Dutch Settlement: Module 3

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others! In the reading, we were introduced to many different colonies that were trying to start in the New World around the same time. One that stood out to me was the colony (or more closely the merchant settlement) that was created by the Dutch. The Dutch settled in New York Harbor, specifically Manhattan Island. Instead of simply taking over the land like many other nations before them the Dutch actually paid the natives, "according to legend, a sum equivalent to twenty-four dollars" (Foner 74). Even though it was a very small sum, it was a much more peaceful way of getting land from the natives. They later called this newly acquired piece of land New Netherlands.
New Netherlands was a primarily fur trading post. They saw the potential for profits that could be made by employing the Indians in the area to help in the fur trade. Because of this realization, the Dutch had no interest in conquering the natives for their land. Also, by keeping in mind how the Spanish had treated the Indians and the eventual uprisings that occurred because of such treatment; the Dutch decided that a more human approach to Indian contact was in order. Furthermore, because the Dutch had to gain their independence from the Spanish, "many Dutch identified with American Indians as fellow victims of Spanish oppression" (Foner 75). Even with such great ideals for the treatment of the local Indians, there was still some conflict of the settlers and Indians. Though in comparison to the English settlements, the Dutch settlements' conflicts were not as brutal, bloody, or devastating.
What made New Netherlands stand out to the rest of the colonies was its population diversity. A large portion of the population was in fact, not Dutch. Many of the immigrants came from Germany, Sweden and Finland. Also, New Netherland gave people the opportunity to practice religious freedom something that was never heard of before in Europe or the new colonial settlements. With such a great opportunity to religious freedom New Netherland became a place of refuge for those who were persecuted for their religion. Another striking difference in New Netherland was how they treated slaves. Though they still had the ugly practice of slavery in the colony, New Netherland gave slaves some rights, as compared to none in the other colonies.
In many cases, New Netherland was far from a perfect colony but had many advances in the issue of human rights than most of their surrounding colonies. New Netherland was later taken from the Dutch by the British. It is interesting to think of how the United States would have developed if the Dutch had kept their hold on their settlement.

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. 2 vols. 74-75.

Jordan, Louis. "A Brief Outline of the History of New Netherland". Notre Dome: The Coins of Colonial and Early America, n.d. University of Notre Dome. 7 July 2009 .

Image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Seal_of_new_netherland.jpg