A difficult start
The Dutch presence in New Netherland got off to a difficult start. The West India Company quickly discovered that the exploitation of the area would require enormous investment. The Company was faced with a choice: either develop the area as a colony or be satisfied with the establishment of a limited number of trading posts.

If the WIC chose for the temporary presence of merchants, it would mean avoiding large and expensive investments. The development of a colony, however, was clearly a different story. Sizeable investments would be required to bring over a large number of colonists, cattle, building materials and tools by ship. And the development of an administrative organization, the building of forts and the conveyance of soldiers would be costly items as well. These were investments with no prior guarantee of any returns.

An unavoidable choice
The governing board of the WIC engaged in an extensive debate over what the right choice might be. At first the Lords XIX tried to retain the company’s trade monopoly, but wealthy merchants were not prepared to invest their money in such an enterprise. Their willingness to invest depended exclusively on being allowed to develop trade activities according to their own lights. The question dragged on until 1628, four years after the establishment of the colony’s principal city, New Amsterdam. The failure to reach a decision brought the colony to the brink of financial ruin.

Within the Company’s board of governors, the faction of merchants led by Kiliaen van Rensselaer finally won the dispute. He succeeded in opening the way for private investors.

Patroons
These investors were given the name ‘patroon’. Each patroon was head of a ‘patroonship’. Patroons were granted strips of land along the rivers. They were expected to import colonists, cattle and tools to their patroonship from Europe. The allotment of land was generous: a strip of land three miles wide and extending inland as far as the new owner thought reasonable. The patroons were also given juridical authority over their patroonship. They were allowed to appoint representatives, levy taxes and punish colonists – within certain limits. All the products of the area (such as grain, fruit, meat, fish and minerals) were the property of the patroon. This did not apply to the fur trade, however. That remained the exclusive privilege of the WIC.

The new regulations also made it possible for private individuals such as farmers or craftsmen to settle in the colony. No longer were settlers automatically enrolled in the service of the WIC. These private individuals were also entitled to land grants. Such grants were considerably smaller than those given to the patroons, however. Private individuals were given as much land as they could reasonably work.

After a year, when this new policy was still failing to attract a sufficient number of investors, the regulation was readjusted to the patroons’ advantage.

Failure and success
Patroonships were established at a number of places in New Netherland. This was no simple matter. The supply of building materials was limited by the number of ships that maintained the connection between the Republic and the colony. Competition soon developed for the acquisition of scarce available goods. Only a small number of patroonships came into existence. Kiliaen van Rensselaer established a patroonship at present-day Albany and called it Rensselaerswijck. It was the only settlement that continued to function reasonably well until the arrival of the English in 1664.