New Jersey - the invasion continues

New Jersey - the invasion continues

Early in the game, the Dutch recognised the huge potential that lay in the New World: an endless source of luxurious furs; vital timber supplies at a time when Europe needed wood for fighting wars, shipbuilding, and housing; and a key geographical position for the route to the fabulous Orient and its riches.

Although the Dutch were not a 'colonising' nation like the English, the Spanish and the French, they nevertheless saw the advantage in having a 'presence' in the Americas. To those ends the Dutch West India Company settled their 'employees' in strategic areas around the eastern coastline so as to command the best vantage points. With the island of Manhattan under their flag, they gained a deep, natural harbour in New York Bay, the East and Hudson Rivers afforded ease of transport to the innermost reaches of the surrounding wilderness, as well as being the means by which the natives brought along and sold their perfectly trapped pelts, Pavonia (New Jersey) forests supported all manner of wildlife, soil was rich enough to grow crops and the indigenous natives had been mainly supportive.

For a while the Dutch sat happily enough in New Netherland, the vast expanse of territory stretching from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod, with their Company hauling in profits hand over fist. But this wasn't to last. Their grip on the southern area of their territory was compromised by the destruction of Zwaanendael, a patroonship belonging to Samuel Blommaert and Samuel Godijn by local natives in 1631. Apart from Fort Nassau and its small colony, settlement along the Zuyd (Delaware) River was limited, therefore when Peter Minuit - the man who had been instrumental in purchasing Manhattan Island for the Dutch and was later fired by them- obtained a commission from the Swedish Queen to sail to America. Minuit knew of the Dutch achilles heel and captained his ship, Kalmar Nyckel, accompanied by the Fogel Grip, up the Zuyd River to a spot on the Minquas Kill tributary. He established the colony of Fort Christina, named for the Swedish sovereign, on the southern banks of Godyn's Bay (Delaware Bay), named for Samuel Godijn of Zwaanendael.

For the next 17 years the Dutch and the Swedish were at each other's throats, vying for land and its rich commodities. Pieter Stuyvesant would eventually end up taking the Fort and claim the surrounding territory for the Dutch in 1655.

Before leaving to settle in the Americas, the prospective Swedish colonists had had the presence of mind to commandeer Finnish woodsmen to accompany them to the New World. In addition to the farming methods the Finns employed to enrich their soil for crops - cutting down forest and burning the timber for nutrients, they had a unique method of cabin-building, which prevails to this day as the iconic American log-cabin.

Next time the English make their move ...