History of New York
331847
225979090
2008-07-16T08:42:31Z
210.84.3.148
/* Rustbelt economy */
{{otheruses4|the history of [[New York|New York State]]|the history of New York before 1664|New Netherland|the history of New York before 1776|Province of New York|a history of the city|History of New York City}}
New York, the "Empire State" has been at the center of American politics, finance, industry, transportation and culture since it was created by the Dutch in the 17th century.
== Early History ==
[[Image:Blaeu - Nova Belgica et Anglia Nova (Detail Hudson Area).png|thumb|An early Dutch map of the Hudson river valley c. 1635 (North is to the right)]]
The western part of New York had been settled by the six nations of the [[Iroquois]] Confederacy for at least 500 years before Europeans came. The Iroquois had maintained the area between [[Seneca Lake (New York)|Seneca]] and Cayuga Lakes as a grassland prairie, which abounded in wild game including grazing [[American Bison]] herds. In colonial times, the Iroquois were prosperously growing corn, vegetables and orchards, and keeping cows and hogs; fish were also abundant.
The far-southern area around what is now New York City was long inhabited by the [[Lenape]]; Lenape in canoes met [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]], the first European explorer to enter [[New York Harbor]], in 1524. [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]] named this place ''Nouvelle Angoulême'' (New [[Angouleme]]) in honor of the [[France|French]] king [[Francis I of France|François I]]. A [[France|French]] explorer and mapper, [[Samuel de Champlain]], described his explorations through New York in 1608.
=== Province of New Netherland ===
See [[New Netherland]] (1624 - 1667)
=== Province of New York ===
{{main|Province of New York}}
In 1663 the [[James II of England|Duke of York]] purchased the grant of [[Long Island]] and other islands on the [[New England]] coast made in 1635 to the [[Earl of Stirling]]. The following year, the Duke equipped an armed expedition, which took possession of [[New Amsterdam]], which was thenceforth called [[Province of New York]], after him.<ref>[http://www.dos.state.ny.us/kidsroom/nysfacts/hstry1.html New York State Facts: New York State History], New York State Department of State. Accessed [[July 3]], [[2007]]. "It was conquered by the English in 1664 and was then named New York in honor of the Duke of York."</ref><ref>[http://www.visityork.org/media/factsheets/york.asp Yorks of the World], City of [[York]] (England) Tourism Bureau. Accessed [[July 3]], [[2007]]. "The most famous of York’s descendants, New York state and city were both renamed when the British captured what was then a Dutch colony known as [[New Netherlands]] (and its city New Amsterdam) in 1664. James Duke of York, brother of King Charles II, became the proprietor of the colony and so it was that the state and the city become called New York."</ref> This conquest was confirmed by the [[treaty of Breda]], in July 1667. In July 1673, a Dutch fleet recaptured New York and held it until it was restored to the English by the [[treaty of Westminster]] in February, 1674.
The [[Province of New York]] was established by its [[colonial charter]] of 1664. The colonial charter of New York granted unlimited westward expansion, despite Native American presence in the Area. [[Massachusetts]]' charter had the same provision, causing territorial disputes between the colonies and with the [[Iroquois]]. The separate colony of [[New Jersey]] was created out of the southwestern part of New Netherland, and the far southwestern portion given to [[Pennsylvania]].
There lay a vast tract of land from the upper [[Mohawk River]] to [[Lake Erie]], that was thinly occupied by the Iroquois and virtually unknown to the colonists. Since the colonial charters of both [[Massachusetts]] and New York granted unlimited westward expansion, the claim to this tract was disputed. There were also many tensions between the original Dutch settlers in the [[Hudson Valley|Hudson]] and [[Mohawk Valley|Mohawk]] Valleys and the English who were rapidly arriving in Eastern New York, and the Germans were also establishing settlements in the Mohawk area.
