Willem Kieft was a merchant and a director-general. He formed the council of 12 men, which was the first governing body in New Netherlands/New Amsterdam. This individual was a major impact on this settlement because of his strict persistence to drive out the Native Americans. He thought of many ways to get rid of them, like banning relationships between the Native Americans and the Dutch; he also decided to tax them unfairly. Because of these actions, tension was created between the Dutch and the Native Americans. Eventually, it lead to a period called Kieft’s War where many people were killed from both sides.
I think this individual was important to historical change because his actions affected the whole Dutch settlement experiment and can be used as a model of how not to act. Two different ethnic backgrounds can live together peacefully, which will later on be shown by a different director-general.
Sources: Wikipedia & Homberger, The Historical Atlas of New York City.
