Summary
Willem Kieft, also Wilhelm Kieft, (September 1597 – September 27, 1647) was a Dutch merchant and the Director of New Netherland (of which New Amsterdam was the capital) from 1638 to 1647.
Willem Kieft | |
|---|---|
 Willem (Wilhelm) Kieft, reproduction of a painting | |
| 6th Director of New Netherland | |
| In office 1638–1647 | |
| Preceded by | Wouter van Twiller |
| Succeeded by | Peter Stuyvesant |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 1597 Amsterdam |
| Died | September 27, 1647 (aged 49–50) Princess Amelia, near Swansea, Wales |
| Signature |  |
Life and career edit
Willem Kieft was appointed to the rank of director by the Dutch West India Company in 1638.[1] He formed the council of twelve men, the first representative body in New Netherland, but ignored its advice.[2]
He tried to tax, and then drive out, local Native Americans.[1] He ordered attacks on Pavonia and Corlears Hook on February 25, 1643, which erupted into a horrific massacre (129 Dutch soldiers killed 120 Indians, including women and children). The Dutch local citizen advisory group had been specifically against such a raid, and were aghast when they heard the details. This was followed by retaliations resulting in what would become known as Kieft's War (1643–1645). The war took a huge toll on both sides, and Dutch West India Company Board of Directors fired him in 1647. He was replaced with Peter Stuyvesant.[1]
He died on September 27, 1647, in the Princess Amelia shipwreck near Swansea, Wales, en route to Amsterdam to defend himself, along with many of his opponents, including the Rev. Everardus Bogardus.[3] His archive was also lost, so his exact role cannot be established apart from what his opponents wrote of him. He is depicted in the Gods of Manhattan series by Scott Mebus.[4][5]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b c "Journal of New Netherland 1647. Written in the Years 1641, 1642, 1643, 1644, 1645, and 1646". World Digital Library. 1641–1647. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- ^ "Willem Kieft". www.newnetherlandinstitute.org.
- ^ Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America. First Edition. New York City: Vintage Books (a Division of Random House, 2004. ISBN 1-4000-7867-9
- ^ Flick, Alexander Clarence (1935). "History of the State of New York, Volumes 1–10". New York State Historical Association. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
- ^ Giersbach., Walter (August 26, 2006). "Governor Kieft's Personal War". militaryhistoryonline.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023.
Further reading edit
- William Elliot Griffis The Story of New Netherland. The Dutch In America. (Chapter IX. Cambridge: The Riverside Press. 1909)
- Allen Johnson, Ed. Dutch and English on the Hudson (Chapter IV. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1919)
- Jaap Jacobs (2005), New Netherland: A Dutch Colony in Seventeenth-Century America. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 90-04-12906-5.
- Journal of New Netherland 1647. Written in the Years 1641, 1642, 1643, 1644, 1645, and 1646. 1641–1647.