Dutch West India Company Teacher Resources

Explore the earliest American cities in this presentation, which details the demographics, geography, and characteristics of New York, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas, among others. These slides help to fill in the gap between the...

What patterns appear in the treatment of Jewish and Quaker immigrations to New Netherland? Your class members will work together to read and discuss the religious restrictions placed on immigrants to Dutch New York.

Students examine the early years of the New Netherlands colony.  In this Social Studies lesson plan, students role play from the perspective of the Dutch West India Company, the settlers and the native population.

Students become history detectives as they research, and later discuss, various theories about Rapa Nui. They study written language using symbols and create their own symbol language.

Why was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand significant enough to begin the First World War? Crash Course World History provides a video that covers the events of July and August 1914, including the political implications of...

Thomas Malthus posed the most famous, and most easily disproven, theory about projected population growth in economic history. What did he get wrong—and why? Explore the Malthusian Theory of Population with a Crash Course video that...

When your class thinks of medieval history, they probably think of European castles and knights. But they may not know that the Heian period in Japan, which coincided with the Middle Ages in Europe, saw a significant development in...

The 1979 Iranian Revolution changed the identity of Iran, and in many ways, the Middle East as a whole. High schoolers learn more about the Persian region, history, and government in a brief but explanatory video from Crash Course World...

While this lesson focuses on a study of the Hudson River, it could be used as a template for a discussion of map skills, converting measurements, and plotting a route. The lesson includes vocabulary and other resources to make it a...

Students track down their town's oldest standing man-made landmark. By learning more about the oldest structure in their area (whether it's a church, store, graveyard, bridge, etc.), they discover interesting details about their town's...

Students view Rembrandt's etching, View of Amsterdam. They compare commerce and trade of 17th-century Amsterdam to modern day. They create self-portraits of themselves as children with birthday gifts during the 17th century.

The Dutch West India Company was chartered in 1621, this is a primary source site providing a copy of the charter.

This Wikipedia article on the Dutch West India Company discusses its similarities to the Dutch East India Company, its establishment of many colonies and trading posts, its initial success, and the eventual downfall of the company.

After a fairly detailed introduction of Dutch history, this site gives in-depth information about the founding of the colony of New Netherlands and the Dutch West India Company. It discusses the political, social, and economic aspects of...

A historic map of the Atlantic coast of America created by cartographer Joan Vinckeboons around 1639 for the Dutch West India Company. A feature on the page allows the visitor to listen to and read the accompanying descriptive text in...

This resource is an overview of the relationship of the Dutch West India Company and the settling of New Netherlands under the "patroon" system, which brought many Dutch colonists to the New World.

Ironically, Henry Hudson, English explorer, was in the employ of the Dutch West India Company when he explored what is now the New York area. Read about the colony the Dutch established at the mouth of the Hudson River and see how the...

Learn about the trade routes and products upon which both Europe and Asia depended. English and Dutch trading companies were formed to transport valued goods half way around the world. Maps are included.

Read about the Dutch colonization of the Hudson River Valley in this comprehensive essay about the Dutch in America. Pages 3-7 deal with the Dutch colonies.

Information about Dutch colonization in America. There is mention of Peter Minuit and Peter Stuyvesant.

An interesting and comprehensive essay on Adriaen Block, the development of New Netherlands, Dutch trade, and the impact of the Little Ice Age in Europe on fur trade in North America.

A historic map of Manhattan created by cartographer Joan Vinckeboons around 1639 for the Dutch West India Company. A feature on the page allows the visitor to listen to and read the accompanying descriptive text in seven different...

This site lists the reasons why the Dutch trading companies were slower in colonization than the other New World countries.

Despite the title of this article, it discusses the settlement of New Netherland by the Dutch and explains the reasons for the settlement, and why settlers were not attracted to the area.