Who Controlled New York: From New Netherland to New York

Control of the territory that became New York shifted among three powers in the 17th–18th centuries:

1. Dutch Control: New Netherland (1624–1664)

• 1624: Dutch West India Company establishes Fort Orange (Albany) and New Amsterdam (Manhattan)
• 1626: Peter Minuit "purchases" Manhattan from Lenape (60 guilders trade goods)
• Governance: Director-General (Minuit, Van Twiller, Kieft, Stuyvesant) + advisory council
• Economy: Fur trade (beaver), agriculture, diverse population (Dutch, Walloons, Africans, Jews, Scandinavians, Germans)
• New Sweden (1638–1655) on Delaware River absorbed by New Netherland

2. English/British Control: Province of New York (1664–1776)

• 1664: English fleet (Col. Richard Nicolls) demands surrender; Stuyvesant yields without shots
• Renamed: New Amsterdam → New York (for Duke of York, later James II); Fort Orange → Albany
• Governance: Royal colony (1685); governor + appointed council + elected assembly
• Diversity: Dutch remained; English, French Huguenots, Germans, Scots-Irish, enslaved Africans added
• Growth: NYC population 5,000 (1664) → 25,000 (1776); Hudson Valley manors (Livingston, Van Rensselaer)

3. American Control: State of New York (1776–present)

• 1776: NY adopts first state constitution (Kingston)
• 1776–1783: British occupy NYC (1776–1783); rest of state contested
• 1783: Evacuation Day (Nov 25) — British leave NYC
• 1788: NY ratifies U.S. Constitution (11th state)
• 1797: Albany becomes permanent state capital

Continuities

Dutch legal traditions (Roman-Dutch law) influenced NY property law. Dutch place names (Brooklyn/Breukelen, Harlem/Haarlem, Staten Island/Staaten Eylandt, Bronx/Bronck, Yonkers, Coney Island/Konijn Eiland) persist. The patroon system (manorial grants) shaped Hudson Valley land tenure into the 19th century.