Iltsroay. Probably the first European to visit the vicinity of New York was Giovanni Ver razano, who came in 1524: in 1525 the Spanish navigator Gomez sailed into the harbor: and by 1600 the French seem to have begun an ex tensive trade with the Indians along the Hudson. In September, 1609, Henry Hudson (q.v.) ex plored the harbor and the river; in 1613 four trading houses were built on :Manhattan Island (meaning 'those who dwell upon an island') being the name applied to the aboriginal Delaware inhabitants; and in 1614 Adriaen Block, preparatory to exploring the New England coast, built here his little vessel the 001.0.1), or Ics1(ess, probably the second ship to he built America. In 1614 the States General of Holland chartered the United Nell' Netherland Company of Amsterdam, and in 1621 this was succeeded by the West India Company, chartered with power to make treaties. maintain courts, and employ soldiers. In 1623 permanent colonists, sent out by the Dutch West India Company, under Cornelis Slay as I)i Ceetor-1eneial or Governor. In 1624 May was superseded by Verhulst. who in turn was replaced in 1626 by Peter Slinnit. Alinuit in this year bought the island from the Indians for goods valued at 60 :milder,. or (about in present values), and built near the present Bowl ing Green a small fort. Fort Amsterdam the settlement itself. then having a population of 200, being called New Amsterdam. In 162Ft church was organized and the first clergyman, Bev. Jonas Slichaelius, arrived at New Amsterdam.
Wouter Van Twiller was Governor of the colony from 1633 to 1638, William Kieft from 1638 to 1647. and Peter Stuyvesant from 1647 to 1664. In 1643 the Dutch, without provocation, mas sacred 120 Algonquin Indians, who had come to them for protection, and a bloody lndian war ensued, lasting for two years, and almost de populating the settlement. In 1653 New Amster darn. With a population of about 800, was in corporated as a city, and in the same year a wall 2340 feet long was built along the site of the present Wall Street as a protection against the English and the Indians.
hi March. 1664, Charles 11. granted New Neth erland to his brother James, Duke of York, and on September 8th Col. Richard Nicoll, with an English force took possession of the city and re named it New Yo•k. Nicolls was Governor until I66S, when he was succeeded by Francis Lovelace. On August 9, 1673, the Dutch regained posses sion, and the province became New• Netherland as before, the city becoming New Orange, and Anthony Colye replacing Lovelace as Governor. On November 10, 1674, the Dutch again gave way to the English, Edmund Andri* becoming Governor; hi 1686 the first city charter, known as the Dongan Charter. from 'Thomas Dongan, Governor in 1681-88, was issued (though it was never confirmed by James 11.) ; and in 1689, Andros being overthrown, Eci.ler usurped control and held it until early in 1691, when he was executed for treason. See Ixast.En, JACOB.
In 1690 the first intercolonial Congress (called to consider an attack on Canada) was held in New York-M a ssachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, Maryland, and New York being represented-and in the same year the only Mayor elected by the people until after 1832 was chosen. Slavery had
been introduced in 1625; in 1712 a negro insur rection was put down with much cruelty, twenty one negroes being executed (some by burning, others by hanging, and one by breaking on the wheel) ; and in 1741 the discovery of a .npposed plot, 'The Great Negro Plot.' caused a panic, during which fora• whites were executed, and 154 negroes were arrested, of whom 13 were burned at the stake, 18 were hanged, and 71 were transported. In 1693 William Bradford set up the first printing press in New York; in 1703 the first free school was opened; and in 1725 the first newspaper, the New York Gazette, was founded. A city library was organized in 1729, and a classical academy was opened in 1732. In 1731 a new• charter, known as the 'Mont gomerie Charter,' was granted to the city. In 1732 a monthly stage was established between New York and Boston, the trip taking two weeks each way, and in 1756 a Philadelphia stage, tak ing 'three days through only,' began running.
'John Peter Zenger, who had founded the New York' Weekly Journal in 1733. was arrested and prosecuted for libel by the authorities in 1734, but he was acquitted in the following year after a fa mous trial-his acquittal being regarded as the greatest vindication in the colonial period of the freedom of the press. See ZENGER, JOIIN PETER.
In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress (See STAAIP AcT) met in New• York, and on January IS, 1770, nearly seven weeks before the Boston Massa cre. British soldiers killed one citizen and wounded three in a riot caused by the destruction by the soldiers of a liberty pole set up by the 'Sons of Liberty.' This riot, called the 'Battle of Golden JIM,' is ranked by some writers as "the first conflict of the War of the American Revolu tion." In 1774, during the excitement over the tea tax, a ship loaded with tea was sent back to England. and the cargo of another was thrown overboard. When news of the battle of Lexing ton reached New York, a 'C'ommittee of Safety' assumed control of the city, and Governor Tryon took refuge on a Britildi man-of-war. In the early summer of 1776 a large part of the Ameri can troops were quartered in New York. On July 8th, in the presence of Washington, the Declaration of Independenc•c was for the first time publicly read to them, and on the Oth the equestrian statue of George 111., erected on Bowling Green in 1770, was torn down. On September 14, 1776, a short tine after the battle of Long Island (q.v.), the city was evacuated by the Americans and was occupied on the fol lowing day by the British, who held it until November 25, 1783-'Evacuation Day.' On Sep tember 15, 1776, a large port ion of the city was destroyed by fire. During the British occupation the city was the refuge of Loyalists, who came from all quarters to take advantage of British protection, many of the more wealthy and influ ential residents joining their ranks. From 1785 to 1790 met in New York in the old City Hall. at the corner of Wall and Nassau streets, and here Washington was inaugurated, April 30, 1789.