Dutch Rule in New York

Hudson discovered that the vast area between French Canada and British Virginia was unfortified and unclaimed and that the Native Americans who lived at the mouth of the Hudson River would happily trade furs for European goods. Excited by the commercial prospects of Manhattan Island, which was in the midst of a vast harbor that was ice-free in all seasons, Dutch merchants promptly dispatched other expeditions to the vicinity. The Dutch East India Company established the first permanent European settlement in what is now New York City in 1624. Although most of the Dutch settlers established themselves in the northern Hudson Valley, near the future site of Albany, about eight or ten Protestants from Belgium, who had taken refuge with the Dutch to escape religious persecution, settled on Governors Island in New York harbor. In 1625 the tiny community moved to the southern tip of Manhattan Island. A year later, according to legend, Dutch colonial governor Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan from the Canarsees for 60 guilders (approximately $24) in trinkets and goods. The city of New Amsterdam, as it was soon called, operated as part of the colony administered by the Dutch West India Company.