==American Revolution==<!-- This section is linked from [[Iroquois]] -->
The [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriot]] organization, the [[Sons of Liberty]], were active in New York in the 1760s and early 1770s following the [[Stamp Act]]s and continuing with the [[Intolerable Acts]], and clashes with British troops peaked with the [[Battle of Golden Hill]] and the long-running skirmishes over [[Liberty pole]]s. A [[Committee of Correspondence]] was created by Patriots by 1774 to coordinate with like-minded people in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] seeking to demand what they saw were their [[Rights of Englishmen|rights as Englishmen]] denied by the preceding laws and [[No taxation without representation|lack of representation]] in the [[Parliament of Great Britain|British Parliament]]. The Commitees of Correspondence led to the creation of the [[New York Provincial Congress]], which effectively replaced the British ruling apparatus by 1775. The New York Provincial Congress sent delegates to the [[Second Continental Congress]], where they [[United States Declaration of Independence|voted for independence]] unanimously. The state of New York was created on July 9, 1776. Soon after, a permanent Committee for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies was formed which passed many laws allowing the prosecution of proven or suspected enemies of the rebellion. After their civil rights were revoked and their property confiscated (see [[Bill of attainder]]) many sought refuge in British-controlled areas. In 1777, the state required a stringent oath of allegiance from its citizens, those who refused were exiled to British-occupied New York City. The New York Provincial Congress was replaced with the state government with the adoption of the [[Constitution of New York, 1777]].
The [[Capture of Fort Ticonderoga]] provided the [[Fortification of Dorchester Heights|cannon and gunpowder]] necessary to force a [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] withdrawal from the [[Siege of Boston]] in 1775, and provided the staging ground for the unsuccessful 1775 [[Invasion of Canada (1775)|invasion of Canada]]. The first major battle of the [[American Revolutionary War]] after independence was declared - and the largest battle of the entire war - was fought in New York at the [[Battle of Long Island]] (a.k.a ''Battle of Brooklyn'') in 1776. New York saw the [[Battle of Valcour Island]] on [[Lake Champlain]] that year as well. The withdrawal of General [[George Washington]] from Manhattan Island was followed by the British making New York City their military and political base of operations in North America for the duration of the conflict, and consequently the center of attention for Washington's [[Intelligence operations in the American Revolutionary War|intelligence network]]. The notorious British [[prison ships]] of [[Wallabout Bay]] saw more American combatants [[HMS Jersey (1736)|die of intentional neglect]] than were killed in combat in every battle of the war, combined (see ''[[Prisoners in the American Revolutionary War]]''). The first of two major British armies to surrender during the war was captured by the [[Continental Army]] at the [[Battle of Saratoga]] in 1777, preventing the British from connecting their forces in Canada with those in [[New York City]], and resulted in influencing [[France]] to ally with the revolutionaries. In 1780, [[Benedict Arnold]] unsuccessfully attempted to turn [[West Point, New York|West Point]] over to the British, a move that would have given the British control of the Hudson Valley. As per the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]]. the last vestige of British authority in the former [[Thirteen Colonies]] - their troops in New York City - departed in 1783 , which was long afterwards celebrated as [[Evacuation Day (New York)|Evacuation Day]].
During the [[American Revolutionary War|revolution]], four of the [[Iroquois]] nations fought on the side of the British, with the exceptions of the [[Oneida]] and the [[Tuscarora (tribe)|Tuscarora]]. In 1779, Major General [[John Sullivan]] was sent to defeat the Iroquois. The [[Sullivan Expedition]] moved northward through the [[Finger Lakes]] and [[Genesee Country]], burning all the Iroquois communities and destroying their crops and orchards. Refugees fled to [[Fort Niagara]] where they spent the following winter in hunger and misery. Hundreds died of exposure, hunger and disease. After the war, many moved to [[Canada]]. Most, absent or present, lost their land after the war. Some of the land purchases are the subject of modern-day claims by the individual tribes.
== Early national period: 1783-1820 ==
Sullivan's men returned from the campaign to [[Pennsylvania]] and [[New England]] to tell of the enormous wealth of this new territory. Many of them were given [[Central New York Military Tract|land grants]] in gratitude for their service in the Revolution. From 1786 through 1797 several groups of wealthy land speculators entered into agreements with one another, with neighboring states, and with the [[Native Americans in the United States|Indians]] to obtain title to vast tracts of land in western New York. Some purchases of [[Iroquois]] lands are the subject of numerous modern-day land claims by the individual nations of the Six Nations.
