Peter Stuyvesant

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Peter Stuyvesant (disambiguation).

Peter Stuyvesant
Director of New Netherland
In office
1647–1665
Preceded byWillem Kieft
Succeeded byRichard Nicolls (as Governor of the Province of New York)
Personal details
Bornc. 1610
Friesland, Dutch Republic
DiedAugust 1672 (age 61/62)
Manhattan, Province of New York
Resting placeSt. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
Spouse
Judith Bayard
​
(m. 1645)​
RelationsSee Stuyvesant family
ChildrenBalthasar Lazarus Stuyvesant
Nicolaes Willem Stuyvesant
Parent(s)Balthazar Jansz Stuyvesant
Margaretha van Hardenstein
Signature
Stuyvesant Coat of Arms

Peter Stuyvesant (English:

director-general of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was split into New York and New Jersey with lesser territory becoming parts of other colonies, and later, states.[3] He was a major figure in the early history of New York City and his name has been given to various landmarks and points of interest throughout the city (e.g. Stuyvesant High School, Stuyvesant Town, Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood
, etc.).

Stuyvesant's accomplishments as director-general included a great expansion for the settlement of

antisemitic, loathing both the Jewish race and religion.[4]

Early life

Peter Stuyvesant was born around 1610

Berlikum
.

Career

Peter Stuyvesant's Bowery house

At the age of 20,[11] Stuyvesant went to the University of Franeker, where he studied languages and philosophy,[12] but several years later he was expelled from the school after he seduced the daughter of his landlord.[13] He was then sent to Amsterdam by his father, where Stuyvesant – now using the Latinized version of his first name, "Petrus", to indicate that he had university schooling – joined the Dutch West India Company. In 1630, the company assigned him to be their commercial agent on a small island just off of Brazil, Fernando de Noronha, and then five years later transferred him to the nearby Brazilian state of Pernambuco. In 1638, he was moved again, this time to the colony of Curaçao, the main Dutch naval base in the West Indies, where, just four years later, aged 30, he became the acting governor of that colony, as well as Aruba and Bonaire,[11] a position he held until 1644.

In April 1644, he coordinated and led an attack on the island of Saint Martin—which the Spanish had taken from the Dutch. Peter thought they had few men. When Peter raised the Dutch flag the Spanish fired. A cannonball hit Peter. They lost the battle and Peter had his lower leg amputated.

Stuyvesant returned to the Netherlands for convalescence, where his right leg was replaced with a

wooden peg. Stuyvesant was given the nicknames "Peg Leg Pete" and "Old Silver Nails" because he used a wooden stick studded with silver nails as a prosthesis.[14] The West India Company saw the loss of Stuyvesant's leg as a "Roman" sacrifice, while Stuyvesant himself saw the fact that he did not die from his injury as a sign that God was saving him to do great things.[15] A year later, in May 1645, he was selected by the company to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of the New Netherland colony, including New Amsterdam, the site of present-day New York City
.

New Netherland

Main articles: New Netherland and Fort Amsterdam
Stuyvesant's arrival in New Amsterdam

Stuyvesant had to wait for his appointment to be confirmed by the

Breda. Together, they left Amsterdam in December 1646, and, after stopping at Curaçao, arrived in New Amsterdam
by May 1647.

Kieft's administration of the colony had left the colony in terrible condition. Only a small number of villages remained after Kieft's wars, and many of their inhabitants had been driven away and returned home, leaving only 250 to 300 men able to carry arms. Kieft himself had accumulated a fortune of over 4,000 guilders during his term in office, and become an alcoholic.[15]

Certain that righting New Netherland was the work which God had saved him for, Stuyvesant told its people "I shall govern you as a father his children," and began the task of rebuilding the physical and moral state of the colony.[16]

In September 1647 he appointed the Nine Men, an advisory council composed of representatives of the colonists,[17] to help rebuild relationships with them, temper his rule with their guidance, and restore New Netherland to the kind of well-run place that the Dutch preferred.[16]

In 1648 a conflict began between him and Brant Aertzsz van Slechtenhorst, the commissary of the

Fort Orange (present-day Albany). Stuyvesant claimed he had power over Rensselaerwijck, despite special privileges granted to Kiliaen van Rensselaer in the patroonship regulations of 1629. When Van Slechtenhorst refused, Stuyvesant sent a group of soldiers to enforce his orders. The controversy that followed resulted in the founding of the new settlement, Beverwijck.[18]

Peter Stuyvesant
"Organizer of the first volunteer firemen in America", Volunteer firemen issue of 1948

