Editing New Netherland (section)

==Development==
===Chartered trading companies===
[[File:West-Indisch Huis.jpg|thumb|The [[West-Indisch Huis (Amsterdam)|West India House]] in [[Amsterdam]], headquarters of the [[Dutch West India Company]] from 1623 to 1647]]
[[File:Het West Indisch Huys - Amsterdam 1655.png|thumb|The storehouse of the Dutch West India Company in Amsterdam, built in 1642, became the headquarters of the board in 1647 because of financial difficulties after the loss of [[Dutch Brazil]].]]

The immediate and intense competition among Dutch trading companies in the newly charted areas led to disputes in Amsterdam and calls for regulation. The [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] was the governing body of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, and it proclaimed on 17 March 1614, that it would grant an exclusive patent for trade between the 40th and 45th parallels. This monopoly would be valid for four voyages, and all four voyages had to be undertaken within three years of the award. The [[New Netherland Company]] was an alliance of trading companies, and they used [[Adrian Block]]'s map to win a patent that expired on 1 January 1618.<ref>{{cite web| title = Grant of Exclusive Trade to New Netherland by the States-General of the United Netherlands; October 11, 1614| year = 2008| url = http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/charter_011.asp}}</ref>

The New Netherland Company also ordered a survey of the [[Delaware Valley]], and [[Cornelius Hendrickson|Cornelis Hendricksz]] of [[Monnickendam]] explored the [[Delaware River|''Zuyd Rivier'']] (South River) in 1616 from its bay to its northernmost navigable reaches. His observations were preserved in a map drawn in 1616. Hendricksz made his voyages aboard the ''IJseren Vercken'' (Iron Hog), a vessel built in America. Despite the survey, the company was unable to secure an exclusive patent from the States General for the area between the 38th and 40th parallels.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jaap Jacobs|year=2005|title=New Netherland: A Dutch Colony In Seventeenth-Century America|publisher=Leiden: Brill|isbn=90-04-12906-5|page=35}}</ref>

The States General issued patents in 1614 for the development of New Netherland as a private, commercial venture. Soon after, traders built [[Fort Nassau (North River)|Fort Nassau]] on [[Castle Island (New York)|Castle Island]] in the area of [[Albany, New York|Albany]] up Hudson's river. The fort was to defend river traffic against interlopers and to conduct [[North American fur trade|fur trading]] operations with the Indians. The location of the fort proved to be impractical, however, due to repeated flooding of the island in the summers, and it was abandoned in 1618<ref>{{cite web| title = A Virtual Tour of New Netherland: Fort Nassau| work = The New Netherland Institute| access-date = June 9, 2009| url = http://www.nnp.org/vtour/regions/Albany/fortnassau.html| archive-url = https://archive.today/20120905204757/http://www.nnp.org/vtour/regions/Albany/fortnassau.html| url-status = usurped| archive-date = September 5, 2012}}</ref> when the patent expired.

The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands granted a charter to the [[Dutch West India Company]] (GWC) (''Geoctroyeerde Westindische Compagnie'') on 3 June 1621,<ref name="WestIndiaCompanyCharter">{{Citation| title = Charter of the Dutch West India Company: 1621| year = 2008| url = http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/westind.asp}}</ref> which gave the company the exclusive right to operate in West Africa (between the [[Tropic of Cancer]] and the [[Cape of Good Hope]]) and the Americas.<ref name="WestIndiaCompanyCharter"/>

[[Willem Usselincx]] was one of the founders of the GWC, and he promoted the concept that the company's main goal should be to establish colonies in the New World. In 1620, Usselincx made a last appeal to the States General, which rejected his principal vision as a primary goal. The legislators preferred the formula of trading posts with small populations and a military presence to protect them, which was working in the East Indies, versus encouraging mass immigration and establishing large colonies. The company did not focus on colonization in America until 1654 when it was forced to surrender [[Dutch Brazil]] and forfeit the richest sugar-producing area in the world.

