Adriaen block

Map of Block's 1614 sea voyage depicting Long Island as an island for the first time.

Adriaen Block (* 1567 ; † 1627 ) was a Dutch fur trader and navigator who explored the coastal areas and river valleys between what is now New Jersey and Massachusetts on four voyages that he made between 1611 and 1614 . He followed the route of Henry Hudson's expedition . He is known to have early trade contacts with the Indians. In addition, many details of the mid-Atlantic region are shown for the first time in the map that he made based on his fourth voyage, as well as the name Nieuw Nederland . He is also considered to be the first European to travel the Long Island Sound and the Connecticut River and to discover that Manhattan and Long Island are islands.

Blocks expeditions

Early sea voyages (1611-1612)

Upon Hudson's first contact with the Indians in the Hudson Valley in 1609, Dutch traders in Amsterdam decided that the area was worth exploring. They believed the area could be a possible source for the beaver fur trade . This was a lucrative business in Europe at the time.

In the following year 1610 a ship from Monnikendam under Captain Symen Lambertsz Mau was lost on the Hudson River. Another year later, a group of traders hired Block and another captain named Hendrick Christiaensen to return to the area Hudson had explored. From this trip they brought furs and two sons of a chief back to Europe. The prospect of successful trade prompted the States General , the Parliament of the Dutch Republic, to issue a declaration according to which every discoverer of new countries, ports and crossings would receive an exclusive license for four sea voyages to undertake within the next three years to the newly discovered areas . This license was conditional on the applicant submitting a detailed report within fourteen days of his return.

Expedition of 1614

In 1613 he made his fourth voyage in the lower Hudson on the ship Tyger . He was accompanied by several other ships that had merchandise on board. While the Tyger was at anchor in southern Manhattan, she was destroyed by fire as a result of an accident. During the winter, with the help of Indians from the Lenni Lenape tribe, he and his crew built a forty-two-foot ship weighing sixteen tons, the Onrust . This means turmoil or restlessness. With this ship he explored the East River and became the first known European to sail the Hellegat (today: Hell Gate ) and advance into the Long Island Sound. On his voyage along Long Island Sound, he went up the Housatonic River . He named it Red Hills River . He also drove up the Connecticut River and came at least as far as what is now Hartford , 60 miles upstream. Leaving the Long Island Sound behind, he mapped Block Island , which is named after him, and the Bay of Narragansett. There he possibly named an island as "Roode Eylandt", which is now anglicised as Rhode Island . The name could be derived from the red color of the soil, as roode is Dutch for red. At Cape Cod finally met with one of the other expedition ships and returned to Europe with this, leaving the Onrust behind.

Compagnie van Nieuwnederlant (New Netherlands Company)

Upon his return, Block provided a map of his voyage along with all the information known to him at the time. This Block map was the first to designate the area between Virginia in England and Canada in France as the "Nieuw Nederland". It was also the first to depict Long Island as an island.

On March 27, 1614, Block, Christiaensen, and a group of twelve merchants submitted a motion to the States General to obtain exclusive trading rights for the explored area. The company formed by them called Compagnie van Nieuwnederlant (New Netherlands Company) were granted exclusive rights for three years to trade between the 40th and 45th parallel.

See also

• Dutch colonies

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Early European Exploration: Adriaen Block ( Memento from March 16, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) ( Eng. )
2. ↑ The Atlantic World: Dutch Place Names ( Engl. )
3. ↑ The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut - 1614 Adriaen Block ( Engl. )