PETER STUYVESANT
From a seventeenth-century portrait at present in the collection of the New York Historical Society
Goes to New Netherland
In an attack on a Portuguese fort Stuyvesant lost a leg and had to return to Holland. As soon as he was well the Dutch West India Company sent him to New Netherland (1647) to save that colony from the Indians.
What Stuyvesant said to the settlers
The arrival of Stuyvesant, with his little army and fleet of four vessels, brought great joy to the discouraged settlers and fur traders. He said to the people: "I shall reign over you as a father over his children." But he ruled the colony far more like a king than a father. He was not only commander in chief of the army, but was also lawmaker, judge, and governor, all in one.
Strict order in New Amsterdam
The new laws made by Stuyvesant showed that he intended to keep order in the colony. He forbade Sabbath-breaking, drunkenness, the sale of drink to the Indians or to any one else after the nine o'clock bell had rung. He ordered the owners of all vacant lots in New Amsterdam to improve them, and tried to fix the location of all new buildings. He taxed traders, whether they shipped goods to Europe or brought goods into New Netherland.
Stuyvesant did, indeed, restore order to the colony, but he stirred up the people until they demanded a voice in the government. He finally agreed that they might select nine of their wisest men to advise with him. They were called the council. He had no idea of following anybody's advice unless it agreed with his own notions, but the people had gained something.
Stuyvesant and his neighbors