Dutch+Purchase+of+Manhattan+from+the+Indians

Dutch Purchase of Manhattan from the Indians  The Hague   Manhattan was purchased by the Dutch around May 1626 from the Canarsees tribe of Native Americans. The trade was conducted by a director of the New Netherland colony, Peter Minuit. The purchase was made so that the Dutch could colonize in the new lands of America. Manhattan then became one of the major cities of New Netherland. The trade was done fairly easily with the native people as they were more than happy to accept valuable foreign merchandise including many useful tools. Even though they were still unfamiliar with the European notions and definitions of ownership rights including that water, air and land could be traded, the natives were more than happy to accept the valuable merchandise in exchange for an island which was actually mostly controlled by another tribe, the Weckquaesgeek. They accepted the goods from Minuit which were worth about 60 Dutch guilders (about 24 U.S. dollars at the time). Today Manhattan is apart of the American city of New York City. The British owned and colonized the land after New Netherland faded. Now it is a part of the United States’ largest city. The purchase of this new land was a symbol of new hope and advancement to becoming a world power of Europe for the Netherlands. Sadly, New Netherlands did not last and the British took much of the new land that became the present day United States. Any documents about the event of purchase is found in the Rijksarchief (the Dutch National Archives) in the Hague. This includes a letter that references the sale of Manhattan written by the Dutch merchant Pieter Schagen, dated November 5 1626.