Peter Stuyvesant

Petrus Stuyvesant (born 1612, in Peperga (Friesland), died 1672) served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was turned over to the English in 1664. He was a major figure in the early history of New York City.

Related Topics:
1612 - Peperga (Friesland) - 1672 - Dutch - Director-General - Colony - New Netherland - 1647 - 1664 - History of New York City

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Stuyvesant's accomplishment as director-general included a great expansion for the settlement of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York) beyond the southern tip of Manhattan. Among the projects built by Stuyvesant's administration were the protective wall on Wall Street, the canal which became Broad Street, and Broadway.

Related Topics:
New Amsterdam - New York - Manhattan - Wall Street - Broadway

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Stuyvesant and his family were large land owners in the northeastern portion of New Amsterdam, and the Stuyvesant name is currently associated with the Stuyvesant Town housing complex and Stuyvesant High School (where he is fondly known as "Pegleg Pete" and the football team is called the Peglegs in his honor), among other locations. This farm, called the "Bouwerie" (the seventeenth-century Dutch word for farm, which was also used for other farms in New Netherland) was the source for the name of the Manhattan street Bowery, and the chapel facing Bouwerie's long approach road (now Stuyvesant Street) developed into St Mark's in the Bowery. Stuyvesant's grand official residence at the very tip of Manhattan was renamed "Whitehall" by the English and survives in another New York street name, Whitehall Street.

Related Topics:
Stuyvesant Town - Stuyvesant High School - Bowery - Stuyvesant Street - St Mark's in the Bowery - Whitehall - Street name

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As director-general, Stuyvesant and his council took several measures concerning religion in New Netherland. Convinced that religious plurality would endanger the stability of the young colonial society, director general and council sought to bolster the position of the Dutch Reformed Church by trying to restrict freedom of worship of several groups among the colonists, such as Jews, Lutherans, and Quakers. The directors of the West India Company of Amsterdam, Stuyvesant's superiors, overruled him, and mitigated some of the harsh measures that Director General and Council had taken. It is with great irony that in 1904 Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, which was at the time of its founding a predominantly Jewish school for boys, was named after him.

Related Topics:
Dutch Reformed Church - Jews - Lutherans - Quakers - Stuyvesant High School - Manhattan - Jewish

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Prior to his appointment as director-general, Stuyvesant served as a director for the Dutch West India Company in charge of the so-called 'abc islands' of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. He lost his leg in a battle with the Spanish over the island of Sint Maarten and wore a pegleg for most of his adult life, leading the Native Americans to dub him "Father Wooden Leg".

Related Topics:
Dutch West India Company - Aruba - Bonaire - Curaçao - Sint Maarten - Pegleg

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Stuyvesant is credited with introducing tea to the United States.

Related Topics:
Tea - United States

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