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While other European powers were exploring in order to create large colonial empires and add new chunks of land, the Dutch were more careful and cautious. They were excellent merchants, and creating profitable trade locations was their priority. They knew forming and managing large colonies was not easy, so they were willing to create huge colonial areas only if they were sure it would be worth the risk.
To put it simply, the Dutch were more concerned with profit and less concerned with glory or chasing wild rumors of gold, exploring and starting colonies with wisdom and a business-like attitude. On North America, they found space between the British and French on the east coast.
True to the typical wisdom of the Dutch, they recognized an island early on that they felt would be an ideal center of trade. Today Manhattan, part of New York City, is the center of world trade. It seems the Dutch were spot on. They called it New Amsterdam after their capital back home, and in 1614 it became the first Dutch colony in the New World, attracting settlers from all over Europe.
The Dutch were later bullied by the British into giving up their North American colonies in 1664. The Dutch then focused on their other colonies in the Caribbean, South America (Suriname), South Africa, and what is now Indonesia.
A couple hundred years laters a few of them wandered to a place in the middle of the Midwest. It was a place of religious refuge and they named it Pella.
The North American Dutch colony, named New Netherlands, covered parts of modern day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, and Delaware. The crowning achievement was New Amsterdam, now Manhattan.
above: "Wall Street" was the border of the city to protect citizens from natives.
below: Ft. Amsterdam
Ft. Amsterdam is in the middle of the picture. This is the southern end of Manhattan. Brooklyn is on the top of the picture, without the Brooklyn Bridge yet, of course. The Twin Towers were later built just to the north of where the clump of trees is on the picture.
The map above shows New Amsterdam in the 17th Century. Notice the canal in the middle of the picture. The Dutch loved canals and created one along "Broad Street" which allowed small boats to sail quite a ways inland. The pictures to the top right show the canal looking south into the East River. In 1664, the British took over New Amsterdam and renamed it New York after the King's brother, the Duke of York. Sadly, they had no love for canals and decided to turn it into a dump.
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