Editing New Netherland (section)

===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.