===Indigenous population===
{{euromericas}}

The first trading partners of the [[New Netherlander]]s were the [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquins]] who lived in the area.<ref>[http://www.lowensteyn.com/iroquois/ Lowensteyn]. Lowensteyn (November 3, 2006). Retrieved on 2013-07-23.</ref> The Dutch depended on the native nations to capture, skin, and deliver pelts to them, especially beaver. It is likely that Hudson's peaceful contact with the [[Mahican]]s encouraged them to establish [[Fort Nassau (North River)|Fort Nassau]] in 1614, the first of many garrisoned trading stations. In 1628, the [[Mohawk nation|Mohawk]]s (members of the [[Iroquois|Iroquois Confederacy]]) conquered the Mahicans, who retreated to Connecticut. The Mohawks gained a near-monopoly in the fur trade with the Dutch, as they controlled the upstate [[Adirondack Mountains|Adirondacks]] and [[Mohawk Valley]] through the center of New York.<ref name="ruttenber910746">{{Cite book
| edition = 3rd
| publisher = Hope Farm Press
| isbn = 0-910746-98-2
| last = Ruttenber
| first = E.M.
| title = Indian Tribes of Hudson's River
| year = 2001
}}</ref>

The Algonquin [[Lenape]] population around [[New York Bay]] and along the lower [[Hudson River]] were seasonally migrational people. The Dutch called the numerous band collectively the River Indians,<ref name="ruttenber910746"/><ref>{{cite web
| title = Dutch Colonization
| work = Kingston: A national register of historic places travel itinerary
| url = http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/kingston/colonization.htm}}
</ref> known the exonyms associated with place names as the [[Wecquaesgeek]], [[Hackensack (Native Americans)|Hackensacks]], [[Raritan (Native Americans)|Raritans]], [[Canarsee]], and [[Tappan (Native Americans)|Tappans]]. These groups had the most frequent contact with the New Netherlanders. The Munsee inhabited the [[New York-New Jersey Highlands|Highlands]], Hudson Valley, and [[Skylands region|northern New Jersey]],<ref name="ruttenber910746"/> while the [[Susquehannock]]s lived west of the [[Delaware River]] along the Susquehanna River, which the Dutch regarded as their boundary with Virginia.

Company policy required land to be purchased from the Indians. The Dutch West India Company would offer a land patent, and the recipient would be responsible for negotiating a deal with representatives of the local tribes, usually the ''sachem'' or high chief. The Indians referred to the Dutch colonists as ''Swannekins'', or ''salt water people''; they had vastly different conceptions of ownership and use of land than the colonists did, and difficulties sometimes arose concerning the expectations on both sides.<ref name="ruttenber910746"/> The colonists thought that their proffer of gifts in the form of ''[[sewant]]'' or manufactured goods was a trade agreement and defense alliance, which gave them exclusive rights to farming, hunting, and fishing. Often, the Indians did not vacate the property or reappeared seasonally according to their migration patterns. They were willing to share the land with the colonists, but the Indians did not intend to leave or give up access. This misunderstanding and other differences led to violent conflict later. At the same time, such differences marked the beginnings of a multicultural society.<ref name="Shorto">{{cite book |title=The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America |last=Shorto |first=Russell |author-link=Russell Shorto |year=2004 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=1-4000-7867-9 }}{{page?|date=October 2024}}</ref>

===Early settlement===
{{Main|Governors Island}}
{{See also|Fortifications of New Netherland|New Netherland settlements}}
[[File:Nieuw Nederland.png|thumb|A map showing the area claimed by the Dutch in [[North America]] and several Dutch settlements compared to present-day boundaries]]
Like the French in the north, the Dutch focused their interest on the [[fur trade]]. To that end, they cultivated contingent relations with the Five Nations of the Iroquois to procure greater access to key central regions from which the skins came.

