Henry Hudson, an Englishman, was hired by the Dutch to find a shortcut to the Pacific Ocean back in the early 1600s.
When he sailed up the river now named after him, he was able to claim the land around it, today’s states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and part of Connecticut, for the Netherlands.
This area was called New Netherland, and the town the Dutch settled in 1625 on Manhattan Island was called New Amsterdam, named after the city in the Netherlands.
Some Dutch names remain in the New York City area today. For example, the borough of Brooklyn was originally the Dutch town of Breuckelen.
The English and the Dutch fought for many years in the mid-1600s for control of this region.
When the English finally won control of the colony in a peace treaty in 1674, it was renamed New York, after the duke of York.
The duke’s brother, King Charles IT of England, had given him a charter for the land.
Related Posts
-
How Big Is the Population In Mexico City and Is Mexico City Larger than New York City?
In 2000 the New York City metropolitan area was slightly larger than Mexico city, with 21.1 million people. Mexico City had 18.1 million people in its metropolitan area and was ranked the fourth…
-
Why is New York City Called the “The Big Apple” and Where Did the Nickname Come From?
One of the more popular stories as to how New York got its nickname is as follows. During the 1940s, Robert Emmerich, who played piano in the Tommy Dorsey Band, wrote an obscure…
-
Why Is Chicago Called the Windiest City In the United States and Which Is the Least Windy City?
Chicago may be called the Windy City, but the nation's windiest city is Cheyenne, Wyoming, where the average annual wind speed clocks in at 12.9 miles (21 km) per hour. Chicago, at 10.4…
-
How Did New York City Get Its Nickname “the Big Apple” and What Does the Big Apple Mean?
The latest theory on how New York was called the Big Apple is that horse-racing trainers and jockeys in the 1920s used the term to refer to New York City. Back then New…
-
What Was Once America’s Greatest City?
On a plateau about 25 miles from Mexico City stand the ruins of the ancient city of Teotihuacan. Centuries before Columbus set sail for the New World, at the time when the Roman…
-
Why Is It Usually Warmer In New York City Than In Rural New Jersey Just a Short Distance Away?
Is it usually warmer in New York City than in rural New Jersey because cities tend to be warmer than the surrounding countryside. This is known as the urban heat island phenomenon. Cities…