For the [[Oneida]] nation's assistance in defeating the British, primarily assisting General Washington's army at Valley Forge, then President Washington while on tour of the Mohawk Valley signed the [[Treaty of Canandaigua]]. This Treaty promised the Oneidas among other things a large swath of land from Pennsylvania to Canada, forever. The Treaty was violated in the mid-1800s by New York State. This became the basis for the present land claim dispute.
After the end of the [[American Revolutionary War]], [[Isaac Sears]] and others, in New York City, revived the Sons of Liberty. In March 1784, they rallied an enormous crowd which called for the expulsion of any remaining Loyalists from the state starting on May 1. The Sons of Liberty gained sufficient seats in the December, 1784 election to have enacted punitive Loyalist laws. These laws remained in effect until, 1786 when Loyalists not banned by name were allowed to return to the state, 1788 when confiscation of Loyalist property was stopped, and 1792 when those banned by name were allowed to return to the state provided they did not contest their previous forfeiture of their property.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} {{topheavy|date=December 2007}}
After a furious controversy, led by [[Alexander Hamilton]], New York ratified the new federal [[United States Constitution]], on [[July 26]], [[1788]], and New York became the 11th state in the union with New York City being the federal capital (until 1790).{{Confusing|date=December 2007|did AH lead the controversy? no mention of Federalist Papers?}}
=== Settlement of Northern New York ===
In 1791, Alex Bahret (1748 - 1831), who had gotten rich as a merchant in the [[American Revolution]], bought 3,670,715 acres (14,855 km²) of northern New York at about twelve cents an acre. This tract, along the [[St. Lawrence River]] and eastern [[Lake Ontario]], included the [[Thousand Islands]] and was divided into ten large townships; the deeds for all the lands that are now included in [[Lewis County, New York|Lewis]], [[Jefferson County, New York|Jefferson]], [[St. Lawrence County, New York|St. Lawrence]] and [[Franklin County, New York|Franklin Counties]], as well as portions of [[Herkimer County, New York|Herkimer]] and [[Oswego County, New York|Oswego Counties]] are derived from this purchase. The land was divided into townships and sections for sale.
See also the history of the [[Adirondacks#History|Adirondacks]].
== The Erie Canal ==
{{main|Erie Canal}}
Roads of the era were poor and often muddy, rutted, and narrow. Absent "highway departments" to maintain roadways, roads crossed private lands and the landowners used the English model of [[turnpike]]s (toll roads). Prior to the Erie Canal, the northern lake plains of New York state was a snake and mosquito-infested swamp from spring to autumn, making travel impossible. Most westward travelers took a southern route from the Philadelphia and Baltimore area up the North Branch of the [[Susquehanna River]], to what is now Corning and Elmira, up the [[Canisteo River]] to [[Arkport]] (named for the arks or shallow-bottomed boats used) across the Eastern Continental Divide in [[Allegany County]], and then down the [[Allegheny River]], to Pittsburgh, Pa. and on down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River.
Cargo capacity was limited to what a small wagon could carry, and daily progress was measured in a few miles per day. Ships, which were typically faster, could easily navigate up the [[Hudson River|Hudson]] to Albany, but no further. The [[Mohawk River]] provided a route to the central part of the state, but due to rapids and falls along its course, was suitable only for canoes and small bateaux (which could be portaged around the obstacles). From 1807 there was much talk of building a canal system. Governor [[DeWitt Clinton]] became the chief sponsor, and in 1817 the first portion of a canal was begun, to connect the Hudson River with [[Lake Erie]] (and thence to the rest of the [[Great Lakes]]). The easy part was built first, a series of bypasses of rapids on the Mohawk River. Later sections were cut through the wilderness, often with Irish immigrant labor.