The Dutch encouraged a kind of feudal aristocracy over time to attract settlers to the region of the Hudson River in what became known as the system of the [[Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions]]. Further south, a Swedish trading company that had ties with the Dutch tried to establish its first settlement along the Delaware River three years later. Without resources to consolidate its position, [[New Sweden]] was gradually absorbed by New Holland and later in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

In 1613, temporary camp comprising a number of small huts was built by the crew of the "''Tijger''" (''Tiger''), a Dutch ship under the command of Captain [[Adriaen Block]], which had caught fire while sailing on the Hudson.<ref>{{cite web|last=Welling|first=George M.|title=The United States of America and the Netherlands: The First Dutch Settlers|work=From Revolution to Reconstruction|date=November 24, 2004|url=http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/newnetherlands/nl2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206204325/http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/newnetherlands/nl2.htm| archive-date = February 6, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Soon after, the first of two [[Fort Nassau (North River)|Fort Nassau]]s was built  at the confluence of the Hudson (North River) and Mohawk rivers, and small ''factorijen'' or trading posts went up, where  commerce could be conducted with the [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]] and [[Iroquois]] population, possibly at [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]], [[Esopus, New York|Esopus]], [[Quinnipiac River|Quinnipiac]], [[Communipaw]], and elsewhere.

In 1624, New Netherland became a province of the Dutch Republic, which had lowered the northern border of its North American dominion to [[42nd parallel north|42 degrees latitude]] in acknowledgment of the claim by the English north of Cape Cod.<ref group="nb">See John Smith's 1616 map as self-appointed Admiral of New England.</ref> The Dutch named the three main rivers of the province the ''Zuyd Rivier'' ([[Delaware River|South River]]), the ''Noort Rivier'' ([[North River (Hudson River)|North River]]), and the ''Versche Rivier'' ([[Connecticut River|Fresh River]]). Discovery, charting, and permanent settlement were needed to maintain a territorial claim. To this end in May 1624, the GWC landed 30 families at [[Fort Orange (New Netherland)|Fort Orange]] and ''Noten Eylant'' (today's [[Governors Island]]) at the mouth of the North River. They disembarked from the ship ''Nieu Nederlandt'', under the command of [[Cornelius Jacobsen May|Cornelis Jacobsz May]], the first [[Director of New Netherland|Director of the New Netherland]]. He was replaced the following year by [[Willem Verhulst]].

In June 1625, 45 additional colonists disembarked on ''Noten Eylant'' from three ships named ''Horse'', ''Cow'', and ''Sheep'', which also delivered 103 horses, steers, cows, pigs, and sheep. Most settlers were dispersed to the various garrisons built across the territory: upstream to [[Fort Orange (New Netherland)|Fort Orange]], to ''[[Old Saybrook, Connecticut|Kievits Hoek]]'' on the Fresh River, and [[Fort Wilhelmus]] on the South River.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Empire State: A History of New York|last=Rink|first=Oliver A.|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-8014-3866-0|editor-last=Klien|editor-first=Milton M.|page=26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last        =Bert van Steeg|title=Walen in de Wildernis|work=De wereld van Peter Stuyvesant|language=nl|url=http://stuyvesant.library.uu.nl/kaarten/steegessay.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517171002/http://stuyvesant.library.uu.nl/kaarten/steegessay.htm|archive-date=May 17, 2008|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=1624 In the Unity (Eendracht)|work=Rootsweb Ancestry.com|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycoloni/shfrsten.html}}</ref> Many of the settlers were not Dutch but [[Walloons]], French [[Huguenot]]s, or [[African Americans|Africans]] (most as enslaved labor, some later gaining "half-free" status).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slavenorth.com/newyork.htm|title=Slavery in New York|website=www.slavenorth.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Slavery in New Netherland / De slavernij in Nieuw Nederland|work=The Atlantic World / De Atlantische Wereld|format=The Library of Congress Global Gateway|language=en, nl|url=http://international.loc.gov/intldl/awkbhtml/kb-1/kb-1-2-3.html#track1}}</ref>

