Earliest Picture of New Amsterdam.
By their usually honest dealing with the natives the Dutch settlers
gained the friendship of the Five Nations, whose good-will was partly on
this account transferred to the English colonists later. The Dutch were
not only friendly to the red men, but tried to open social and
commercial relations with the Plymouth colonists as well. Governor
Bradford replied, mildly urging the Dutch to "clear their title" to a
territory which the English claimed by right of discovery.
[1630-1633]
De Vries.
The present State of Delaware soon became the scene of attempts at
settlement. De Vries began, in 1632, a colony on the banks of the
Delaware, but it was quickly laid waste by the savages, who had been
needlessly provoked by the insolence of the commander left in charge of
the colony. In 1633 Minuit was succeeded by Van Twiller, and a fort was
erected at Hartford, though the English claimed this country as theirs.
Emigrants from the Plymouth colony began the settlement of Windsor, in
spite of the protests of the Dutch. Long Island was invaded by
enterprising New Englanders, regardless of the claim of New Netherland
thereto.
Costumes of Swedes.
This "irrepressible conflict" between two races was by no means abated
by the introduction of a third. As early as 1626, Gustavus Adolphus,
King of Sweden and the hero of the Thirty Years' War, had entertained
the idea of establishing colonies in America, and in pursuance of that
object had encouraged the formation of a company, not only for trading
purposes but also to secure a refuge for the "oppressed of all
Christendom." To Usselinx, an Antwerp merchant, the originator of the
Dutch West India Company, belongs the honor of first suggesting to the
king this enterprise. The glorious death of Gustavus on the victorious
field of Lutzen in 1632 deferred the execution of a purpose which had
not been forgotten even in the midst of that long and arduous campaign.
But a few days before he fell, the Protestant hero had spoken of the
colonial prospect as "the jewel of his kingdom."
[1638]
In 1638 Minuit, who had already figured as governor of New Netherland,
having offered his services to Sweden, was intrusted with the leadership
of the first Swedish colony to America. After a few days' stay at
Jamestown the new-comers finally reached their wished-for destination on
the west shore of the Delaware Bay and River. Proceeding up the latter,
one of their first acts was to build a fort on a little stream about two
miles from its junction with the Delaware, which they named Fort
Christina, in honor of the young queen of Sweden. Near this spot stands
the present city of Wilmington. The country from Cape Henlopen to the
falls at Trenton received the title of New Sweden.
[1650]
It was in this very year that Kieft came to supersede Van Twiller, who
had given just cause for complaint by his eagerness to enrich himself at
the expense of the West India Company. During the administration of
Kieft occurred the long and doubtful conflict with the natives detailed
in the succeeding chapter. Arbitrary and exacting, he drove the Indians
to extremities, and involved the Dutch settlements in a war which for a
time threatened their destruction. Not till 1645 was peace
re-established, and in 1647 the unpopular governor was recalled. In 1647
not more than three hundred fighting men remained in the whole province.
Its total population was between fifteen hundred and two thousand. In
1652 New Amsterdam had a population of seven or eight hundred. In 1664
Stuyvesant put the number in the province at ten thousand, about fifteen
hundred of whom were in New Amsterdam.
The old Stadt Huys at New Amsterdam.
Illustration: European Provinces 1655. Map of the eastern North
America. Latitude 25 to 50 North, Longitude 75 to 95 West.
[1655-1663]
The next governor, Stuyvesant, was the last and much the ablest ruler
among those who directed the destinies of New Netherland. His
administration embraced a period of seventeen years, during which he
renewed the former friendly relations with the savages, made a treaty
with New England, giving up pretensions to Connecticut as well as
relinquishing the east end of Long Island, and compelled the Swedes, in
1655, to acknowledge the Dutch supremacy. It was while he was absent on
his expedition against the Swedes, leaving New Amsterdam unprotected,
that the river Indians, watchful of their opportunity, invaded and laid
waste the surrounding country. In 1663 the savages attacked the village
on the Esopus, now Kingston, and almost destroyed it. It was not until
the energetic governor made a vigorous campaign against the Esopus
tribe, whom he completely subdued, that peace was established on a firm
footing.