Peter Minuit

Born around fifteen-eighty in Wesel, Germany Peter Minuit was a man of many talents and

accomplished many things in his life that are often overlooked. In his early life, Peter was a

deacon at his local church, records indicate that he was a diamond cutter, and a trade broker

among other things. Toward the end of his life, he worked for the Dutch West India Company

and was the director of New Netherland; he is also credited with establishing the colony of New

Sweden for the Swedish government. Eventually, he died in a hurricane around sixteen-thirty-

eight at an estimated age of fifty-eight.

It’s to be noted that Minuit was French or Walloon (an area of Belgium that speaks French) in

origin. His Protestant family more than likely fled their homeland to dodge religious conflicts

with Spanish Catholics. His religious upbringing led him to be a church deacon and a faithful

man. After his father’s death in sixteen-nine Peter had to run and manage his household and his

father’s business. During the Spanish occupation of sixteen-fourteen throughout sixteen-

nineteen, he was noted to be quite generous and assisted the poor. This gave him quite a good

reputation throughout Wesel. Peter married Gertrude Raedts, the youngest child of Kleve’s

Burgermeister, at the Willibordi Dutch Reformed Church in Wesel on the twentieth of August in

sixteen-thirteen. It is believed that Gertrude’s wealthy background is what helped Peter establish

himself as a trade broker. As a trade broker, his livelihood depends heavily on the market and

economic conditions so when in sixteen-twenty-four when Wesel’s economy started to decline

he left for Holland. This led him to join Dutch West India Company (c. mid-sixteen-twenties)

where Peter would leave his mark on the world. He was sent to New Netherlands to search for

profitable trade goods other than the furs and pelts. Within a year was appointed the director of

New Netherland, arriving in sixteen-twenty six he started trading and managing the colony. Most
notably Minuit bought the island of Manhattan from Native Americans for what was then

trinkets worth up to twenty-four dollars, or 60 guilders. He also had a hand in acquiring most of

the other isles that make modern-day New York all for almost minimal value. Under his

leadership, the colony saw great market growth, and the population grew considerably. Despite

the success of the colony, the Dutch West India Company removed him from the position and he

returned to live in Emmerich. It was here that he worked to create the colony of New Sweden.

However, it was during this enterprise that the ship he was on was lost in a hurricane causing his

death and the loss of large amounts of trade goods, both of which eventually caused the failure of

the colony in 1655 when it was conquered by the Dutch.

Bibliography

Peter Minuit - Biography. https://www.biography.com/political-figure/peter-minuit.

“Gertrude Raedts.” WikiTree, 29 Oct. 2021, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Raedts-1.

“Peter Minuit.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-Minuit.