Expansion of New Amsterdam

Timeline

1. 1632–1637New Amsterdam · New NetherlandBetween 1632 and 1637 the Dutch West India Company expanded Fort Amsterdam at the southern tip of Manhattan, repaired the harbor docks, and attracted settlers from the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, and elsewhere. The colony's economy rested on the fur trade, exchanging pelts with inland Indigenous peoples via the Hudson River, and New Amsterdam gradually grew into a multiethnic trading port town.
2. 1638–1640New Amsterdam · New NetherlandIn 1638 William Kieft took office as governor of New Netherland, pursuing more active land grants and immigrant recruitment while attempting to levy tribute taxes on surrounding Indigenous peoples, sowing the seeds of the conflict later known as Kieft's War (1643-1645). By 1640 New Amsterdam had roughly 400 to 500 residents, with public buildings and street layouts taking early shape.