===North River and the Manhattan===
{{Main|New Amsterdam}}
{{See also|History of Brooklyn|History of Albany, New York|Rondout, New York|Bergen, New Netherland}}
[[File:Manatvs gelegen op de Noot Riuier.jpg|thumb|A {{Circa|1639}} map, ''Manatvs gelegen op de Noot Riuier'' ([[Manhattan]] situated on the North River) with the north arrow pointing to the right]]
[[Peter Minuit]] became [[Director of New Netherland|Director of the New Netherland]] in 1626 and made a decision that greatly affected the new colony. Originally, the capital of the province was to be located on the South River,<ref name="Rink">{{cite book
|last=Rink
|first=Oliver
|title=Dutch New York:The Roots of Hudson Valley Culture
|year=2009
|publisher=Fordham University Press; Hudson River Museum
|location=Yonkers, NY
|isbn=978-0-8232-3039-6
|chapter=Seafarers ad Businessmen
|page=20}}
</ref> but it was soon realized that the location was susceptible to mosquito infestation in the summer and the freezing of its waterways in the winter. He chose instead the island of [[Manhattan]] at the mouth of the river explored by [[Henry Hudson|Hudson]], at that time called the [[North River (Hudson River)|North River]].

Minuit traded some goods with the local population and reported that he had purchased it from the natives, as was company policy. He ordered the construction of [[Fort Amsterdam]] at its southern tip, around which grew the heart of the province called [[New York Harbor|The Manhattoes]] in the vocabulary of the day, rather than New Netherland.<ref>{{Cite book
| publisher = Macmillan
| volume = 1
| last = van Rensselaer
|author2=Mariana Schulyer
 | title = The History of the city of New York
| location = New York
| year = 1909
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Gibson Burton|title=The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record|year=1937|page=6|publisher=The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society}}Cornelis Meyln: "I was obliged to flee for the sake of saving my life, and to sojourn with wife and children at the Menatans till the year 1647."</ref> According to a letter by Pieter Janszoon Schagen, [[Peter Minuit]] and Walloon colonists of the [[Dutch West India Company|West India Company]] acquired the island of Manhattan on May 24, 1626, from unnamed native people, who are believed to have been [[Metoac|Canarsee Indians]] of the [[Manhattoe]], in exchange for traded goods worth 60 [[guilder]]s,<ref name="New Netherland Institute">{{cite web|url=http://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/additional-resources/dutch-treats/peter-schagen-letter/|title=Peter Schaghen Letter with transcription|publisher=New Netherland Institute|date=November 7, 1626|access-date=February 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324021546/http://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/additional-resources/dutch-treats/peter-schagen-letter|archive-date=March 24, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> often said to be worth US$24. The figure of 60 guilders comes from a letter by a representative of the [[Dutch Estates General]] and member of the board of the [[Dutch West India Company]], Pieter Janszoon Schagen, to the Estates General in November 1626.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/ |title=Peter Schaghen Letter with transcription. New Netherland Institute (1626-11-07). Retrieved on 2015-02-16. |access-date=May 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206015837/https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/ |archive-date=February 6, 2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1846, New York historian [[John Romeyn Brodhead]] converted the figure of Fl 60 (or 60 guilders) to [[United States dollar|US$]]24 (he arrived at $24 = Fl 60/2.5, because the US dollar was erroneously equated with the [[Dutch rijksdaalder]] having a standard value of 2.5 guilders).<ref name="NeviusNevius2009">{{cite book|last1=Nevius|first1=Michelle|last2=Nevius|first2=James|title=Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8K5OCC4CMwC&pg=PA9|date=2009|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4165-8997-6|page=9}}</ref> "[A] variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars," as authors [[Edwin G. Burrows]] and [[Mike Wallace (historian)|Mike Wallace]] remarked in their history of New York.<ref name=":0">[[Edwin G. Burrows]] and [[Mike Wallace (historian)|Mike Wallace]], ''[[Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898]]'', (1999: xivff)</ref>

