The patroons and their way of living
The greatest of the patroons was Van Rensselaer, whose plantation in the region of Fort Orange included one thousand square miles. The farmers and servants on these plantations looked upon the patroon as being much above them in authority and social position.
Every year the farmers and their families came with their wagons filled with what they had raised to pay the patroon for the use of the land. He set them a great feast, and there was merrymaking all day long.
A wicked Indian war
The growth of New Netherland attracted bad men as well as good men. Some mean traders robbed and murdered a number of Indians not of the Five Nations. The Indians robbed and murdered in return. War broke out, and before it ended many settlements were broken up, and hundreds of settlers killed.
Parties of Indians roved day and night over Manhattan Island, killing the Dutch even in sight of Fort Amsterdam. The people blamed their governor, Kieft, and threatened to arrest him and send him to Holland. He finally made peace with the Indians just before the new governor arrived.
SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL
The Leading Facts. 1. Henry Hudson, searching for a shorter route to India, discovered the river which now bears his name. 2. Dutch traders built trading posts throughout the region, made a treaty with the Indians, purchased Manhattan Island, and built the town of New Amsterdam.
Study Questions. 1. Tell the story of Henry Hudson and the Half Moon. 2. What was the fate of Hudson? 3. When was a trading post planted on Manhattan? 4. Make a mental picture of the treaty with the Indians. 5. How did the Dutch treatment of the Indians compare with the Spanish? 6. What three things did Peter Minuit do? 7. Who were the patroons?
Suggested Readings. Hudson: Williams, Stories from Early New York History, 1-4, 32-36; Wright, Children's Stories in American History, 292-299; Griffis, Romance of Discovery, 233-245.