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One of the most persistent myths in American history is that European explorers really got one over on the Native Americans by purchasing the entire island of Manhattan—where property has...
In 1626, the story goes, Indigenous inhabitants sold off the entire island of Manhattan to the Dutch for a tiny sum: just $24 worth of beads and "trinkets."
In 1626, Peter Minuit’s acquisition of Manhattan for trade goods valued at 60 guilders—equivalent to roughly $1,150 today—has become one of the most enduring and debated legends in New York City’s history.
In May of 1626, Dutch West India Company rep Peter Minuit met with local Lenape Native Americans to purchase the rights to the island of Manhattan for the value of 60 guilders.
Minuit is generally credited with orchestrating the purchase of Manhattan Island for the Dutch West India Company from representatives of the Lenape, the area's indigenous people. Manhattan later became the site of the Dutch city of New Amsterdam, and the borough of Manhattan of modern-day New York City.
The Manhattan purchase was the primal Manhattan real estate transaction: from it is descended every other Manhattan property conveyance, on down to the present day. Like all primal acts, the Dutch purchase of Manhattan had consequences unknown and unknowable at the time.
After taking over as the colony’s governor, he made contact with one of the Lenape nations living on the island we call Manhattan. Later that year, Pieter Schagen, a fellow colonist in New Netherland, sent a letter home to their superiors describing Minuit’s purchase of Manhattan.
One aspect that has captured the imagination of many is the story of how Manhattan was bought from the Native Americans. However, the commonly told tale of Peter Minuit purchasing the island for a mere 60 guilders, or $24, is misleading and requires further examination.
One of the most notorious, legend has it, took place in Manhattan, when the island’s Native residents sold it to the Dutch for a handful of beads and the equivalent of $24 in cash. Or did they?
A nearly 400-year-old letter that documents the mythologized 'purchase' of the island of Manhattan from the Indigenous peoples who inhabited it is on view now through July 14, at the New-York Historical Society.