Willem Verhulst

Willem Verhulst was from 1625 to 1626 the second director of the Dutch West India Company and general director of Nieuw Amsterdam , today's New York .

Life

Little is known about Verhulst's life. On behalf of the Dutch West India Company (WIC), he set off for America at the turn of the year 1624/25 with a convoy consisting of six ships. In the early summer of 1625 he arrived from Amsterdam - together with his future successor Peter Minuit - the American east coast. Originally with the order to acquire the land from the natives, he occupied the southern tip of the island of Manhattan without buying it . On behalf of the WIC, he ordered the fortress ( Fort Amsterdam ) and capital of the New Netherlands colony to be relocated from Governors Island to the southern tip of Manhattan Island. The Orange Boom , which arrived with a slight delay , brought more settlers along with equipment, cattle and tools, thus enabling permanent settlement on the island. In September 1626, Verhulst was relieved of his post and ordered back to Amsterdam with his wife on September 23 with the Het Wapen van Amsterdam , where they arrived on November 4, 1625. Since he initially resisted his removal and instead threatened to seek an agreement with nearby British or French colonies, he was placed under house arrest. There are contradicting statements about the reasons for his removal. The most likely causes are failures in the economic development of the colony and misappropriation of the company's funds. It is possible that disputes with settlers and his ruthless actions against the indigenous people, which contradicted the instructions of the WIC, led to his recall. Peter Minuit became his self-appointed successor. He bought the island from the natives in 1626 for 60 guilders .

Web links

World History Archives

Individual evidence

↑ See Milton M. Klein: The Empire State: A History of New York , New York 2001, p. 27.
↑ See [1] and [2] .
↑ ^a ^b See Cynthia Jean Van Zandt: Brothers among nations: The pursuit of intercultural alliances in early America 1580-1660 , Oxford 2008, p. 127.
↑ Cf. Edwin G. Burrows / Mike Wallace: Gotham: A history of New York City to 1898 , Oxford 2000, p. 21.
↑ See Paul Andrew Otto: The Dutch-Munsee encounter in America: The struggle for sovereignty in the Hudson Valley , New York 2006, pp. 81-85, 93f.
↑ See Hermann Wellenreuther: Decline and Rise: History of North America from the Beginning of Settlement to the End of the 17th Century , Münster 2004, p. 417.

personal data
SURNAME	Verhulst, Willem
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	General Manager of Nieuw Amsterdam, now New York
DATE OF BIRTH	before 1610
DATE OF DEATH	after 1626

[1] See Milton M. Klein: The Empire State: A History of New York , New York 2001, p. 27.

[2] See [1] and [2] .

[brothers-3] See Cynthia Jean Van Zandt: Brothers among nations: The pursuit of intercultural alliances in early America 1580-1660 , Oxford 2008, p. 127.

[4] Cf. Edwin G. Burrows / Mike Wallace: Gotham: A history of New York City to 1898 , Oxford 2000, p. 21.

[5] See Paul Andrew Otto: The Dutch-Munsee encounter in America: The struggle for sovereignty in the Hudson Valley , New York 2006, pp. 81-85, 93f.

[6] See Hermann Wellenreuther: Decline and Rise: History of North America from the Beginning of Settlement to the End of the 17th Century , Münster 2004, p. 417.