Manhattan purchase
The Manhattan Purchase refers to the transaction in which Peter Minuit, the first governor of New Netherland, acquired Manhattan Island from the Canarsee Indians in the summer of 1626. Minuit purchased the island for sixty guilders, a sum that was viewed by the Canarsees as fair compensation, given their other available lands. This event occurred within the broader context of European colonization efforts in North America, which were often driven by economic ambitions, particularly in the fur trade.
The Dutch East India Company, which Minuit represented, had a charter that allowed land acquisition only if it was voluntarily relinquished by the Indigenous peoples, highlighting a significant cultural disconnect regarding land ownership concepts. While the Dutch aimed to maintain peaceful relations and facilitate trade with Native Americans, the complexities of land rights and ownership led to tensions. The purchase is historically significant as it marks one of the earliest European land acquisitions from Indigenous peoples in the region. However, the subsequent realization that the Canarsees did not have definitive ownership of the land complicates the narrative of the transaction. Overall, the Manhattan Purchase serves as a foundational episode in the history of New York City and reflects early interactions between European settlers and Native American tribes.
Manhattan purchase
Date: 1626
Place: Manhattan Island
Tribes affected: Canarsee, Manhattan
Significance: Peter Minuit’s purchase of Manhattan Island from the Indians for sixty guilders was the first significant land purchase by the Dutch in the New World
Henry Hudson, representing the Dutch East India Company, entered New York Bay in September, 1609. Henry Hudson explored the river he found there and claimed the surrounding land for the United Netherlands.
New Netherland was founded in 1615 by the United New Netherland Company and originally stretched from Eastport, Maine, to Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. It was established to further an expanding European economy, and its main vehicle was the fur trade. New Netherland was first settled in 1624. In the summer of 1626, Peter Minuit began a six-year term as the first director-general or governor. New Amsterdam became the central city. Minuit established the newest emigrants at the lower end of Manhattan Island. He constructed a fort at the present location of the Battery for protection from the American Indians and from other traders and explorers.
From the very beginning, relations between the Dutch and American Indians were given high priority. Minuit was empowered to make treaties and alliances with the Indians that would be advantageous to the company. He was to maintain peaceful relations with the Indians and to treat them fairly. This policy was not developed from respect or love for the American Indians; rather, it was seen as the most effective way to further company interests.
The most sensitive issue involved how to take the Indians’ land from them. The company had originally viewed commerce rather than colonization as its main purpose. Therefore its charter never gave it any original title to land. Colonization began to assume greater importance, however, and it became apparent that ownership of the land would further the economic pursuits of the company. The charter grant stipulated that the company could acquire land only if the Indians relinquished their ownership of it. The instructions to Minuit, and to all subsequent governors until the end of Dutch rule, was that the relinquishing of land had to be voluntary and not obtained through fraudulent or dishonest means. (The delineators of this policy were probably legitimately unaware that Europeans and American Indians had quite different understandings of land “ownership.”)
The first significant land purchase was made by Peter Minuit. In the summer of 1626 he purchased all of Manhattan Island, which abounded in forests, fruits, and animals, from the Canarsee Indians for sixty guilders. The Canarsees had other lands that suited their purposes equally well, and they considered the selling price to be fair recompense. It was later discovered that the Canarsees had no definitive claim to the land, and payments had to be made to the Manhattans, who claimed hunting rights to the island. Peter Minuit later established a Swedish colony near New Netherland and Fort Christina (at present-day Trenton, New Jersey) as a Swedish trading post.