Patroon

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/patroon

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the governing document?Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions of 1629 established the patroon system
2. What is the labor system?Patroons were entitled to acquire enslaved labor, integral to estate development
3. How did a patroon get a big piece of land?The Dutch West India Company gave them a charter that let them own up to 16 miles of river land if they promised to bring settlers.
4. What did the patroon have to do with the land?They had to bring at least 50 families to live there and could run courts and collect rent from the people who lived on their land.

New Netherland: The 17th-century Dutch colony in North America, a precursor to New York and surrounding territories.
Dutch West India Company (WIC): A chartered company responsible for Dutch colonial activities in the Americas and Africa, including New Netherland.
Manorial Rights: A set of privileges historically granted to landowners, enabling them to exercise judicial and administrative authority over their estates.
Primogeniture: A law or custom of inheritance by which the eldest son receives all of his father's property.