a new book or other content, like this video and podcast. This episode is based on my book, Colonial American History Stories 1215 – 1665.

Trading Posts
After Hudson’s brief foray into the Hudson Bay in 1609, the next Dutchman to enter the Bay was merchant Arnout Vogels, who went on a secret mission to the Hudson Bay in 1611. His success on that trip caused him to make two more trips, in 1612 and 1613. These trips he did not keep secret resulting in competition from other merchants seeking to cash in. The Netherlands formed the New Netherlands Company on October 11, 1614, which received a three-year monopoly from the Netherlands’s government to establish a trading post. This post proved successful, however they did not get a renewal of the monopoly and they abandoned the post. The Dutch decided they needed a permanent presence in the area to ward off threats from the Spanish, French and English, thus they created the Dutch West India Company in 1621.
Colonization
The Dutch West India Company received a twenty-four monopoly for trade in the area, however to plant a colony would require provincial recognition from the government. It did not receive this recognition until mid 1623. By March 29, 1624, the company had organized an expedition consisting of thirty families. These new settlers were mostly Flemish. They departed Amsterdam on the Nieu Nederlandt under the command of Captain Cornelis Jacobs. They arrived off the coast of the New World sometime in early May. In contrast to the English, French and Spanish settlers, these new arrivals spread out over a wider area. Some settled at the Connecticut River’s mouth, others Burlington Island in present day Delaware while others landed on Nut Island. Another contingent traveled up the Hudson to present day Albany to settle.
Departure of the Nieu Nederland
The ship arrived back in Amsterdam in October carrying a cargo of 500 otter skins, fifteen hundred beavers and some other items traded from the natives. The captain reported that the new settlers had made good relations with the natives and all was in order.

May 4, 1626 – Peter Minuit Becomes Director-General of New Netherlands
The settlement of the area around current New York City by the Dutch began in 1614 with the establishment of New Netherlands. The Dutch West India Company founded the colony to establish fur-trading connections with the native Amerindian tribes. On May 4, 1626, Peter Minuit arrived in New Amsterdam. He would replace unpopular Willem Verhulst as governor of the colony.
Dutch West India Company
The States-General of the Dutch republic established the Dutch West India Company in 1621. On June 3, 1621, the States-General granted it a twenty-four year charter. This charter gave it exclusive trade rights for the Caribbean West Indies, West Africa and the eastern part of New Guinea.
Peter Minuit (c1594 – August 5, 1638)
Like many historical figures from this period, knowledge of Peter Minuit’s early life is sketchy. Historians feel that he was French or Walloon ancestry. His family lived in Doornik, Henegouwen that is in southern Netherlands. They moved to Wesel in Germany, after the Spanish took over the area. They supposedly fled to escape the Spanish Inquisition because the family had become Protestant. He wed Gertrude Raedts on August 20, 1613. Peter became a broker, probably of diamonds, around this time. Historians speculate that his wife, who belonged to a wealthy family, helped him get into that line of work.
In 1625, he left Wesel and returned to Holland. Around that time, he joined the Dutch East India Company. They sent him to New Netherlands to explore trade commodities other than fur to trade for in the New World.
Sometime in May 1626 Dutch Governor Peter Minuit Bought Manhattan for $24 in Trinkets from the Canarsee tribe.

The Canarsee Tribe
The tribe is also called the Lenape, or Delaware, Indians. The Lenape occupied the mountainous lands around the Delaware River. Their territory also included portions of the area that are now New York City. The United States government removed them after the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The main portions of the tribe now live in Ontario (Canada), Wisconsin, and Oklahoma. According to historical accounts, Minuit dealt with the Lenape sachem Seyseys.
Reason for the Deal
The colony of New Amsterdam had struggled to attract settlers and had grown slowly before Minuit arrived. He felt that he needed to legitimize the Dutch presence on Manhattan Island. Thus, he arranged a meeting with the Lenape sachem to purchase the island. After the purchase, Minuit established the colony on the southern tip of the island and built a fort to protect it. Minuit actually dealt with the wrong tribe. A closely related tribe, the Wappinger, actually controlled the island.
Terms of the Deal
It is likely that the natives and the Dutch had entirely different notions of what the deal accomplished. The Dutch idea of ownership was quite similar to our modern conceptions of real estate ownership. The native Amerindians had much different conceptions of land. To the Indians water, air and land were universal and could not be owned by any one person. They probably accepted the merchandise and considered that they had just agreed to allow the Europeans to use the land.
The Merchandise
As with the date and the terms of the deal, historians speculate about exactly what the Dutch traded. Some accounts say that it was mostly trinkets like beads and like merchandise. Minuit struck similar deal later on that included duffel cloth, iron kettles, axe heads, hoes, wampum, drilling awls and other items. This merchandise was of immense value to the Amerindians. It is likely that the deal for Manhattan included some of this as well, though no one knows for sure. The Dutch estimated the value of the merchandise at about sixty guilders. Modern estimates for this sum in current (2015) dollars would be several thousand dollars. In addition, the Lenape probably felt that the deal included the Dutch being potential allies.
The colony continued to grow slowly until the English captured it in 1664 and renamed it New York.

The episode is based upon my book, Colonial American History Stories – 1215 – 1664, available on the web site, http://www.mossyfeetbooks.com. The book is the first book in the 6 volume Timeline of United States History Series . Discover some of the famous and almost forgotten historic stories of America. The story begins with the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 and the beginnings of the concept of limited government and ends, for now, with the beginning of the American Revolution in 1775. The articles in the book have much more detail as well as articles not included in this podcast series.