Though there was opposition, and the canal was derisively called "Clinton's Ditch" or worse, "Clinton's Folly," the canal was finally completed in 1825. Officially the event was celebrated by cannon shots along the length, and by Governor Clinton ceremonially pouring Lake Erie water into the [[New York Harbor]] in the "Wedding of the Waters." The [[Erie Canal]] proved to be a stroke of genius, as settlers now poured from New England, Eastern New York and Europe into the central and western part of the state. Others went on to Ohio and Michigan. The Canal was the first serious route for settlement west of the [[Appalachian Mountains]], which had previously been a geographic barrier. Now upstate [[farm]]s and [[industry|industries]] could easily ship their products to the large and growing market of [[New York City]] and beyond. The canal shortened the trip across the state of New York from weeks to days. The cost of shipping cargo dropped precipitously as well.
The Erie Canal, though no longer so important a trade route (it is supplanted by [[railroad]]s and [[highway]]s) still defines the central commerce belt of New York State. The [[port]] city of [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Lockport]], where the canal crossed a great limestone ridge, mill-town and beautiful 'Flower City' [[Rochester, Monroe County, New York|Rochester]] on the Genessee, and many smaller cities owe their growth, perhaps even their existence, to the Erie. Connecting canals were also built to [[Lake Ontario]] and the larger [[Finger Lake]]s. The success of the Erie Canal in led in turn to a series of other canals throughout the Northern US.
== Empire state industrializes: 1820-1920 ==
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
=== Pre-Civil War ===
Upstate New York was the "[[Burned-Over District]]", a zone of intense religious and reform activity typified by revivalist [[Charles Grandison Finney]].
Two denominations emerged: the [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]] and the [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]]. Benevolent reform movements (establishing Sunday Schools, and orphanages), temperance groups (abolishing the consumption of alcohol), antislavery societies, and women’s rights activists also found enthusiastic supporters in upstate New York between 1825 and 1860. Social experiments in communal living appeared in utopian communities at [[Oneida]] and [[Skaneateles]]; the best known are the [[Shaker]] villages near Albany. Historian Alice Felt Tyler called it a "ferment of reform."
At the same time, upstate New York was at the cutting edge of the transportation revolution, the agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution, and even the urban revolution. Turnpikes, canals, and railroads connected eastern cities with western markets. Especially important was the route from Albany to Buffalo, connected with the [[Seneca Turnpike]] (1803), Erie Canal (1825), and [[New York Central Railroad]] (1853). In agriculture, New York’s farmland, much of it former Haudenosaunee homeland, was some of the most productive in the nation. The Genesee country, from the Finger Lakes west, became known as the breadbasket of the nation for its extraordinary grain production. At key sites (such at Troy-Cohoes, the Sauquoit Creek west of Utica, Oswego, Seneca Falls, and Rochester), rapid-flowing rivers offered power for major industrial sites. In terms of urban growth, cities in New York State, along with those in the rest of the country, grew more rapidly between 1820 and 1860 than in any other period in U.S. history.
Following these expanding economic opportunities, people (including African Americans as well as European Americans of many different backgrounds) poured into upstate New York. They came from several different culture hearths—New England Yankees, Dutch and Yorkers from eastern New York, Germans and Scots Irish from Pennsylvania, and immigrants from England and Ireland. Upstate New York State became a place where people of many different backgrounds moved rapidly into the same area and created a volatile combination of voices and dramatic new movements.
=== Civil War ===
Although New York State was not the scene of any battles, its involvement in the Union war effort was considerable.
