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Peter Minuit

Type Figure Region Holy Roman Empire Time c. 1580–1638 Also known as Peter Minuit、Pieter Minuit

Dutch colonial official who bought Manhattan from the Lenape for about 60 guilders in 1626, founding New Amsterdam, predecessor of New York City.

Timeline

  1. c. 1580–1624Wesel · Duchy of ClevesBorn in the Rhineland region, he engaged in trade in the 1610s and joined the Dutch West India Company, accumulating experience in colonial administration.
  2. 1625–1633New Amsterdam · New NetherlandTook office as the first governor of New Netherland in 1625; in 1626 he organized the purchase of Manhattan Island from the indigenous people and built a settlement, laying the foundation of New Amsterdam.
  3. 1633–1638Saint Christopher Island · Lesser AntillesAfter being recalled in 1633, he was hired in 1638 to establish the New Sweden colony on the Delaware River; that August he was caught in a hurricane in the Caribbean Sea and drowned when his ship sank.

Sources