In an effort to remedy the neglect on the town, previously under Kieft's administration, Stuyvesant took measures to improve the appearance and safety of the town, with numerous regulations to achieve this end that were routinely issued by his office. Building codes were established for houses and other structures, including fences in an effort to control the widespread problem of wandering livestock about the town. As the housing and other structures in New Amsterdam were built almost entirely from wood and stood very close together the possibility of a spreading fire was very great. As governor, Stuyvensant forbid the construction of wooden chimneys, and imposed a tax of a beaver skin, or its trade equivalent, on every householder to finance the cost of two hundred and fifty leather fire buckets and hooks and ladders, which he had sent from Holland. He also established a system of fire wardens and a volunteer fire watch that patrolled the streets to keep an eye on any fire, or potential fire, from nine o'clock in the evening until the morning drum-beat. As such Stuyvesant became the organizer and head of the first volunteer firemen in America[19][20]

External threats

The colony of New Netherland had severe external problems. The population was too small and contentious, and the Company provided little military support. The most serious was the economic rivalry with England regarding trade. Secondarily there were small scale military conflicts with neighboring Indian tribes, involving fights between mobile bands on the one hand, and scattered small Dutch outposts on the other. With a large area and limited population, defense was a major challenge. Stuyvesant's greatest success came in dealing with the

invaded and annexed in 1655. Relations with the English colony of Connecticut were strained, with disputes over ownership of land in the Connecticut valley, and in eastern Long island. The treaty of Hartford of 1650 was advantageous to the English, as Stuyvesant gave up claims to the Connecticut Valley while gaining only a small portion of Long island. In any case Connecticut settlers ignored the treaty and steadily poured into the Hudson Valley, where they agitated against Stuyvesant. In 1664, England moved to take over New Netherland. The Dutch colonists refused to fight, forcing Stuyvesant's surrender, demonstrating the dilemma of domestic dissatisfaction, small size, and overwhelming external pressures with inadequate military support from the Company that was fixated on profits.[21]

Expansion of the colony

Peter Stuyvesant and the Cobbler by John Whetton Ehninger
Peter Stuyvesant's deed for a part of Manhattan (now Financial District), 1654

Stuyvesant became involved in a dispute with Theophilus Eaton, the governor of English New Haven Colony, over the border of the two colonies. In September 1650, a meeting of the commissioners on boundaries took place in Hartford, Connecticut, called the Treaty of Hartford, to settle the border between New Amsterdam and the English colonies to the north and east. The border was arranged to the dissatisfaction of the Nine Men, who declared that "the governor had ceded away enough territory to found fifty colonies each fifty miles square." Stuyvesant then threatened to dissolve the council. A new plan of municipal government was arranged in the Netherlands, and the name "New Amsterdam" was officially declared on 2 February 1653. Stuyvesant made a speech for the occasion, saying that his authority would remain undiminished.[22]

Stuyvesant was then ordered to the Netherlands, but the order was soon revoked under pressure from the States of Holland and the city of Amsterdam. Stuyvesant prepared against an attack by ordering the citizens to dig a ditch from the North River to the East River and to erect a fortification.

In 1653, a convention of two deputies from each village in New Netherland demanded reforms, and Stuyvesant commanded that assembly to disperse, saying: "We derive our authority from God and the company, not from a few ignorant subjects."

In 1654, Stuyvesant signed a deed for an allotment of land 10,000 square feet (930 m2) that corresponds to the modern-day Financial District of lower Manhattan.[23] It was co-signed by land grantee and secretary of the New Netherland Council Cornelis van Ruijven (alternative spelling Ruyven).[23] The lot was given and granted to van Ruijven.[23] The deed conveys a tract of land on Manhattan island in the Sheep Pasture.[23] It was bounded by present-day Broad Street to William Street, and Beaver Street to Exchange Place.[23]

In the summer of 1655, he sailed down to the

Peach War.[24]

In 1657, the directors of the Dutch West India Company wrote to Stuyvesant to tell him that they were not going to be able to send him all the tradesmen that he requested and that he would have to purchase slaves in addition to the tradesmen he would receive.[25]

During the colonial era, New Amsterdam became both a site from which fugitives fled bondage and a destination for runaways. The colonies closest to New Netherland, Connecticut and Maryland, encouraged Dutch slaves to escape and refused to return them. In 1650, Governor Petrus Stuyvesant threatened to offer freedom to Maryland slaves unless that colony stopped sheltering runaways from the Dutch outpost.[26] However, he is also noted as having trafficked minority settlers at auction.[27]

In 1660, Stuyvesant was quoted as saying that "Nothing is of greater importance than the early instruction of youth." In 1661, New Amsterdam had one grammar school, two free elementary schools, and had licensed 28 schoolmasters.

