Manhattan

Manhattan and the Original New York

The original Netherlands, in 1661, had approximately 1,500 people living in “New Amsterdam,” the original name for New York City.[1] These people included tavern keepers, shop owners, soldiers, farmers, and sailors. New Amsterdam was a far-off outpost of the Netherlands. New Amsterdam was wary of Native American attacks because it had been violently assaulted multiple times by native Americans previously.[2] New Amsterdam had as much waterfront as the entire coastline of California. This meant that New Amsterdam or New York City was a large naval, maritime, and trading city. New Amsterdam was taken by an invading British force in 1664.[3] The British took New York from the Dutch due to the English’s desire to create a western hemisphere that was dominated by a British colony. The British were trying to expand their extremely profitable American colonies. Especially in the Northeast, the British made money off of trade, shipbuilding, hunting, fishing, whales/ whale oil, and other valuable goods. Shortly after New York had been taken from the Dutch, the British were subject to a Dutch invasion.

Bibliography

Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped AmericaShorto, Russell. Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2025.

[1] Russell Shorto, Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2025). Pg. 28

[2] Shorto, Taking Manhattan Pg. 30

[3] Shorto, Taking Manhattan Pg. 27