The Purchase of Manhattan: May 6, 1626

Peter Minuit and the Purchase of the Island of Manhattan 

Like the Pilgrim story, it is one steeped in myth and cloudy facts. But the fact remains the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam was set an American pattern that still prevails today. That the business of America is business.

The Island at the Center of the World

Mental Floss: Was Manhattan really bought for $24?

Today in NYC History: How the Dutch bought Manhattan

“Instead, power went to those who made things happen: businessmen and local magistrates. Over time, human nature being what it is, these men would create a kind of nobility, sometimes even buying titles from cash-poor foreigners, but this in itself underscores the point. Upward mobility was part of the Dutch character: if you worked hard and were smart, you rose in stature. Today that is a byword of a healthy society; in the seventeenth century it was weird.”

Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America

The Virginian: Dinesh D'Souza speaks after the Trump win. If Trump's business was real estate, what was Hillary's business?  Watch the whole thing, especially Dinesh answering questions about the GOP embracing the American ideal of America as a ladder of opportunity to immigrants and working class Americans (spoiler: Trump did it in part, Hillary didn't do it at all).