Peter Stuyvesant, the Last Dutch Governor of New AmsterdamAbbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
Peter Stuyvesant, the Last Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
New York (State) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775; Stuyvesant, Peter, 1592-1672
When the news of these transactions reached Holland, great
dissatisfaction was felt by the less fortunate shareholders, that
individuals had grasped such a vast extent of territory. It was
supposed that Director Minuit was too much in sympathy with the
patroons, who were becoming very powerful, and he was recalled. All
were compelled to admit that during his administration the condition
of the colony had been prosperous. The whole of Manhattan Island had
been honestly purchased of the Indians. Industry had flourished.
Friendly relations were everywhere maintained with the natives. The
northwestern shores of Long Island were studded with the log cottages
of the settlers. During his directorship the exports of the colony had
trebled, amounting, in the year 1632, to nearly fifty thousand
dollars.
We come now to a scene of war, blood and woe, for which the Dutch were
not at all accountable. It will be remembered that a colony had been
established near the mouth of Delaware Bay. Two vessels were
dispatched from Holland for this point containing a number of
emigrants, a large stock of cattle, and whaling equipments, as whales
abounded in the bay. The ship, called the Walvis, arrived upon the
coast in April, 1631. Running along the western shore of this
beautiful sheet of water, they came to a fine navigable stream, which
was called Horekill, abounding with picturesque islands, with a soil
of exuberant fertility, and where the waters were filled with fishes
and very fine oysters. There was here also a roadstead unequalled in
the whole bay for convenience and safety.
Here the emigrants built a fort and surrounded it with palisades, and
a thriving Dutch colony of about thirty souls was planted. They
formally named the place, which was near the present town of Lewiston,
Swaanendael. A pillar was raised, surmounted by a plate of glittering
tin, upon which was emblazoned the arms of Holland; and which also
announced that the Dutch claimed the territory by the title of
discovery, purchase and occupation.
For awhile the affairs of this colony went on very prosperously. But
in May, 1632, an expedition, consisting of two ships, was fitted out
from Holland. with additional emigrants and supplies. Just before the
vessels left the Texel, a ship from Manhattan brought the melancholy
intelligence to Amsterdam that the colony at Swaanendael had been
destroyed by the savages, thirty-two men having been killed outside of
the fort working in the fields. Still DeVrees, who commanded the
expedition, hoping that the report was exaggerated, and that the
colony might still live, in sadness and disappointment proceeded on
his way. One of his vessels ran upon the sands off Dunkirk, causing a
delay of two months. It was not until the end of December that the
vessels cast anchor off Swaanendael. No boat from the shore
approached; no signs of life met the eye. The next morning a boat,
thoroughly armed, was sent into the creek on an exploring tour.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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