New York.—Settlement and Administration of Stuyvesant.
New Amsterdam.
THE settlement of New Amsterdam resulted from the voyages of the brave Sir Henry Hudson. For ten years after its founding, the colony was governed by the directors of the Dutch East India Company. In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was organized, and Manhattan Island, with its cluster of huts, passed at once under the control of the new corporation.
Dutch Settlements.
2. In April, 1623, the ship New Netherland, with thirty families on board, arrived at New Amsterdam. The colonists, called Walloons, were Dutch Protestant refugees. Cornelius May was the leader of the company. Most of the new immigrants settled with their friends on Manhattan; but the captain, with a party of fifty, made explorations as far as Delaware Bay.
3. In May the island, containing more than twenty thousand acres, was purchased from the natives for twenty-four dollars. A block-house was built and surrounded with a palisade. New Amsterdam was already a town of thirty houses. The Dutch of New Amsterdam and the Pilgrims of New Plymouth were early and fast friends.
The Patroons.
4. In 1628 the population of Manhattan numbered two hundred and seventy. The settlers engaged in the fur-trade. In 1629 the West India Company framed a Charter of Privileges, under which a class of proprietors, called patroons, were authorized to colonize the country. The conditions were that each patroon should purchase his lands of the Indians; and that he should establish a colony of not less than fifty persons. Five estates were immediately laid out. Three of them were on the Hudson; the fourth, on Staten Island; and the fifth, in the southern half of Delaware.
5. In April of 1633 Wouter van Twiller became Governor. Three months previously the Dutch erected a block-house at Hartford. In October an armed vessel from Plymouth sailed up the Connecticut, and defied the Dutch commander. The English proceeded up stream to the mouth of the Farmington, where they built Fort Windsor. Two years later, by the building of Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut, they obtained control of the river above and below the Dutch fort.
6. In 1626 Gustavus Adolphus, the Protestant king of Sweden, formed the design of establishing settlements in America. But before his plans could be carried into effect, he was killed in battle. In 1632, the Swedish minister took up the work which his master had left unfinished; and, after four years, the enterprise was brought to a successful issue.
New Sweden.
7. Late in 1637 a company of Swedes and Finns left the harbor of Stockholm, and in the following February arrived in Delaware Bay. The name of New Sweden was given to the territory. On the left bank of a small tributary of the Brandywine, a spot was chosen for the settlement. The immigrants soon provided themselves with houses. The creek and the fort were both named Christiana, in honor of the maiden queen of Sweden. In a short time the banks of the bay and river were dotted with pleasant hamlets.
8. The authorities of New Amsterdam were jealous of the Swedish colony. Sir William Kieft, who had succeeded Van Twiller, warned the settlers of their intrusion on Dutch territory. But the Swedes went on enlarging their borders.
9. In 1640 New Netherland became involved in a war with the Indians. New Amsterdam was soon put in a state of defense, and a company of militia was sent against the savages. On both sides the war degenerated into treachery and murder. Through the mediation of Roger Williams a truce was obtained, but was immediately broken.
War with the Indians.
10. Soon a party of Mohawks came down the river to enforce their supremacy over the Algonquins in the vicinity of New Amsterdam. The latter begged assistance of the Dutch. Kieft now saw an opportunity for wholesale destruction. A company of soldiers set out from Manhattan, and discovered the camp of the Algonquins. The place was surrounded by night, and nearly a hundred of the poor wretches were killed by those to whom they had appealed for help. When it was known among the tribes that the Dutch, and not the Mohawks, were the authors of this outrage, the war was renewed with fury.
Peter Stuyvesant.
11. In 1643 Captain John Underhill, of Massachusetts, was appointed to command the Dutch forces. He first invaded New Jersey, and brought the Delawares into subjection. A decisive battle was fought on Long Island; and at Greenwich, in western Connecticut, the power of the Indians was finally broken. On the 30th of August, 1645, a treaty was concluded at Fort Amsterdam.
