Historical Organization
Lenape nations
Lenape nations
Details
Organization Timeline
Stuyvesant arrives as director-general
📅 11 May 1647Pieter Stuyvesant arrived to govern New Netherland. Dutch rule was layered over Lenape and other Indigenous homelands and relied on unequal trade, land pressure, and military power. The colony also...
New Sweden captures Fort Casimir
📅 21 May 1654Swedish forces captured the Dutch fort and renamed it Fort Trefaldighet. The conflict unfolded on Indigenous land where European powers competed for river access, trade, and settlement, often treating...
Stuyvesant’s expedition sails against New Sweden
📅 5 September 1655A Dutch expedition under Stuyvesant departed to retake the Swedish colony on the Delaware. The campaign sought to consolidate Dutch claims against a European rival, while the river and its surrounding...
Dutch forces capture the Swedish stronghold
📅 11 September 1655Dutch troops captured Fort Christina, which they renamed Fort Altena, and brought New Sweden under Dutch control. This transfer between European empires furthered colonial settlement on Indigenous...
Indigenous attack known as the Peach War reaches New Amsterdam
📅 15 September 1655An Indigenous force attacked New Amsterdam in an episode later called the Peach War. The label and surviving accounts reflect colonial perspectives; the violence occurred amid Dutch encroachment and...
Dutch authorities surrender New Netherland to England
📅 8 September 1664Dutch officials surrendered New Netherland to an English fleet, and New Amsterdam became New York. The transfer changed the European ruler but left Indigenous land claims and African enslavement...
Dutch forces recapture New York
📅 9 August 1673During the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Dutch forces retook New York and renamed it New Orange. The brief restoration of Dutch rule was another imperial transfer imposed over Indigenous homelands; it did...
New Netherland is formally returned to England
📅 10 November 1674Dutch authorities formally returned New Netherland to England under the postwar settlement. The transfer ended Dutch political rule in the colony but preserved European settler claims and systems of...