Coming to Terms with Early New Netherland - New York History: 1610-1614

While most histories of New Netherland begin with Henry Hudson’s 1609 voyage and skip to the founding of New Amsterdam in 1624, it’s the period between that holds the real fires of creation—not simply for the Dutch colony but all that followed in New York and the United States.

In the years 1613-1614 traders Adrian Block, Hendrick Christiaensen and Jacob Eelkens forged an agreement with people of the First Nations that established the first world trade center in the New World and altered the course of history. This is the epic story of what these forgotten founding fathers accomplished, from first contact to a decade-long peace built from a hard won mutual understanding between the Dutch, the Mohicans, and the Mohawk.