During the Dutch Golden Age the Dutch were prominent in Europe for trade, science, art, and colonization. With their claim of New Netherland they began populating it with traders, and then settlers, and in 1621 the Dutch Republic granted a charter for a trade monopoly to the recently created Dutch West India Company which was composed of Dutch merchants and investors.

Willem Verhulst was the Director of the New Netherland colony in 1625, and was much disliked by the colonists who wanted him replaced. ¹

Peter Minuit (Shorto points out that Minuit's ancestry was French, and thus his name was pronouncd "Min-wee" ² ) was there in New Netherland working for the Dutch West India Company, and he stepped up to replace Verhulst in 1626. Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan from the local Indians for goods worth sixty guilders, which, famously, was estimated to be about twenty-four dollars. ³ As we know today, the Indian concept of land deals differed from that of the colonists. They saw it more as a rental agreement, a sharing of land, not an outright purchase, and likely also as an alliance to protect it from neighboring tribes or others. ⁴

In 1630 Kiliaen van Rensselaer, one of the original directors of the Dutch West India Company was deeded land in the area that is now Albany, New York as a patroon. This became the Manor of Rensselaerswyck.

In 1631, Minuit was recalled and Sebastiaen Jansen Krol was named provisional director of the colony. ⁵ Then Wouter van Twiller served as the Director of New Netherland from 1633-1638, and he was replaced by Willem Kieft who served 1638-1647.

Now that enough background on New Netherland and New Amsterdam has been established, the next installment will turn to Adriaen van der Donck. ⁶