By the late 1700’s new tools were being used to create wampum, causing mass production and a teetering hyperinflation of the beads. In these sources we find numerous citations to the use of wampum in New Netherland. Similar problems were recorded in the Plantation of New Haven for, in the New Haven General Court session of October 16, 1648 it was stated any stone wampum offered in payment of a debt should be destroyed. AMAZON.COM/LOTM STOREFRONT. Interestingly, in four of these instances wampum was simply mentioned as a possible alternate form of payment (that is, payment in either beaver, wheat or wampum) and may not have been used at all. 2, p. 220). In the November ordinance the Council admitted that their previous attempts had not alleviated the situation. In addition to confusion over whether the amount was in wampum or beaver, there were also cases that deemed it necessary to clarify the wampum rate, which had increased from six to eight white beads per stuiver by the ordinance of October 9, 1658. This benefit was never dispensed. Subscribe to our blog and you’ll be the first to know about rare coins, gold & silver news, bullion investing, treasure discoveries, and upcoming shows. Along with bonds and money is listed "some sewan and clippies." Wampum was clearly used throughout this year as various sums of wampum are mentioned in the Fort Orange court records and several of them are for quantities higher than the 24 guilder amount mentioned as the maximum required limit in the ordinance of November 11, 1658. Frere obviously did not consider this to be an acceptable rate and demanded the payment in hides as had been contracted. The now abundant tender, with lower quality of craftsmanship, was worth next to nothing; prompting the abandonment of wampum as a method of payment for taxes. Ornamentation uses of wampum included bracelets, anklets, necklaces, belts, straps, and headbands. There appears to be a continuous use of wampum in sales agreements until about a month after the British took possession of the colony. One of the few references to wampum string lengths in New Netherland is from a letter of Director General Pieter Stuyvesant dated July 23, 1659, where it stated wampum was, "not now bartered by counting so many for a guilder or a stiver, but by the handful, length or fathom." (Fort Orange Court Minutes, vol. (RNA, vol. Also, in the abstracts of wills filed in New York City there is an inventory recorded in October of 1702 of the estate of "Abraham De Lanoy,late of New York." They felt the New Englanders were bringing large quantities of wampum to New Netherland and taking out goods imported to New Netherland from Holland as well as leaving with valuable beaver pelts.

In today's modern world we tend to offer a piece of plastic as a form of payment more often than not, and coins and banknotes aren't used quite as much as they used to be. This was the last mention of wampum in Dutch law. It appears there may have been a panic in New Amsterdam at that time causing rates to temporarily rise dramatically.

Next in the History Series Pages: THE DELICATE ART OF SCALPING, Looking for related books? The population needed to be warned beforehand, important citizens needed to support the measure and the plan had to be implemented so as to cause the least disruption. The only case i was able to discover that included the wampum rate was a case from September 18, 1663 where it stated a debt was to be paid in beaver with the beaver rated as 20 guilders in seawan (RNA, vol. 2, pp. In an act of October 18, 1701 new rates were established for the ferry between New York and Long Island (which the British had renamed Nassau Island on April 10, 1693). was greater, it was easier to counterfeit by way of dye), all illustrate how dependent the colonists and Indians were on these shell beads. Also, the directors did not understand the role of Spanish (and Massachusetts) silver in the mercantile economies of the English colonies and West Indies. In 1645 Stuyvesant was elevated to the post of Director General of all company possessions in North America and the Caribbean. For the years 1670-1671 three documents specifically mention payments in wampum and one mentions a penalty calculated in terms of wampum value. In a case of June 28, 1665 the court was asked to rule if some wampum was good merchantable wampum valid for payment. 2, p. 257). The importation of wampum into New Netherland was possible because in 1638 the West India Company abolished its trading monopoly, allowing merchants of all friendly nations to trade in the province. Its worth, however, was tenable. On November 30, 1647 a resolution was adopted that would allow loose wampum to continue to circulate, but all imperfect and broken beads were to be declared bullion and sent to the company's counting house. referring to the previously stated Spanish or Mexican silver or bills of credit. The defendant, on the other hand, claimed the 8 guilders per beaver was payment in full. They decided to proceed cautiously by announcing their intention but not acting on the proposal until the following year and intending to wait even further before reducing the value of beaver. 3, p. 578). stated above, wampum was used for a multitude of purposes, not least of which was the binding truth to words "written" in wampum.

In a letter to the directors dated June 25, 1660 Stuyvesant made some further comments on the December 22nd letter. By the mid 18th century, during the French and Indian War, the use of wampum as currency had declined so much that the Indians themselves were rejecting it as payment. Following this transaction wampum is not frequently mentioned. Six months after this contract, on May 4, 1662 two farmers leased a plot of land along the Esopus Creek for the period up to April 1667; among the payment options was the possibility of payment in either beaver at 8 guilders each, grain at the market price or seawan at the rate of 16 guilders per beaver (Documents, vol.

From this description we also learn merchants brought furs to these wampum manufacturers and traded the furs for wampum. New Netherland employees were contracted at a Holland money rate and had traditionally been paid in beaver. Bogaert stated he would need the approval of his superiors before consenting to the agreement so we do not know if this price actually went into effect. During this period we find some confusion over pricing. Complaints mounted. As earlier court records do not survive we cannot determine precisely how the 1650's differed from earlier periods, but we can use the documents for a glimpse into the period following the regulations of 1650. The possibility of a short count on strung wampum was a regular problem for merchants. 117-118). The ordinance addressed a specific and recent problem, namely that New Netherland was being overrun with rough unpolished wampum said to have been brought in from outside the province. Indeed, the situation actually worsened to the point several merchants refused to accept any wampum as a form of payment. This time rather than regulating commercial trade, the New Netherland Director General and Council ordained the company counting house would begin to receive in and pay out wampum at beaver value, that is, at a rate equal to 8 guilders in wampum per beaver. Oliver A. Rink, Holland on the Hudson: An Economic and Social History of Dutch New York, Ithaca, NY: Cornell, 1986;

It is not known if a letter to this effect was ever sent to Amsterdam, for there is no record of such a letter or any reply, and no further discussion of a mint exists. However, we do know in the British colonies some settlers were involved in bead production during the early Seventeenth century. 3, pp. During the 1650's the rising Boston merchant class replaced wampum with Massachusetts silver, so that by 1661 wampum was demonetized in Massachusetts due to "much inconvenience" in its use; Rhode Island followed, demonitizing wampum in 1662.

During this period wampum is conspicuously absent from the laws. Examples of the wampum rates in effect during late 1658 are not available. Based on the negotiations of January 1635 recorded by Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert mentioned above, the Dutch would need at least 40,000 handfuls of wampum each year for 10,000 pelts.

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