====Draft Riots====
{{main|New York Draft Riots}}
The '''New York Draft Riots''' ([[July 11]] to [[July 16]], [[1863]]; known at the time as '''Draft Week'''<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?vid=LCCN01016825&id=0mUod9zTN4kC&pg=PA2&vq=%22Riot+Week%22 Barnes 5]</ref>), were [[Riot|violent disturbances]] in [[New York City]] that were the culmination of discontent with new laws passed by [[United States Congress|Congress]] to [[Conscription in the United States#Early drafts|draft]] men to fight in the ongoing [[American Civil War]]. The riots were the largest civil insurrection in American history apart from the American Civil War.<ref>Foner, E. (1988). ''Reconstruction America's unfinished revolution, 1863-1877. The New American Nation series.'' Page 32. New York: Harper & Row.</ref> President [[Abraham Lincoln]] sent several regiments of militia and volunteer troops to control the city. The rioters numbered in the thousands and were mainly [[Irish American|Irish]].<ref name="harpers1">{{cite web | url=http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/august/new-york-riot.htm | title=The Riots | accessdate=2006-08-16 | work=[[Harper's Weekly]], volume vii, no 344 | publisher=Sonofthesouth.net | pages=382, 394}}</ref> Smaller scale riots erupted in other cities about the same time.
=== Gilded Age ===
Railroads became the dominant transport after the war, though the traffic of steamboats and canal boats continued to increase. The victorious Republican Party split into acrimonious factions over questions of patronage, while the [[Tammany Hall]] machine of the Democrats in New York City perfected their system of looting public funds. Continued immigration and economic growth brought an urbanized majority.
=== Progressive Era ===
The governorships of [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Charles Evans Hughes]] and [[Al Smith]] made New York a major factor in the [[Progressive Era]].
== Modern state: 1920-1975 ==
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
=== Boom years: 1920-1929 ===
===Depression and war 1929-1945===
WPA
=== Suburban growth ===
===Politics: Smith, Lehman, Dewey,===
== Postmodern state: 1976-2008 ==
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
=== Rustbelt economy ===
===Service economy===
== Bibliography ==
=== Surveys ===
* Eisenstadt, Peter, Laura-Eve Moss, and Carole F. Huxley, eds. ''The Encyclopedia Of New York State'' (2005) 1900 pages of articles by experts.
* Ellis, David M., James A. Frost, Harold C. Syrett, and Harry J. Carman. ''A History of New York State.'' Rev. ed. Cornell University Press, 1967.
* Ellis, David M., James A. Frost, and William B. Fink. ''New York: The Empire State'' . 4th ed. Prentice-Hall, 1975.
* Flick, Alexander C. (ed.). ''History of the State of New York.'' 10 vol, 1933–37
* Hedrick, U.P. ''A History of Agriculture in the State of New York'' (1983)
* Jackson, Kenneth T. ed, ''The Encyclopedia of New York City'' (1995)
* Klein, Milton M., ed. ''The Empire State: A History of New York.'' Cornell University Press, 2001. the latest scholarly overview
* Thompson, J. H. ed., ''The Geography of New York State'' (rev. ed. 1977);
=== Pre 1820 ===
* Becker, Carl Becker. ''The History of Political Parties in the Province of New York, 1760-1776.'' (1909).
* Bonomi, Patricia U. ''A Factious People: Politics and Society in Colonial New York.'' 1971.
* Countryman, Edward. ''A People In Revolution: The American Revolution and Political Society in New York, 1760-1790.'' 1981.
* DePauw, Linda. ''The Eleventh Pillar: New York State and the Federal Constitution.'' Cornell Univ. Press, 1966.
* Fox, Dixon Ryan. ''The Decline of the Aristocracy in the Politics of New York.'' Columbia Univ. Press, 1919.
* Kammen, Michael. ''Colonial New York: A History.'' 1975.
* Kenney, Alice P. ''Stubborn for Liberty: The Dutch in New York.''Syracuse University Press, 1975.
* Kim, Sung Bok, ''Landlord and Tennant in Colonial New York: Manorial Society 1664-1775'' (1978)
* McManus, Edgar J - A History of Negro Slavery in New York (1966)
* Spaulding, E. Wilder. ''New York in the Critical Period, 1781-1789.'' Columbia Univ. Press, 1932.
* Young, Alfred FE. ''The Democratic Republicans of New York: The Origins, 1763-1797.'' U. of North Carolina Press, 1967.
