Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam in 1647 and instead of streets of gold, he found mud. The population was very low and trade had been diminished. Stuyvesant himself was an experienced man who had the capability to upgrade the Colony (Whitridge, p 331). After arriving, Stuyvesant set to work. He started by passing many laws to improve the life of the settlers. The settlers themselves were from different places and races.

First, he instructed the people to get rid of all the thatched houses since they could cause fire. He created the first fire department in America. A tax was introduced to cater for the fire department. In addition, Stuyvesant facilitated the building of a hospitals, post office and homes for the orphans.

When Stuyvesant arrived, the population was very low. Most of the settlers have left the island after realizing there was no life for them and their families. However, with the programs such as better houses, trade, improved infrastructure and reduction of liquor, the population increased with time (Whitridge, p 327). With the different kind of people living in the Island, Stuyvesant was able to maintain law and order in all aspects. He also protected the colony from the Swedish colony to the south.

References

Reference

Whitridge A., Peter Stuyvesant: Director-General of New Netherland, History Today: History Today Ltd.

Struggles of Early Pilgrims

The Early Pilgrims faced a lot of challenges on their arrival in America. They arrived unprepared for the different problems and calamities that the land carried. First, food was scarce in the lands. The lands were not fit for farming and when fit, other calamities such as plagues affected the crops. With this many of them died from hunger. in addition, with the summer and winter weather conditions, the Europeans were not prepared for winter. Most of the arrivals died in their first winter (Klinkenborg, 2011). There was also the issue of diseases and since the Pilgrims were not prepared with drugs, they ended up dying.

This however changed when the Europeans befriended the Native Americans.  Pilgrims learnt how to plant Corn which was the staple food. Soon trade between the Europeans and the Native Americans started and more Europeans migrated to America (Klinkenborg, 2011). The Native American also showed the Europeans how to survive and to handle diseases such as small pox which was a killer disease. The Native Americans need the Europeans to teach them about trading. In addition, with the religious persecution and religious unrest in Europe, the Pilgrims had no choice than to migrate to America.

References

Klinkenborg, V. (2011). Why was life so hard for the Pilgrims.

Response to Natasha Girard- Peter Stuyvesant

Hi Natasha, great line of thought over there, Stuyvesant was a very experienced man with the capability of transforming life in the New Amsterdam. With his arrival, he found a land but he transformed it.  He improved the housing and infrastructure in the colony. He also formed the first ever fire department in America. In addition, most of the settlers had returned back to England after realizing there was no life for them and their families in the land. Bu the time Stuyvesant arrived the population was very low but he managed to raise the population. He also reduced the trade in liquor.

Response to Michael Palumbo- Struggles of Early Pilgrims

Hi Michael, great work over there, the early European settlers faced many challenges which led to the death of many of them. Though they were aware that dangers existed in America, they were not aware of the kind of dangers and thus not prepared. With no knowledge of farming, they died from hunger. In addition, many diseases existed in America such as small pox and the Europeans did not know how to survive.  However, with time, they were able to make friends with the Native Americans who taught them how to grow corn and also survive different diseases. They also started trading with the natives Americans.

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