Stuyvesant, << STY vih suhnt, >> Peter (1610?-1672), was the last Dutch governor of New Netherland. This area included land in present-day New York and several nearby states (see New Netherland ).
Stuyvesant was born at Scherpenzeel, near Heerenveen, the Netherlands. Around 1632, he entered the service of the Dutch West India Company. By 1643, its directors had appointed him governor of the Caribbean islands of Curacao, Aruba, and Bonaire. The next year, he lost a leg while taking part in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Spanish island of St. Martin.
In 1646, Stuyvesant became director-general of all Dutch territory in the Caribbean and North America. In 1647, he arrived in New Amsterdam (now New York City) to take charge of New Netherland. In New Netherland, Stuyvesant had to deal with disorder in the colony’s government, boundary disputes with other European colonies, and conflicts with a number of local Indian tribes. He soon negotiated peace treaties with several Indian groups. In 1650, he established the colony’s eastern border by agreeing to give New England colonists much disputed land. But Stuyvesant protected all land under actual Dutch control from further English expansion. In 1655, he captured New Sweden, including lands in what are now New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. He named the region New Amstel and made it a part of New Netherland.
Stuyvesant governed with absolute power. His methods were often effective, but they caused tension between him and the colonists. In 1664, an English fleet ordered the surrender of New Amsterdam. The colonists refused to support Stuyvesant, and he was forced to give in. He sailed to Holland in disgrace, but he returned to New York after a few years and settled on his bouwerij (farm), part of which later became the Bowery of New York City. Stuyvesant died there and lies buried on the site of St. Mark’s Church.
