A popular history of the United States : from the first discovery of the western hemisphere by the Northmen, to the end of the first century of the union of the states ; preceded by a sketch of the prehistoric period and the age of the mound builders . n an instant. At a dinner at the house of Jansen Dam, one of theTwelve, he and two others, by previous arrangement, presented to thedirector a petition purporting to come from the community at large,in which they asked that active hostilities should be begun against thenatives. Let us attack them, said they ; and the defenceless con- 454 PROGRES
A popular history of the United States : from the first discovery of the western hemisphere by the Northmen, to the end of the first century of the union of the states ; preceded by a sketch of the prehistoric period and the age of the mound builders . n an instant. At a dinner at the house of Jansen Dam, one of theTwelve, he and two others, by previous arrangement, presented to thedirector a petition purporting to come from the community at large,in which they asked that active hostilities should be begun against thenatives. Let us attack them, said they ; and the defenceless con- 454 PROGRESS OF DUTCH COLONIZATION. [Chap. XVII. dition of the Indians was urged as an argument for a sudden andmerciless onslaught. Kieft acted at once on this pretended popular approval of his owndetermination. In vain did De Vries, dining with him two daysafter, point out the folly of such a course. Consider, sir, he said, what good it will do — knowing that we lost our settlements by mereCounsel of j^^^g^i^g with the Indians at Swaanendael in the Hoerene vnes. Creek, in 1630, when thirty-two of our men were murdered ;and now lately, in 1640, at Staaten Island, where my people weremurdered, occasioned by your petty contrivances of killing the Indians. Dinner at Van Danns. of Raritan, and mangling the body of their chief for mere bagatelle.^But the director had determined, as he said, to make these savageswipe their chops. He knew ns well as De Vries — who was presi-dent of the Board of Twelve, when it had any legal existence, — thatthe action at Dams house was a transparent fraud which could deceivenobody short of Holland. He was not influenced in the least by thewise counsel of De Vries. Across the river, at Pavonia, the frightened Indians hadmade their chief camp, many hundreds of them collectingthere with the Hackensacks, who numbered perhaps a thou-sand. Upon this encampment Kieft had resolved to make his first 1 De Vries, N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll, New Series, vol. i., pp. 268,
Size: 1827px × 1367px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1876