The Castello Plan of 1660 is the only Dutch-era map of the settlement on Manhattan
New Amsterdam in 1664, the year it was taken over by the British

Religious freedom

Stuyvesant did not tolerate full religious freedom in the colony, and was strongly committed to the supremacy of the Dutch Reformed Church. In 1657 he refused Lutherans the right to organize a church. When he also issued an ordinance forbidding them from worshiping in their own homes, the directors of the Dutch West India Company, three of whom were Lutherans, told him to rescind the order and allow private gatherings of Lutherans.[28] The Company position was that more tolerance led to more trade and benefited everyone.[29]

Freedom of religion was further tested when Stuyvesant refused to allow the permanent settlement of Jewish refugees from Dutch Brazil in New Amsterdam (without passports), and join the handful of existing Jewish traders (with passports from Amsterdam). Stuyvesant attempted to have Jews "in a friendly way to depart" the colony. As he wrote to the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch West India Company in 1654, he hoped that "the deceitful race, — such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ, — be not allowed to further infect and trouble this new colony."[30] He referred to Jews as a "deceitful race" and "usurers", and was concerned that "Jewish settlers should not be granted the same liberties enjoyed by Jews in Holland, lest members of other persecuted minority groups, such as Roman Catholics, be attracted to the colony."[4]

Stuyvesant's decision was again rescinded after pressure from the directors of the company. As a result, Jewish immigrants were allowed to stay in the colony as long as their community was self-supporting. However, Stuyvesant would not allow them to build a synagogue, forcing them to worship instead in a private house.[31]

In 1657, the

United States Constitution's provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights.[35][36]

Capitulation

In 1664,

King Charles II of England ceded to his brother, the Duke of York, later King James II, a large tract of land that included all of New Netherland. This came at a period of considerable conflict between England and the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch Wars. Four English ships bearing 450 men, commanded by Richard Nicolls
, seized the Dutch colony. On 30 August 1664, George Cartwright sent the governor a letter demanding surrender. He promised "life, estate, and liberty to all who would submit to the king's authority."

Stuyvesant's Pear Tree, 1863

On 6 September 1664, Stuyvesant sent

39 Articles
, a Protestant confession, with bishops.

In 1665, Stuyvesant went to the Netherlands to report on his term as governor. On his return to the colony, he spent the remainder of his life on his farm,

Whitehall.[40]

  • Peter Stuyvesant's surrender of New Amsterdam (scale model)
    Peter Stuyvesant's surrender of New Amsterdam (scale model)

Personal life

In 1645, Stuyvesant married Judith Bayard (c. 1610–1687) of the Bayard family. Her brother, Samuel Bayard, was the husband of Stuyvesant's sister, Anna Stuyvesant. Petrus and Judith had two sons together:[41]

  • Balthasar Lazarus Stuyvesant (1647–1678), who settled in the West Indies and married Maria Lucas Raapzaat
  • Nicolaes Willem Stuyvesant (1648–1698), who first married Maria Beekman (1650–1679), daughter of Wilhelmus Beekman, and after her death, Elisabeth Slechtenhorst.

He died in August 1672 and his body was entombed in the east wall of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, which sits on the site of Stuyvesant's family chapel.[40]

Descendants

Hamilton Fish, a Governor of New York, was descended from Stuyvesant.
Main article: Stuyvesant family

The last acknowledged descendant of Peter Stuyvesant to bear his surname was Augustus van Horne Stuyvesant, Jr., who died a bachelor in 1953 at the age of 83 in his mansion at 2 East 79th Street. Rutherfurd Stuyvesant, the 19th-century New York developer, and his descendants are also descended from Peter Stuyvesant; however, Rutherford Stuyvesant's name was changed from Stuyvesant Rutherford in 1863 to satisfy the terms of the 1847 will of Peter Gerard Stuyvesant.[42][43][44]

His descendants include:

Legacy

A bust of Stuyvesant by Dutch artist Toon Dupuis which was presented by Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch Government to St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on 5 December 1915[55]

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.[56]

Stuyvesant and his family were large landowners in the northeastern portion of New Amsterdam, and the Stuyvesant name is currently associated with four places in

The Bowery". The contemporary neighborhood of Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn includes Stuyvesant Heights and retains its name. Also named after him are the hamlets of Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Falls in Columbia County, New York, where descendants of the early Dutch settlers still live and where the Dutch Reformed Church
remains an important part of the community, as well as shopping centers, yacht clubs and other buildings and facilities throughout the area where the Dutch colony once was.

