Minuit, Peter

Minuit, Peter

(?1580–1638) colonist; born in Wesel, Rhenish Prussia (now Germany). He became the first director-general of New Amsterdam. In 1626 he purchased Manhattan Island from Algonquin Indians for 60 guilders (24 dollars). Later, he led an expedition under the Swedish flag and created the short-lived "New Sweden" in present-day Delaware.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.