Governor Stuyvesant.
12. In 1647 the West India Company revoked Governor Kieft's commission, and appointed Peter Stuyvesant to succeed him. Kieft embarked for Europe, but perished during the voyage. Peter Stuyvesant entered upon his duties on the 11th of May, 1647, and continued in office for seventeen years. His first care was to conciliate the Indians. So intimate and cordial became the relations between the natives and the Dutch, that they were suspected of making common cause against the English. Massachusetts was alarmed lest such an alliance should be formed. But the policy of Stuyvesant was based on nobler principles.
13. Until now the West India Company had exclusive control of the commerce of New Netherland. In 1648 this monopoly was abolished, and regular export duties were substituted. The benefit of the change was soon apparent in the improvement of the Dutch province.
14. In a letter written to Stuyvesant by the secretary of the company, the prediction was made that the commerce of New Amsterdam would cover every ocean, and the ships of all nations crowd into her harbor. But for many years the growth of the city was slow. The better parts of Manhattan Island were still divided among the farmers. Central Park was a forest of oaks and chestnuts.
Boundary of New Netherland.
15. In 1650 the boundary was fixed between New England and New Netherland. The line extended across Long Island north and south, passing through Oyster Bay, and thence to Greenwich, on the other side of the Sound. From this point northward the dividing line was nearly identical with the present boundary of Connecticut on the west. This treaty was ratified by the colonies, by the West India Company, and by the States-General of Holland.
Conquest of New Sweden.
16. Stuyvesant now determined to subdue the colony of New Sweden. In 1651 an armament left New Amsterdam for the Delaware, and made an unsuccessful expedition. In September of 1655 the old governor again sailed against New Sweden. Before the 25th of the month every fort belonging to the Swedes had been forced to surrender. Honorable terms were granted to all, and in a few days the authority of New Netherland was established. The little State of New Sweden had ceased to exist.
17. While Stuyvesant was absent on his expedition against the Swedes, the Algonquins rose in rebellion. In a fleet of sixty-four canoes, they appeared before New Amsterdam, yelling and discharging arrows, then they went on shore and began to burn and murder. The return of the Dutch from Delaware induced the chiefs to sue for peace, which Stuyvesant granted on better terms than the Indians deserved.
18. In 1663 the town of Kingston was attacked and destroyed by the Indians. Sixty-five of the inhabitants were tomahawked or carried into captivity. To punish this outrage a strong force was sent from New Amsterdam. The Indians fled to the woods; but the Dutch soldiers pursued them to their villages, burned their wigwams, and killed every warrior who could be overtaken. In May of 1664 a treaty of peace was concluded.
19. Governor Stuyvesant had great difficulty in defending his province against the claims of other nations. Discord at home added to his embarrassments. For many years the Dutch had witnessed the growth and prosperity of the English colonies. Boston had outgrown New Amsterdam. The schools of Massachusetts and Connecticut flourished; the academy on Manhattan, after a sickly career of two years, was discontinued. In New Netherland heavy taxes were levied for the support of the poor; New England had no poor. The Dutch attributed their own want of thrift to the mismanagement of the West India Company.
The English Conquest.
20. On the 12th of March, 1664, the duke of York received from Charles II. a patent for the whole country between the Connecticut and the Delaware. The duke made haste to secure his territory. An English squadron was immediately sent to America. On the 28th of August the fleet anchored before New Amsterdam. Governor Stuyvesant convened the Dutch council, and exhorted them to rouse to action and fight. Some one replied that the West India Company was not worth fighting for. The brave old man was forced to sign the capitulation; and on the 8th of September, 1664, New Netherland ceased to exist.
21. The English flag was hoisted over the fort and town, and the name of New York was substituted for New Amsterdam. The remaining Swedish and Dutch settlements soon capitulated. The supremacy of Great Britain in America was finally established. From Maine to Georgia, every mile of the American coast was under the flag of England.