The Peter Stuyvesant Monument by J. Massey Rhind situated at Bergen Square in Jersey City was dedicated in 1915 to mark the 250th anniversary of the Dutch settlement there[58][59][60]

The World War II

Liberty Ship SS Peter Stuyvesant
was named in his honor.

In popular culture

See also

References

Informational notes

  1. ^ The exact year of Stuyvesant's birth is not known with certainty. Other years which have been put forward include 1602,[6] 1610,[7][8] 1611,[9] and 1612.[10][8][9] There is no definitive or universally accepted date.

Citations

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-300-11465-2
    . p.1256
  2. ^ Historical Dictionary of Colonial America, p. 230
  3. ^ "Introduction | A Tour of New Netherland".
  4. ^ a b "Jews Permitted to Stay in New Amsterdam", Heritage: Civilization and the Jews Internet Archive: PBS.org
  5. ^
    Britannica.com
  6. ISBN 9780823957323
  7. ^ Staff (ndg) "Peter Stuyvesant" New Netherland Institute
  8. ^
    ISBN 9781545750018
  9. ^
    ISBN 9780801475160
  10. ISBN 978-1-4381-4449-8
  11. ^ a b c d Burrows & Wallace (1999), p.41
  12. ^ "Plaque On statue of Peter Stuyvesant in Philipsburg, St. Maarten". Plaque On statue of Pieter Stuyvesant in Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  13. ^ New Amsterdammers. Bill's Brownstone. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Peter Stuyvesant, 1646–1664". Jersey City: Past and Present Project. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2006.
  15. ^ a b Burrows & Wallace (1999), p.42
  16. ^ a b Burrows & Wallace (1999), pp.42–43
  17. ISBN 0-195-11634-8
    .
  18. ^ "Meuwese, Mark. Review of Venema, Janny, Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 1652–1664. H-Low-Countries, H-Net Reviews. February, 2007". February 2007.
  19. ^ Abbott, 1873, p. 202
  20. ^ Kessler, 1959, p. 67
  21. ^ Bruchey, "Stuyvesant, Peter" in Garraty, ed. Encyclopedia of American Biography (2nd ed. 1996) p. 1065.
  22. ^ Henry K. Kessler, and Eugene Rachlis, Peter Stuvesant and His New York (1959).
  23. ^ a b c d e "Peter Stuyvesant Deed For Part Of Manhattan's Financial District Near Famous Canal Built By Slave Labor, Steps Away From Wall St. & NYSE". University Archives. 18 October 2023. Archived from the original on 20 February 2024.
  24. ^ Trelease, Allan W. (1960). Indian Affairs in Colonial New York: The Seventeenth Century. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. pp. 138–148.
  25. ^ O'Callaghan, p. 349
  26. ^ "Slavery and Freedom in New York City". Longreads. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  27. ^ "The Case Against Peter Stuyvesant". New York Almanack. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  28. ^ Burrows & Wallace (1999), p.59
  29. ^ Otto, Paul, "Peter Stuyvesant." in American National Biography, volume 21, 99–100. New York: Oxford University Press. 1999.
  30. ^ Jacobson, Matthew Frye. Whiteness of a Different Color, p. 171
  31. ^ Burrows & Wallace (1999), p. 60
  32. ^ Eric Facer (22 October 1921). "The Louse on Our Bonnet". A Well Examined Life. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  33. ^ Jackson, Kenneth T. (27 December 2007). "Opinion | A Colony With a Conscience (pub. 2007)". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  34. ^ Haefeli,2016, p. 61
  35. ^ Haefeli,2016, p. 18, 169
  36. ^ Bowne Historical Society, 1953, pp. 3, 10
  37. ^ Bayles, R. M. (1887). History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York: From Its Discovery to the Present Time. L. E. Preston & Company.
  38. ISBN 0-195-11634-8
    .
  39. ^ Brown, Henry Collins (1922). Old New York. New York: Valentine Mutual Press. p. 23.
  40. ^ a b Rosenstock, Bonnie. "Dutch remember Stuyvesant in 'Year of the Hudson'" Archived 9 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine The Villager (25 November – 1 December 2009)
  41. ISBN 0-195-11634-8
    .
  42. ^ "Rutherford Stuyvesant Married in London" The New York Times (17 June 1902). Quote: "Mr. Stuyvesant's name originally was Rutherford, a buit a condition of the will of a relative, who died childless, required that he take the name Stuyvesant in order to inherit. He therefore reversed his names, and, instead of Stuyvesant Rutherford, became Rutherford Stuyvesant."
  43. ^ Gray, Christopher "Apartment Buildings, the Latest in French Ideas" Archived 13 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times (14 July 2013)
  44. ^ Tauber, Gilbert. Letter to the editor The New York Times (13 August 1995)
  45. ^ Corning (1918), p. 16.
  46. ^ "OBITUARY. | John Winthrop Chanler". The New York Times. 21 October 1877. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  47. ^ "Dr. Stuyvesant F. Morris. Physician Who Practiced for Four Decades Dies in 85th Year". The New York Times. 11 May 1928. Retrieved 15 December 2011. Dr. Stuyvesant Fish Morris, who I retired in 1913 after practicing medicine here for more than forty years, died yesterday at his residence, ...
  48. ^ Corning (1918), pp. 12–15.
  49. ^ Winthrop Family 1404–2002 Chanler's grandfather John White Chanler married Elizabeth Shirreff Winthrop, daughter of Benjamin Winthrop and Judith Stuyvesant (Peter's daughter)
  50. ^ "Mrs. Peter G. Gerry". The New York Times. 22 December 1958.
  51. ^ a b Rufus Wainwright (son of Loudon Wainwright III) interviewed about Peter Stuyvesant Archived 4 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine. NOS.
  52. ^ "John Smith Biography". tonygill.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 June 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  53. ^ John Howard Wainwright (1829–1871).Ancestry.com.
  54. ^ "School Leadership – Robert Gordon's College".
  55. ^ "Self-Guided Tour of St. Mark's Church" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  56. ^ Eleanor Bruchey, "Stuyvesant, Peter" in John A. Garraty, ed. Encyclopedia of American Biography (2nd ed. 1996) p. 1065 online
  57. ISBN 978-0-300-11465-2
    ., p.148
  58. ^ "Legends & Landmarks: Famed sculptor of the early 20th century created historically, artistically important Jersey City statue of Peter Stuyvesant". 8 February 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  59. ^ "Peter Stuyvesant statue to be restored and returned to Bergen Avenue post". 18 October 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  60. ^ "Jersey City and Hudson County contribute toward pedestal for restored Peter Stuyvesant statue". 14 July 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  61. ^ Irving, Washington. "A History of New York". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  62. ^ "4. Rip Van Winkle By Washington Irving. Matthews, Brander. 1907. The Short-Story". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  63. ISBN 978-1606995310
  64. ^ Stewart, Rex (22 November 2011). "Hudson River Model Steamboats: Hudson Day Line Model PETER STUYVESANT c.1944". Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  65. ISBN 978-0-06-117759-0
    Quote: "Marshall took me out in back of the church. They had a burial ground back there. Little cement tombstones sat on the earth and carved on the tombstones were inscriptions. Marshall walked me around and showed me the inscriptions. I always got nervous before a reading, very tense and unhappy. I almost always vomited. Then I did. I vomited on one of the graves. "You just vomited on Peter Stuyvesant," Marshall said."