In 1626, sixty guilders were valued at approximately $1,000 in 2006 and $963 in 2020, according to the Institute for Social History of Amsterdam.<ref>The International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam [http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/calculate.php calculates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902122555/http://www.iisg.nl/hpw/calculate.php |date=September 2, 2017 }} its value as 60 guilders (1626) = [[Euro|€]]678.91 (2006), equal to about $1,000 in 2006 and $963 in 2020. However, these are underestimates because of the immediate devaluation of the euro at its introduction.</ref> Based on the [[silver standard|price of silver]], "[[The Straight Dope]]" [[Column (periodical)|newspaper column]] calculated an equivalent of $72 in 1992.<ref name="straightdope.com">[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/715/how-much-would-the-24-paid-for-manhattan-be-worth-in-todays-money How much would the $24 paid for Manhattan be worth in today's money?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209194849/http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/715/how-much-would-the-24-paid-for-manhattan-be-worth-in-todays-money/ |date=February 9, 2019 }}. [[The Straight Dope]] (July 31, 1992). Retrieved on July 23, 2013.</ref> Historians James and Michelle Nevius revisited the issue in 2014, suggesting that using the prices of beer and brandy as monetary equivalencies, the price Minuit paid would have the purchasing power of somewhere between $2,600 and $15,600 in current dollars.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nevius|first1=James|last2=Nevius|first2=Michelle|title=Footprints in New York: Tracing the Lives of Four Centuries of New Yorkers|location=Guilford, Conn.|publisher=Lyons Press|date=2014|isbn=978-0-7627-9636-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Y70AgAAQBAJ}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> According to the writer [[Nathaniel Benchley]], Minuit conducted the transaction with Seyseys, chief of the [[Canarsee Indian|Canarsee]], who were willing to accept valuable merchandise in exchange for the island that was mostly controlled by the [[Wappinger#Wecquaesgeek|Weckquaesgeeks]], a band of the [[Wappinger]].<ref>[http://www.americanheritage.com/content/24-swindle Benchley, Nathaniel. "The $24 Swindle: The Indians who sold Manhattan were bilked, all right, but they didn't mind — the land wasn't theirs anyway."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128115246/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/24-swindle |date=November 28, 2018 }} ''American Heritage'', Vol. 11, no. 1 (December 1959).</ref>

The port city of [[New Amsterdam]] outside the fort walls became a major hub for trade between North America, the Caribbean, and Europe, and where raw materials were loaded, such as pelts, lumber, and tobacco. Sanctioned [[privateer]]ing contributed to its growth. It was given its municipal charter in 1653,<ref>[http://www.council.nyc.gov/html/about/history.shtml] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620053608/http://www.council.nyc.gov/html/about/history.shtml|date=June 20, 2012}}</ref> by which time the [[New Amsterdam|Commonality of New Amsterdam]] included the isle of Manhattan, [[Staten Island|Staaten Eylandt]], [[Pavonia, New Netherland|Pavonia]], and the [[History of Brooklyn|Lange Eylandt]] towns.<ref>Map of Long Island Townshttp://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Town/OldBklyn.html</ref>

