New Netherland was a region in America claimed by the Dutch in the early 1600’s. It included parts of what are now Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York.
In 1621, merchants in the Netherlands formed the Dutch West India Company to compete with the Spanish Empire, colonize New Netherland, and develop the region’s fur trade. Thirty families, sponsored by the trading company, began a Dutch colony at the mouth of the Hudson River in 1624. In 1625, the Dutch settlers founded New Amsterdam (now New York City) there. Peter Minuit, governor (or director-general) of New Netherland, bought Manhattan Island from indigenous (Native American) people in 1626. The Dutch set up trading posts at what are now Albany, New York; Hartford, Connecticut; and Trenton, New Jersey.
The Dutch West India Company attracted settlers from many European countries. About 20 languages were spoken in the colony, and many religions were represented. The Dutch colonists became allies of the indigenous Iroquois, and they fought other tribes and neighboring French colonists. By the 1650’s, a fierce trading rivalry had built up between the Dutch and the English. In 1664, the English sent a fleet of warships to capture New Netherland for the Duke of York. Many of the Dutch colonists refused to fight, and Governor Peter Stuyvesant was forced to surrender to the English. New Netherland became the English colony of New York.
