The History of New York in 12 Minutes

The Daily USA

2 days ago

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00:00The Empire State, one of the most lived-in states in the entire American Union.

00:07Birthed back in the days of the Thirteen Colonies, New York State has a history worth exploring.

00:17The earliest known inhabitants of what we know today as the State of New York

00:22were indigenous tribes of ancient times. Estimated to have made their home in the area

00:28all the way back around 10,000 BC, Native Americans spent centuries within New York's boundaries

00:35and additional tribes, such as the Iroquois, would migrate from surrounding regions to join them.

00:43By the time of European exploration on America's east coast, a handful of indigenous tribes called

00:50New York their home and could be divided into two categories. The Iroquian-speaking tribes

00:57and the Algonquin-speaking tribes. The former grouping included tribes such as the Seneca,

01:04Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga, while the latter described others like the Leni-Lenape,

01:13Mohegan, and Wapingar tribes. The indigenous populations of this region had developed quite

01:19sophisticated systems of economy, farming, and culture, as well as a significant alliance deemed

01:27the Iroquian Confederacy. None of this, however, mattered much to the Europeans when they foreseeably

01:35made their way to the eastern coast of the New World.

01:40There were two explorers who first stumbled across the New York lands, but can't be credited with

01:47doing much upon their arrival. In 1524, a French-employed Italian explorer by the name of Giovanni de Varrazzano

01:56was sailing along the Atlantic when he found himself in what we know today as the New York Harbor and

02:04eventually modern-day Manhattan. He wrote of his exploration, but did little more in the way of

02:12colonizing New York than that. And the same could be said for Jacques Cartier, a French explorer who made

02:19similar explorations in 1535. It wasn't until another man, one Henry Hudson,

02:30under the employment of the Dutch East India Company, made his way to New York in 1609,

02:36that colonization became an intention. Quite a few years after the others, but unlike the others,

02:45his goal was, on behalf of the Dutch, to create the beginnings of a colony. Thus, in 1614, the Dutch

02:55built the first-ever European settlement within the borders of today's New York. Fort Nassau,

03:02constructed under the watchful eye of Hendrik Christensen, was located near modern-day Albany and

03:09had the main purpose of being a trading post, particularly for the booming fur trade.

03:14By the mid-1620s, a few dozen Dutch families had migrated to the new colony as merchants and were

03:21encouraged to make the move. The budding colony was given the moniker of New Netherlands, and by 1624,

03:29what we know today as New York was founded as New Amsterdam. A new, more permanent settlement,

03:37Fort Orange, would further replace Fort Nassau as the Dutch headquarters in New York,

03:43and immigrants from across Europe were already flocking to the new colony and promise of a new,

03:50better life. The problem for the Dutch, however, was that the English wanted what the Dutch had.

03:59In the midst of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the entire colony of New Netherlands fell into England's

04:06hands and was renamed New York. The city of New Amsterdam was also unimaginatively given the refreshed

04:15name of New York, though this was retaken by the Dutch in 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

04:24Instead of restoring the city's old name, the Dutch called it New Orange for a year,

04:31until they lost it to the English again. One city aside, though, the colony now named New York was

04:40still growing under its new ownership. When the English had taken over, the settlement hosted an

04:46estimated maximum of 8,000 residents. Roughly a century later, it would be home to around 168,000.

04:56As was the case at the start, many Europeans fled their homelands for the new world as a result of

05:03famine, religious persecution, economic woes, or other troubles in their homeland. Some were simply

05:11looking for new opportunities and a better chance at a good life. New York's economy was quite a success,

05:18agriculture being a particularly important factor. The colonists were doing quite well,

05:24and many grew to tolerate their indigenous neighbors, but others didn't.

05:32The French, who had their own colonial ambitions in the surrounding area, had sponsored multiple

05:39Catholic missions that extended into the borders of today's New York. Religious and merchant endeavors

05:46led them into direct conflict with the British, but it also led them to form some important

05:52friendships with native tribes. Tensions eventually boiled over into the French and Indian War,

06:00which saw the indigenous fight alongside both the Brits and the French, and an eventual British

06:06victory leading to the loss of France's territory on New York soil in 1763.

06:13But as the idea of independence from the British began to swirl around America's 13 colonies,

06:23one could feel the vibrations of war rattling the air already.