Bibliography
  • Bruchey, Eleanor. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in John A. Garraty, ed. Encyclopedia of American Biography (2nd ed. 1996) p. 1065 online
  • Corning, A. Elwood (1918). Hamilton Fish. New York: The Lanmere Publishing Company.
  • Krizner, L. J., and Lisa Sita. Peter Stuyvesant: New Amsterdam and the Origins of New York (Rosen, 2000) for middle schools.
  • Merwick, Donna. Stuyvesant Bound: An Essay on Loss Across Time (U of Pennsylvania Press, 2013) 212 pp
    • Shaw Romney, Susanah. "Peter Stuyvesant: Premodern Man" Reviews in American History (2014) 42#4 pp 584–589. review of Merwick.
  • Otto, Paul. "Stuyvesant, Peter" American National Biography (1999) online, a short scholarly biography
  • Tuckerman, Bayard. Peter Stuyvesant (JA Hill, 1893) online.
  • Whitridge, Arnold. "Peter Stuyvesant: Director General of New Netherland." History Today (May 1960) 10#4 pp 324–332.

Primary sources

  • O'Callaghan, Edmund B. ed., Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York (Albany: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1854), 3:387; Elizabeth Donnan, ed., Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade to America (Washington, DC : Carnegie Institution, 1930), 3:429.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Peter Stuyvesant.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peter Stuyvesant.
Government offices
Preceded by
Director-General of
New Netherland

1647–1664 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Stuyvesant&oldid=1222128867"