Pre- Industrial New York (1625 – 1700’s)
1625 – Creation of New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Hudson River in current Manhattan by the Dutch West India Company. The location served as a trading post, as it was located at the crossroads of several commercial circuits between Europe, the Caribbean and the Canary Islands. (Gladding 2004).
1664 September – The English take control of New Amsterdam
Starting in the 1650’s, the New England colonies were planning on making a play towards the colonial town of New Amsterdam. Peter Stuyvesant, who at the time was the controlling power of the Dutch colony, fell under some financial difficulties while preparing New Amsterdam for an attack from the English Colonies (Burrows & Wallace 1999). Stuyvesant was unable to maintain hold of his surrounding area and James Stewart Duke of York, brother to the English King Charles II, started to close in. York marched with 450 soldiers to the surrounding area and prepared to attack Fort Amsterdam (Burrows & Wallace 1999). The Duke and surrounding English Colonies offered Stuyvesant very agreeable terms of surrender in which the prominent Dutch figures in the town accepted. New Amsterdam shifted from Dutch to English rule and was renamed New York (Burrows & Wallace 1999). Once the English took over the colony, the population started to grow rapidly.
Population change: 1664 =1,500 people, 1700 = 5,000 people, 1720 = 7,200 people, 1750= 13,000 people (Gladding 2004, p. 37).
Population change: 1664 =1,500 people, 1700 = 5,000 people, 1720 = 7,200 people, 1750= 13,000 people (Gladding 2004, p. 37).