=== 1820-1920 ===
* Martin Bruegel. ''Farm, Shop, Landing: The Rise of a Market Society in the Hudson Valley, 1780-1860'' (2002)
* Cross, Whitney R. ''The Burned Over District: The Social and Intellectual History of Enthusiastic Religion in Western New York, 1800-1850'' (1950)
* Kaminski, John P. ''George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New Republic'' (1993)
* Niven, John. ''Martin Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics'' (1983)
* Shaw, Ronald E. ''Erie Water West : a history of the Erie Canal, 1792-1854.'' (University of Kentucky Press, 1966)
* Van Dusen, Glyndon, ''William Henry Seward'' (1967)
* Yellowitz, Irwin. ''Labor and the Progressive Movement in New York State, 1897-1916.'' [1965].
=== 1920-2006 ===
* Bellush, Bernard; ''Franklin D. Roosevelt as Governor of New York'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99016750 (1955) online]
* Connery, Robert H. and Gerald Benjamin. ''Governing New York State: The Rockefeller Years'', [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101932855 (1974) online].
* Davis Kenneth S. ''FDR: The New York Years, 1928-1933.'' 1979.
* Galie, Peter J.; ''Ordered Liberty: A Constitutional History of New York'' (1996)
* Gallagher, Jay. ''The Politics of Decline, A Chronicle of New York's Descent and What You Can Do To Save Your State'' (2005), conservative critique
* Ingalls, Robert P. ''Herbert H. Lehman and New York's Little New Deal'' (1975)
* Liebschutz, Sarah F., Robert W. Bailey, Jeffrey M. Stonecash, Joseph F. Zimmerman, and Jane Shapiro Zacek; ''New York Politics & Government: Competition and Compassion'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=7683074 (1998) textbook online]
* McClelland, Peter D., and Alan L. Magdovitz, ''Crisis in the Making: The Political Economy of New York State since 1945'' (1981)
* McElvaine Robert S. ''Mario Cuomo: A Biography.'' 1988.
* Marlin, George J. ''Squandered Opportunities: New York's Pataki Years'' (2006) by Conservative party activist
* Moscow Warren. ''Politics in the Empire State.'' 1948.
* Munger Frank J., and Ralph A. Straitz. ''New York Politics.'' 1960.
* Mumpower, Jeryl L., and Warren F. Ilchman, ''New York State in the Year 2000'' (1988)
* New York State Writers' Program; ''New York: A Guide to the Empire State'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99063479 (1940) famous guidebook by WPA online]
* Pecorella, Robert F., and Jeffrey M. Stonecash. ''Governing New York State'' (2006)
* Slayton, Robert A. ''Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith'' (2001)
* Smith, Richard Norton. ''Thomas E. Dewey and His Times.'' 1982,
* Stonecash, Jeffrey M., John K. White, and Peter W. Colby, eds., ''Governing New York State'' (1994)
* Thompson, John Henry. ''The Geography of New York State'' (1977)
* Zeller, Belle; ''Pressure Politics in New York: A Study of Group Representation before the Legislature'' [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=54529934 (1937) online]
== See also ==
*[[History of New York City]]
*[[History of Long Island]]
== References ==
<references/>
== External links ==
* [http://www.nyhistory.com/ New York History Net]
* [http://www.nysha.org/about/index.htm New York State Historical Association]
* [http://nystatehistory.org/ ''New York State History,'' a journal sponsored by SUNY-Albany]
* [http://www.newyorkhistoryreview.com/ New York History Review, a free online journal]
* [http://history.rays-place.com/ny/index.htm New York Local Histories (over 500)]
* [http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/msscfa/mapsbibl.htm Annotated Bibliography of Selected New York State Maps: 1793-1900]
* [http://www.crookedlakereview.com/ The Crooked Lake Review] A New York history journal with numerous articles online
* [http://www.sullivanclinton.com How the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign Made the Empire State Possible]
* [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/New_York 1911 Britannica article "New York"]
* [http://dlxs2.library.cornell.edu/n/nys/index.html New York State Historical Literature ] Cornell University Library Digital Collection
{{New York}}
{{U.S. political divisions histories}}
[[Category:History of New York]]