Europeans Come to New York

Mrs. MartinGrade 4

Do you know where Asia and Europe are?

Let’s Look….

Europeans wanted to get to Asia

European countries wanted to get to Asia.

Asia had goods that countries in Europe wanted.

Trade between Europe and Asia was a growing business.

How to get there?

Getting to Asia from Europe was hard. The trip by land or sea was long and

difficult.

Christopher Columbus said

However he bumped into a whole new continent that the Europeans didn’t know was there! NORTH AMERICA

“I can go East by sailing West”

Let’s find a way through

More kings from more European countries started to hire explorers to sail West to try and find a way through North America so they could get to Asia.

This “way through North America” was known as the North West Passage.

Finding the Northwest Passage

Many European countries wanted to be find the Northwest Passage.

Explorers started making voyages to North America to look for the Northwest Passage.

Some of these explorations happened in and around New York.

Explorers 1497 - John Cabot – sailed for England – thought he

had reached Asia when he had reached Canada.

1524 – Verrazano – sailed for France – first European to see New York Bay – knew he was not in Asia

1534 – Cartier – sailed for France – sailed up the St. Lawrence River trying to find Northwest Passage.

1608 – Champlain- sailed for France – reached Lake Champlain in 1609 established a friendly relationship with Algonquians.

1609 – Hudson – sailed for the Netherlands (Dutch) –traveled up Hudson River to what is now Albany.

John Cabot

1497 - John Cabot – sailed for England – thought he had reached Asia when he had reached Canada.

Giovanni da Verrazano

1524 – Verrazano – sailed for France – first European to see New York Bay – knew he was not in Asia

Jacques Cartier

1534 – Cartier – sailed for France – sailed up the St. Lawrence River trying to find Northwest Passage.

Samuel de Champlain

1608 – Champlain- sailed for France – reached Lake Champlain in 1609 established a friendly relationship with Algonquians.

Henry Hudson

1609 – Hudson – sailed for the Netherlands (Dutch) –traveled up Hudson River to what is now Albany.

Netherlands

As Henry Hudson was exploring the lands of New York he noted that it was a beautiful area andthat the land was rich in natural resources.

Since Henry Hudson sailed for the Netherlands he claimed land in New York for the Netherlands.

Fort Orange (Albany) 18 families headed up the Hudson

River and set up a fur trading post on the Hudson River called Fort Orange.

Dutch West India Company The Dutch people formed a company to trade with Native Americans for fur and timber. The company was called the Dutch West India Company.

The company set up a Dutch colony in North America in what is now New York.

They named their colony “New Netherland” after their own country.

New Amsterdam (Manhattan)

Other families stayed on Manhattan. This island had been the home of the Algonquian Indians the Lenni Lanape. Colonists built homes on the southern tip of the island anyway and called it New Amsterdam.

Peter Minuit Peter Minuit arrived to be the leader of

New Amsterdam. He bought the island of Manhattan from the Lenni Lenape.

The Lenni Lenape did understand that they were selling the land they lived on. They didn’t believe the humans could own land. They thought that by trading with Peter Minuit they were allowing the Dutch to used the resources of the land.

Native Americans and Europeans

Native Americans had been living in what is now New York for years

European countries claimed the land for themselves and sent colonists to settle there

In 1626 Peter Minuit “bought” Manhattan from the Lenni Lenape for some tools, pots, and bead

The Native Americans did not understand that they were selling their land. They did not really believe in owning land.

They thought they were giving the Europeans permission to use the land’s natural resources.

Life in the Dutch Colony The Dutch West India Company wanted

people from many different cultures to settle in New Netherland.

Living in the colony there were: Dutch, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Polish.

People practiced many different religions living in the colony some of these were French Protestant, German Lutheran, Presbyterian, Quaker, and Roman Catholic.

African-Americans The first African-Americans living in the

colony were brought here as slaves.

Colonists wanted slaves to work in the fields, load ships, and build homes and other buildings.

Some African Americans came as free people and others who had been slaves earned their freedom.

Fur Trade The fur trade was a very important

business in New Netherland and New Amsterdam.

Native Americans brought beaver and other animals skins to Fort Orange. They traded the with the Dutch for goods like tools, knives, axes, metal goods, and cloth. From New Netherland the furs were shipped down the Hudson River.

More Settlers…. To make a profit…or more money, the

Dutch West India company wanted more settlers. The settlers could grow crops and make goods that could be traded for furs.

To attract more settlers the company gave large pieces of land to patroons. Patroons were people who would pay to bring 50 settlers to the colony. These settlers would work the land and pay rent with part of their crops and livestock.

Dutch West India Company wants the colony to grow

Company offered a “deal” any person who would pay for 50 settlers to sail to New Netherland would be given large areas of land in what is now New York

This land owner was a called a patroon. Patroons owned that land and the settlers

he paid to bring to the colony would work on his land giving him some of their crops to pay “rent”.

A new governor…

After a while the Dutch West India company started to lose money. Too many animals had been hunted and there was fighting between the colonists and the Lenni Lenape. Conditions in the colony were not good.

The Dutch West India Company wanted an governor who could improve the colony.

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant – known as old silver leg – because he had lost his leg

in navy battle.

Stuyvesant was not popular with the colonists. He had a bad temper, and he tried to make the Jewish colonists leave the colony but the Dutch West India Company would not allow it. People called him “Stubborn Pete”.

Stubborn Pete does good?

Even though Peter Stuyvesant was not popular he did accomplish some good things.

Stuyvesant got the streets paved, and had run down buildings repaired. He made peace with the Native Americans and started a police force. This made the colony a safer place.

A new governor for the colony

Dutch West India Company wanted to send a leader to the colony

The sent Peter Stuyvesant Stuyvesant did a lot to improve life in the colony.

He made peace with Native Americans the colonists had been fighting with, he ordered buildings and streets be repaired and he started a police force

He was still unpopular because his loud angry ways, he also tried to make some groups like the Jewish colonists leave.

Behind his back the colonists called him “stubborn Pete”