In the hope of encouraging immigration, the Dutch West India Company established the [[Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions]] in 1629, which gave it the power to offer vast land grants and the title of ''[[patroon]]'' to some of its invested members.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web
 |last        = Johan van Hartskamp
 |title       = De West-Indische Compagnie En Haar Belangen in Nieuw-Nederland Een Overzicht (1621–1664)
 |work        = De wereld van Peter Stuyvesant
 |url         = http://stuyvesant.library.uu.nl/kaarten/wic.htm
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20051202143144/http://stuyvesant.library.uu.nl/kaarten/wic.htm
 |archive-date = December 2, 2005
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref> The vast tracts were called ''patroonships'', and the title came with powerful [[Manorialism|manorial]] [[rights]] and [[Privilege (legal ethics)|privilege]]s, such as the creation of [[Civil law (common law)|civil]] and [[criminal law|criminal]] [[court]]s and the appointing of local officials. In return, a ''patroon'' was required by the [[Dutch West India Company|Company]] to establish a settlement of at least 50 families within four years<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4066/ |title = Conditions as Created by their Lords Burgomasters of Amsterdam |website = [[World Digital Library]] |year = 1656 |access-date = July 28, 2013 }}</ref> who would live as tenant farmers. Of the original five patents given, the largest and only truly successful endeavor was [[Manor of Rensselaerswyck|Rensselaerswyck]],<ref name="wellingnieuwnl">{{cite web
| last = Welling
| first = George M.
| title = The United States of America and the Netherlands: Nieuw Nederland&nbsp;— New Netherland
| work = From Revolution to Reconstruction
| date = March 6, 2003
| url = http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/newnetherlands/nl4.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100226130736/http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/newnetherlands/nl4.htm
| archive-date = February 26, 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> at the highest navigable point on the North River,<ref>{{cite web
| title = The Patroon System / Het systeem van patroonschappen
| work = The Atlantic World / De Atlantische Wereld
| format = The Library of Congress Global Gateway
| access-date = March 6, 2009
| url = http://international.loc.gov/intldl/awkbhtml/kb-1/kb-1-2-2.html#track1
}}</ref> which became the main thoroughfare of the province. [[Beverwyck|Beverwijck]] grew from a trading post to a bustling, independent town in the midst of Rensselaerwyck, as did [[Kingston, New York|Wiltwyck]], south of the ''patroonship'' in [[Esopus, New York|Esopus]] country.

===Kieft's War===
{{Main|Kieft's War}}
[[Willem Kieft]] was [[Director of New Netherland]] from 1638 until 1647. The colony had grown somewhat before his arrival, reaching 8,000 population in 1635. Yet it did not flourish, and Kieft was under pressure to cut costs. At this time, Indian tribes that had signed mutual defense treaties with the Dutch were gathering near the colony due to widespread warfare and dislocation among the tribes to the north. At first, he suggested collecting tribute from the Indians,<ref>{{cite book |last=Jacobs  |first=Jaap  |title=New Netherland: A Dutch Colony In Seventeenth-Century America |year=2005  |publisher= Brill|quote=Both in the way it was set up and in the extent of its rights, the council of Twelve Men, as did the two later advisory bodies ... | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uex2budtSOUC&pg=RA1-PA136 |isbn=90-04-12906-5 |location=Leiden }}</ref> as was common among the various dominant tribes, but his demands were simply ignored by the [[Tappan (Native Americans)|Tappan]] and [[Wappinger#Wecquaesgeek|Wecquaesgeek]]. Subsequently, a colonist was murdered in an act of revenge for some killings that had taken place years earlier and the Indians refused to turn over the perpetrator. Kieft suggested that they be taught a lesson by ransacking their villages. In an attempt to gain public support, he created the Citizens Commission the [[Twelve Men|Council of Twelve Men]].

The Council did not rubber-stamp his ideas, as he had expected them to, but took the opportunity to mention grievances that they had with the company's mismanagement and its unresponsiveness to their suggestions. Kieft thanked and disbanded them and, against their advice, ordered that groups of Tappan and Wecquaesgeek be attacked at [[Pavonia, New Netherland|Pavonia]] and [[Lower East Side|Corlear's Hook]], even though they had sought refuge from their more powerful [[Mohicans|Mohican]] enemies per their treaty understandings with the Dutch. The massacre left 130 dead. Within days, the surrounding tribes united and rampaged the countryside, in a unique move, forcing settlers who escaped to find safety at Fort Amsterdam. For two years, a series of raids and reprisals raged across the province, until 1645 when [[Kieft's War]] ended with a treaty, in a large part brokered by the [[Hackensack (Native Americans)|Hackensack]] [[sagamore (title)|sagamore]] [[Oratam]].<ref name="ruttenber910746"/>

