Great Cities of the United States: Historical, Descriptive, Commercial, Industrial
9781465653239
330 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
“Drop anchor!” rang out the command as the little Dutch vessel furled her sails. On every side were the shining waters of a widespread bay, while just ahead stretched the forest-covered shores of an island. All on board were filled with excitement, wondering what lay beyond. “Have we at last really found a waterway across this new land of America?” they asked. There was only one way to know—to go and see. So on once more, past the island, glided the Half Moon. From time to time, as she sailed along, the redskin savages visited her and traded many valuable furs for mere trifles. But at last the Half Moon could go no further. This was not a waterway to India, only a river leading into the depths of a wild and rugged country. Sick with disappointment, her captain, Henry Hudson, turned about, journeyed the length of the river which was later to bear his name, once more passed the island at the mouth of the river, and sailed away. All this in 1609. Manhattan was the Indian name for the island at the mouth of the Hudson River. Tempted by Henry Hudson's furs, the thrifty Dutchmen sent ship after ship to trade with the American Indians. And as the years went by, these Dutchmen built a trading post on Manhattan, and a little Dutch village grew up about the post. Soon the Dutch West India Company was formed to send out colonists to Manhattan and the land along the Hudson. A governor too was sent. His name was Peter Minuit. Now Peter Minuit was honest, and when he found that the Dutch were living on Indian land to which they had helped themselves, he was not content. So he called together the tribes which lived on Manhattan and, while the painted warriors squatted on the ground, spoke to them in words like these: “My brothers, we have come to trade with you. And that we may be near to buy your furs when you have gathered them, we wish to live among you, on your land. It is your land, and as we do not mean to steal it from you, I have asked you to meet me here that I may buy from you this island which you call Manhattan.” Then, in payment for the island, Peter Minuit offered the Indians ribbons, knives, rings, and colored beads—things dearly loved by the savages. The bargain was soon closed, and for twenty-four dollars' worth of trinkets the Dutch became the owners of Manhattan Island. The Dutch settlement on Manhattan was called New Amsterdam. New Amsterdam was a pretty town, with its quaint Dutch houses built gable end toward the street and its gardens bright with flowers. Dutch windmills with their long sweeping arms rose here and there, and near the water stood the fort. But though New Amsterdam grew and prospered in the years after Peter Minuit bought Manhattan, life there did not run as smoothly as it might. In time Peter Stuyvesant came to be governor, and a stern, tyrannical ruler he was. He always saw things from the Dutch West India Company's point of view, not from the colonists'. Disagreement followed disagreement till the people were nearly at the end of their patience.
