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.VanTwiller saw to the construction of New Amsterdam s firstchurch, and attempted, unsuccessfully, to seal off the borderbetween New Netherland and the rapidly expanding British LENAPE, DUTCH, BRITISH, AMERICAN 23colonies to the north by establishing a trading post on the Con-necticut River.Under van Twiller New Amsterdam began tospread across the East River into present-day Brooklyn, pri-marily as a result of his eagerness to snatch up land by takingadvantage of the dubious patroonship program.A well-con-nected drinker and schemer, van Twiller was replaced in 1638by Willem Kieft, another well-connected drinker and schemer,whose advantages over van Twiller he was older, wrote his let-ters in Latin, was an accomplished water-colorist did little tohelp him improve on van Twiller s performance in office.The 400 or so inhabitants of New Amsterdam that Kieftattempted to govern comprised an unruly band of artisans, sol-diers, and speculators from a remarkable array of backgrounds.Just over half of the inhabitants were Dutch; among the restwere English, Swedish, Danish, German, and Irish settlers, aswell as a number of African slaves.There were nearly 100 build-ings in the town, a fourth of which were taverns and liquorstores.Kieft complained in his reports about the mischief thesettlers taste for booze promoted, but his scruples didn t rundeep enough to deter him from setting up a distillery on StatenIsland, the first in New Netherland.The garrison at Fort Ams-terdam kept the bars well patronized.Their reputation fordrinking, fighting, stealing, and engaging the services of prosti-tutes speaks for the carnivalesque atmosphere that must haveprevailed over the city.Kieft s first moves in office reflect theproblems he must have encountered: he made new rules againstadultery, mutiny, harboring fugitives from neighboringcolonies, and stopping work early, among others.The looseningof company control over purchasing land and trading withIndians allowed the city to grow under Kieft.In the 1630s and1640s settlers set up farms on western Long Island, north of thetown in present-day Harlem and across the Hudson in what isnow Jersey City.But Kieft proved inept at maintaining friendly relations withthe Indians, from whom he repeatedly attempted to exacttribute and on whom he tried to bring a heavy-handed justice. 24 NEW YORKThe result was a full-fledged war replete with massacres andtorture on both sides.One particularly horrific exchange hadits origins in the Wiechquaesgeck tribe s refusal to hand overthe murderer of a Dutch settler.The tribe was later attackedby members of the Mahican tribe and, forced to seek Dutchprotection, made camp near New Amsterdam.Kieft tookadvantage of their proximity and ordered a surprise attack abrutal action that culminated with a public display of over 80Indians heads in New Amsterdam and a celebratory speechfrom the director himself.Local tribes responded by bandingtogether and attacking outlying farmsteads, killing whole fam-ilies and burning up every trace of habitation.The West IndiaCompany decided to remove Kieft from office in 1645, butmassive damages had already been done, leaving the colony inshambles.PETER STUYVESANTHis replacement was Peter Stuyvesant, who, still in his 30s,was already a peg-legged company hero with a catalogue ofunimpeachable credentials.Educated at the University ofFraneker, he had been a company agent since 1630, when hewas put in charge of Noronha, an island off the coast of Brazil.Subsequently he was made governor of Curacao, Aruba, andBonaire in the Caribbean, and led company forces in layingsiege to the Spanish at St.Martin, during which he sustainedthe injury (the work of a Spanish cannonball) that necessitatedhis wooden leg.He arrived to find the colony little more thanan outpost, with most of the settlers having withdrawn in fearof Indian attacks to the area surrounding what remained of FortAmsterdam, which Stuyvesant compared to a molehill overrun by men and livestock
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