PETER STUYVESANT, the LAST of the DUTCH GOVERNORS
It was a gay day for the little colony of New Amsterdam, that May
morning in the year 1647, when a one-legged man landed at the lower part
of the island, and stumped his way up the path that led to the fort. Not
only everyone that lived in the town gathered there, but everyone on the
island, and many from more distant parts. There were Indians, too, who
walked sedately, their quiet serenity in strange contrast to the
colonists, who yelled and shouted for joy, and clapped their hands at
every salute from the guns. And when the fort was reached (it was only
a few steps from the river-bank) the man with the wooden leg turned to
those who followed him. The guns were silent, and the people stood
still.
"I shall govern you," said he, "as a father does his children."
Then there were more shouts, and more booming of cannon, and the name of
Peter Stuyvesant was on every tongue. For the man with a wooden leg was
Peter Stuyvesant, the new Governor appointed by the West India Company,
and not one of those who shouted that day had an idea that he was to be
the last of the Dutch governors.
Stuyvesant had long been in the employ of the West India Company, and
his leg had been shot off in a battle while he was in their service.
He was a stern man, with a bad temper, and seemed to have made it a
point in life never to yield to anyone in anything. He ruled in the way
he thought best, and he let it always be understood that he did not care
much for the advice of others. He did what he could for the people to
make their life as happy as possible. Of course he had orders from the
West India Company that he was bound to obey, and these orders did not
always please the people. But his rule was just, and he was the most
satisfactory of all the Dutch governors.
Stuyvesant's first work was to put the city in better condition. He did
this by having the vacant lots about the fort either built upon or
cleared. The hog-pens which had been in front of the houses were taken
away. All the fences were put in repair, and where weeds had grown rank,
they were replaced by pretty gardens. These, and a great many other
things he did, until the town took on quite a new air.
Up to this time the people had been ruled by governors who did all
things just as they saw fit. They became tired of this, and complained
so much that the Company in Holland decided to make a change. So after
Stuyvesant had been Governor for a while, some other officers were
appointed to help him. There was one officer called a schout, very
much the same as a mayor is in these days. Two others were called
burgomasters, and five others were called schepens. The burgomasters
and the schepens presided over the trials, in the stone tavern which
Governor Kieft had built at Coenties Slip, and which had now become
the Stadt Huys or City Hall.
[Illustration: The Old Stadt Huys of New Amsterdam.]
With the appointment of these officers, New Amsterdam became a city.
But as Governor Stuyvesant named the officers and as he plainly told
them that they must not interfere with his orders, and as he still had
his own way, regardless of what the officers said and did, the colony
was little different as a city from what it had been before.
In the fall of this year, 1652, war was declared between England and
Holland. Stuyvesant, fearing that the English in New England, which
was on the borders of New Netherland, would attack the city, set about
fortifying it. The fence that Governor Kieft had built so that the
cattle could not wander away was changed into a wall that extended from
river to river. The fort was repaired, and a strong body of citizens
mounted guard by day and by night. Everything was prepared for an
attack. But the enemy did not come after all.
Matters went along quietly enough for three years, until some Swedes
on the Delaware River began to build houses on Dutch lands. Then
Stuyvesant, with 160 men, in seven ships, sailed around to the Delaware
River, and conquered the Swedes.
It was quite ten years since the Indian war, and Stuyvesant, by his
kindness, had made friends of the savages, and had come to be called
their "great friend," But soon after he left to make war on the Swedes,
one of the colonists killed an Indian. In a few days there was an
uprising of Indian tribes. In New Jersey and on Staten Island they
murdered colonists, burned houses, and laid farms waste. Stuyvesant
hurriedly returned. He made peace with the Indians, treating them
kindly, as though there had never been any trouble. He gave them
presents, and used such gentle measures that the war which had
threatened to be so serious ended abruptly.
In the calmer days that followed, attention was given to improvements
in the city. By this time there were a thousand persons on the island.
Streets were nicely laid out, and the city of New Amsterdam grew, day
by day. It was a tiny place still, however, for it all lay below the
present Wall Street. Some distance beyond the city wall was a fenced-in
pasture for cattle, which was later to become The Common, and still
later City Hall Park. Farther on there was a wide lake, so deep that
it was thought to be bottomless. On its banks were a vast heap of
oyster-shells, where an Indian village had been. This place was called
Kalch-hook, or Shell-point. Afterward it was shortened to The Kalch, and
in time was called The Collect. The lake was called Collect Lake. There
is no trace of it to-day, for it was filled in, and the Tombs Prison now
stands upon the spot.
The entire province was in a flourishing condition, but danger was near.
The English had long looked with covetous eye upon the possessions of
the Dutch in America. The English, it must be remembered, claimed not
only New Netherland, but a great part of the American continent, on the
plea that the Cabots had discovered it.
After all this long time, when the Cabots had been forgotten by most
persons, in the year 1664, Charles II. decided that the English claim
was just, and gave New Netherland to his brother James, Duke of York.
The Duke of York at once sent four ships filled with soldiers to take
possession of his property.
[Illustration: Stuyvesant Leaving Fort Amsterdam.]
When the English war-ships sailed up the bay, the town was
ill-protected, and the people had no desire to resist, for Stuyvesant
and the West India Company had been most strict, and they hoped to be
more free under English rule. Stuyvesant, with scarcely a supporter,
stood firm and unyielding. He had no thought of submitting to superior
force. "I would rather be carried out dead," he exclaimed. But when at
length he realized that he was absolutely alone, and that there were no
means of defence for the city, he surrendered.
On this same morning of September 8, 1664, Stuyvesant, with his head
bowed sadly, marched at the head of his soldiers out of Fort Amsterdam,
with flags flying and drums beating. And the English soldiers, who had
landed, and were waiting a little way off, entered the fort with _their_
flags flying and _their_ drums beating.
So the city of New Amsterdam became the city of New York, and the
province of New Netherland became the province of New York, and Fort
Amsterdam became Fort James--all this in honor of James, Duke of York,
who now came into possession.
Stuyvesant went to Holland to explain why he had surrendered New
Netherland. But he came back again, and years after he died in the
little Bouwerie Village which he had built. In St. Mark's Church to this
day may be seen a tablet which tells that the body of the last Dutch
Governor lies buried there.
[Illustration]