06:29With the controversial Stamp Act of 1763, New York shot to the forefront of the independence movement

06:36in the colonies with the help of the Sons of Liberty. Despite some New Yorkers opposing the idea of breaking

06:44free from their British overlords, there was little to do to stop the downward spiral now.

06:51War was on the horizon. One could only hope it would go smoothly.

06:57Almost one third of every battle fought in the American Revolution was done so on New York's battered ground.

07:07General George Washington spent much attention on the fight for New York,

07:11and when independence was declared in the summer of 1776, New York had endorsed the declaration.

07:19Although the British would hold New York City captive for the entirety of the war,

07:24the locals fought hard to free their territory in its entirety nonetheless.

07:30When the war finally ended, and all of New York was restored to the Americans,

07:36the recaptured city of NYC would serve a short term as the capital of the nation,

07:41after New York State would be the 11th to ratify the new United States Constitution.

07:48The 1777 Constitution of New York had, in fact, served as quite an inspiration for the federal

07:55constitution in 1788. Similarly, New York City was the capital of the state, not just the country,

08:04off and on until 1797, when New Yorkers shifted their metropolis to Albany.

08:11Many of America's important moments throughout history took place in New York.

08:16The Bill of Rights was written up in the state's borders.

08:20George Washington was inaugurated as America's first president in NYC.

08:25The US Supreme Court was birthed there. The founding of the New York Stock Exchange,

08:30of course, happened in the state. And so many other crucial events.

08:36The War of 1812 would use New York as a battleground, just as the revolution had.

08:43New York was growing still in so many ways. As time went on, the state was relying less and less on

08:52agriculture for success. New transportation creations involving steamboats and trains

08:58made New York a convenient place for travel, and the opening of the Erie Canal added another boost of

09:05attraction. Natives at this time were now secluded to a dozen reservations, whilst others had been sent

09:12into exile or died for their decision to support the British in the Revolutionary War.

09:19Alongside these reservations sat a growing list of towns, businesses, schools, farms, churches,

09:28theaters, athletics, and a building mood of abolitionism. By the mid-19th century,

09:35the governor of New York, William H. Seward, worked with the state's legislator to protect

09:41and expand the rights of both runaway slaves and free blacks within the state.

09:48The state, though hosting some hesitant Democrats, thus quickly joined the efforts of Abraham Lincoln

09:55with the outbreak of the Civil War, and New York ultimately would supply more manpower than any

10:01other northern state for the fighting effort. Quite unlike the Revolutionary War, however,

10:08not a single battle broke out on New York soil. There was, however, significant unrest from the locals in

10:171863, when the Union pushed forth a draft law that required all male citizens between the ages of 20 and 35

10:26and single males up to the age of 45 to be eligible for a draft. You could pay your way out of the

10:34conscription, but not every New Yorker could afford that. Mid-July saw an outbreak of massive and rather

10:41violent protests deemed the draft riots across NYC. These demonstrations were led predominantly by

10:49ethnic Irish New Yorkers and often targeted black Americans and their communities, causing a notable

10:56exodus of the latter from certain areas. The unrest fizzled out when the North opted to allow some black

11:04Americans to fight in their own regiments, calming fears from European Americans that the draft was

11:10taking their own jobs away and giving them to the free black men. With the war's end, then came

11:19more immigration, and more freedom for black New Yorkers. A large portion still of New York's growing

11:27population was European, with many immigrants coming from Germany, Italy, Ireland, and Eastern Europe.

11:35But there was also a curious number of Chinese immigrants arriving around 1850. New York was

11:43becoming increasingly diverse and exceedingly prosperous as a state with more workers flooding in. By the turn

11:51of the 20th century, the population of New York state had exceeded 7 million. These millions of New

12:00Yorkers would see the events of the 1900s, from the World Wars and the Great Depression to the start of the

12:07modern era. Today, New York remains one of the most populous states in the US and one of the nation's most

12:16popular tourist attractions. Modern-day New Yorkers have seen tragedy and triumph of their own, and their

12:24ancestors could say the same. The history of New York state is deeply intertwined with that of its country,

12:32and without New York, who knows what the United States would be like today?

The History of New York in 12 Minutes

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