Lenape and New Netherland: prehistory 1663

Peter Stuyvesant

The area that would eventually encompass modern day New York City was inhabited by the Lenape people. These groups of culturally and linguistically identical Native Americans traditionally spoke an Algonquian language now referred to as Unami. Early European settlers would refer to bands of Lenape by the Unami place name for where they lived, such as: “Raritan” in what is now called Staten Island and New Jersey, “Canarsee” in what is now known as Brooklyn, and “Hackensack” in modern New Jersey across the Hudson River from current-day Lower Manhattan. Eastern Long Island neighbors were culturally and linguistically more closely related to the Mohegan–Pequot peoples of what is now known as New England who spoke the Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett language.

These peoples all made use of the abundant waterways in the New York City region for fishing, hunting trips, trade amongst themselves, and occasionally war. A reminder of their presence in the New York City region is evidenced by various place names such as Raritan Bay and Canarsie, Brooklyn. Many former paths created by indigenes are today main thouroughfares such as Broadway in Manhattan. The Lenape developed sophisticated techniques of hunting and managing their resources. By the time of the arrival of Europeans, they were cultivating fields of vegetation through the slash and burn technique, which extended the productive life of planted fields.

They also harvested vast quantities of fish and shellfish from the bay. It has been estimated that at the time of European settlement there were approximately 15,000 Lenape total in approximately 80 settlement sites around the region. European settlement began with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement in Lower Manhattan in 1613 later called New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam) in the southern tip of Manhattan in 1625. Soon thereafter, most likely in 1626, construction of Fort Amsterdam began.

Willem Kieft became director general in 1638, but five years later was embroiled in Kieft’s War against the Native Americans. The Pavonia Massacre, across the Hudson River in present day Jersey City resulted in the death of eighty natives in February 1643. Following the massacre, eleven Algonquian tribes joined forcesand nearly defeated the Dutch. Holland sent additional forces to the aid of Kieft, leading to the overwhelming defeat of the Native Americans, and a peace treaty on August 29, 1645.

On May 27, 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was inaugurated as director general upon his arrival, and ruled as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. The colony was granted self-government in 1652 and New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city February 2, 1653.

British and revolution: 1664-1783

Main article: History of New York City (1665-1783)

In 1664, the English conquered the area and renamed it “New York” after the Duke of York and Albany. The Dutch briefly regained it in 1673, renaming the city “New Orange”, before permanently ceding the colony of New Netherland to the British for what is now Suriname in November 1674. Some area names are still reminiscent of the Dutch period, most notably Flushing (Dutch town of Vlissingen), Harlem (Dutch town of Haarlem) and Brooklyn (Dutch town of Breukelen).

By 1700, the Lenape population of New York had diminished to 2000

The new English rulers of the formerly Dutch New Amsterdam and New Netherland renamed the settlement New York. As the colony grew and prospered, sentiment also grew for greater autonomy. In the context of the Glorious Revolution in England, Jacob Leisler led Leisler’s Rebellion and effectively controlled the city and surrounding areas from 1689-1691, before being arrested and executed.

The 1735 libel trial of John Peter Zenger in the city was a seminal influence on freedom of the press in North America.

View of New York harbor, ca. 1770

After a series of fires in 1741, the city became panicked about an African-American plot to burn the city, conspiring with some whites. This was mostly a fabrication. Nevertheless, 31 blacks and 4 whites were convicted of arson; 13 blacks were burned alive, 4 whites and 18 blacks were hanged.

Further information: New York Conspiracy of 1741

In 1754, Columbia University was founded under charter by George II of Great Britain as King’s College in Lower Manhattan.

The Stamp Act and other British measures fomented dissent, particularly among Sons of Liberty who maintained a long-running skirmish with locally stationed British troops over Liberty Poles from 1766 to 1776. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York City in 1765 in the first organized resistance to British authority across the colonies. After the major defeat of the Continental Army in the Battle of Long Island, General George Washington withdrew to Manhattan Island, but with the subsequent defeat at the Battle of Fort Washington the island was effectively left to the British. New York City was greatly damaged twice by fires of suspicious origin during British military rule. The city became the political and military center of operations in North America for the remainder of the war, and a haven for Loyalist refugees. Continental Army officer Nathan Hale was hanged in Manhattan for espionage. In addition, the British began to hold the majority of captured American prisoners of war aboard prison ships in Wallabout Bay, across the East River in Brooklyn. More Americans lost their lives from neglect aboard these ships than died in all the battles of the war. British occupation lasted until November 25, 1783. George Washington triumphantly returned to the city that day, as the last British forces left the city.