The colonists were disenchanted with Kieft, his ignorance of Indigenous peoples, and the unresponsiveness of the GWC to their rights and requests, and they submitted the Remonstrance of New Netherland to the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]].<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 1086-6728| volume = 5| issue = 4| pages = 28–33| last = de Koning| first = Joep M.J.| title = From Van der Donck to Visscher: A 1648 View of New Amsterdam| work = Mercator's World| date = August 2000| url = http://www.mercatorsworld.com/504visscher.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000816185818/http://www.mercatorsworld.com/504visscher.html| archive-date = August 16, 2000}}</ref> This document was written by [[Leiden University|Leiden-educated]] New Netherland lawyer [[Adriaen van der Donck]], condemning the GWC for mismanagement and demanding full rights as citizens of the province of the Netherlands.<ref name="Shorto" />

===Director-General Stuyvesant===
[[File:St Mark's Church - New York City.jpg|thumb|[[St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery]], site of [[Peter Stuyvesant]]'s grave]]
[[Peter Stuyvesant]] arrived in New Amsterdam in 1647, the only [[governor]] of the colony to be called [[Director of New Netherland|Director-General]].
Some years earlier, land ownership policy was liberalized, and trading was somewhat deregulated, and many [[New Netherlander]]s considered themselves [[entrepreneur]]s in a [[free market]]. The population had reached about 15,000, including 500 on Manhattan Island.<ref name="Shorto" />

During the period of his governorship, the province experienced exponential growth.<ref name="wellingnieuwnl"/> Demands were made upon Stuyvesant from all sides: the GWC, the States General, and the New Netherlanders. The English were nibbling at Dutch territory to the north and the [[New Sweden|Swedes]] to the south, while in the heart of the province, the [[Lenape|Esopus]] were trying to contain further Dutch expansion. Discontent in New Amsterdam led locals to dispatch Adriaen van der Donck back to the United Provinces to seek redress. After nearly three years of legal and political wrangling, the Dutch Government came down against the GWC, granting the colony a measure of self-government and recalling Stuyvesant in April 1652. However, the orders were rescinded with the outbreak of the [[First Anglo-Dutch War]] a month later.<ref name="Shorto" />  Military battles were occurring in the [[Caribbean]] and along the [[Atlantic Ocean|South Atlantic]] coast. In 1654, the Netherlands lost [[Dutch Brazil|New Holland]] in Brazil to Portugal, encouraging some of its residents to emigrate north and making the North American colonies more appealing to some investors. The [[Esopus Wars]] are so named for the branch of [[Lenape]] that lived around Wiltwijck, today's [[Kingston, New York|Kingston]], which was the Dutch settlement on the west bank of [[Hudson River]] between [[Albany, New York|Beverwyk]] and [[New Amsterdam]]. These conflicts were generally over settlement of land by New Netherlanders for which contracts had not been clarified, and were seen by the natives as an unwanted incursion into their territory. Previously, the Esopus, a clan of the [[Munsee]] Lenape, had much less contact with the [[Hackensack (Native Americans)|River Indians]] and the [[Mohawk nation|Mohawks]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Otto, Paul |title=The Dutch-Munsee Encounter in America: The Struggle for Sovereignty in the Hudson Valley|year=2006|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=1-57181-672-0|author-link=Paul Otto (historian)}}</ref>
According to historian Eleanor Bruchey:
:Peter Stuyvesant was essentially a difficult man thrust into a difficult position. Quick tempered, self-confident, and authoritarian, he was determined...to rule firmly and to repair the fortunes of the company. The company, however, had run the colony solely for trade profits, with scant attention to encouraging immigration and developing local government. Stuyvesant's predecessors...had been dishonest or, at best, inept, so there was no tradition of respect and support for the governorship on which he could build. Furthermore, the colonists were vocal and quick to challenge authority....Throughout his administration there were constant complaints to the company of his tyrannical acts and pressure for more local self-government....His religious intolerance also exacerbated relations with the colonists, most of whom did not share his narrow outlook.<ref>Eleanor Bruchey, "Stuyvesant, Peter" in John A. Garraty, ed. ''Encyclopedia of American Biography'' (2nd ed. 1996) p. 1065 [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780062700179/page/94/mode/2up online]</ref>