Gotham, the Big Apple, the City that Never Sleeps: New York City is the emblem of America, to many, especially as we remember the tragedy of September 11th, 2001.
Over the past three centuries, New York has grown to greatly overshadow its namesake, the city of York in northern England. Before New York was New York, it was a small island called Manna-hata by the local Native American tribe. In the early 1600s, the Dutch West India Company sent Henry Hudson on an expedition to explore the island and the river for a possible trading post. The island had an ideal geographic position for trading with furs with the Native Americans. To establish the Dutch footprint in the New World, they planted a trading post on the southern tip of the island and called it New Amsterdam, after their capital city. New Amsterdam officially became a city in 1625, a year still noted on the flag of New York City. The settlement at New Amsterdam reached from the southern tip of Manhattan to what today is Wall Street. Beyond the northern border of Wall Street, Manhattan was full of farms and orchards.
The trading post thrived and grew until the English decided they wanted a piece of the pie. In 1664, James II of England, the Duke of York, sent four war ships to New Amsterdam to fight for rights to the island. Remarkably, the Dutch did not resist. Rather than fight a losing battle against a superior military, the governor of New Amsterdam (Peter Stuyvesant) and prominent citizens of the colony surrendered without bloodshed.
The Duke renamed the island for his home city of York, and the rest is history. The last sign of Dutch rule in Manhattan remains on the flag of New York City, which still reflects the three stripes of the Dutch flag and the original founding year of the city.
Want to learn about the origin of New York Knicks? Find out here.
I don’t remember the flag though…
So, who is this portrait of? Henry Hudson, Peter Stuyvesant or
James II of England, the Duke of York?
Every time I think of New York now, I think of the book “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” The state has an interesting history.
The picture is of James II painted by Nicolas de Largillière.
Love New York! Just want to add that ‘Manna Hata’ meant many layers and natives used this name due to the hard rock layer beneath the Manhattan soil. At least this is what a NY tour guide told me 
Because he is responsible! XD
Oh and people chose him, maybe? ;P
He was chosen? 
I too want to ask the question asked by Doug R…….WHO IS IN THE PHOTO??????
Correction: Henry Hudson was sent by the Dutch EAST India Company, and he was not sent to explore the Hudson River. He was sent to find the Northeast Passage, a route skirting the North Pole over Russia to reach the Orient. However, he changed course and decided to search for the Northwest Passage, and discovered the Hudson River in his search.
Re: Doug R.,
The picture is of the Duke of York.
Ah, Pity the Dutch didn’t retain it :’(. They were such a gentle country…
To Doug R – the portrait is James II of England, the Duke of York!
@ Tobias Mook
The Dutch are a gentle country now, but at that time the nation was larger and far more aggressive, both politically and economically.
Bayonne was known as a shipbuilding town. Bayonne was wooded land then and being a peninsula was ideal for shipbuilding. Many high speed sailing ships were built for the aristocracy of Europe at Bayonne.
I always thought the dutch traded it for Suriname…
If that guy in the portrait is the founder of New York he wont fit in at all. XD
I just read this story to my daughter last week. The history book also included that the Dutch settlement was a very rough and rowdy place to live. Before Governor Peter Stuyvesant–an ex-soldier with a wooden peg leg, resulting from a cannonball wound 3 years prior–arrived, there were no rules governing the town and the inhabitants had ‘run off’ the other governors. He governed for 17 years before surrendering to the English.
(And the article is correct. It was the Dutch West India Company, formed by the government of Holland to send settlers/traders to build New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island.)
Incredible how modern-day America has fused and retained the best of the past and the present!
After rereading the story, it was the Dutch East India Company that initially funded Henry Hudson’s expeditions. Then Holland formed the Dutch West India Company to further establish the New Amsterdam settlement.
Re. Tobias Mook
Isn’t it the ‘nature of the beast’, that our rulers, by definition, are the aggressors?
The picture is of James II King of England, Scotland and Ireland
Reign, 6 February 1685 – 11 December 1688, Coronation, 23 April 1685
Predecessor, Charles II, Successor, William III & II and Mary II
It’s kinda sad that the Native Americans couldn’t keep their territory.
Never been there that’s on my bucket list!
When I do get there what is the first thing I should check out??
Ps, it was a gambling debt that gave the bloody useless Duke of York the property.
I love N.Y.C./Manhattan/Harlem, U.S.A.!!!! however i did not have that piece of history in my mental file thank you for sharing! please do share more cont.@ my email address.respectfully yours!!
this is so great ifinally know something about new york!
“The Duke renamed the island for his home city of York” ! James II was born in London. Duke of York is a title given to a monarch’s second son. The first son’s title is Prince of Wales.
Mr Mulligan is correct AND the Dutch weren’t such “gentle” people in Batavia (today’s Jakarta), the East Indies (= Indonesia). Surrendering New Amsterdam to the British probably had nothing to do with kindness and everything to do with “Peter Stuyvesant’s” keen sense of self preservation. Perhaps he was the first “arbitrageur” and “odds maker” on Wall Street.
Why the Dutch didn’t fight the British for New Amsterdam as vigorously as they did a few years later, when they were protecting their East India trade routes, probably has to do with New Amsterdam’s lesser significance as an outpost of trade. Little did they (or the British) know at the time what would become out of Mann-hatta.
This is so interesting and i live in New York City,NY. COOL,right?!
There’s a great series of videos called New York: a Documentary Film, all about this, on youtube.
The man pictured here is King James II.
[...] remembrance of tomorrow, 11th of September, The Hot Word tells us some history on the origin of New York’s [...]
[...] remembrance of tomorrow, 11th of September, The Hot Word tells us some history on the origin of New York’s [...]
i want 2 go 2 new york so bad 2 see a brodway show does anyone know wat te best one is
We just learned this in school yesterday!
To all that have lost love ones a decade ago May all have a calm knowing that god is love.That those .May that those who are alive in spirit exalt and uplift the name of God.
May we dedicate our life span to serving our neighbor and the world with enduring love and peace.Amen.
Correction: Northwest not northeast passage. Mulligan is right that is James II, the Duke of York.
I thought that the ‘gentle’ Dutch traded New Amsterdam for one of the British Spice Islands they had trouble conquering, having savagely treated both Natives and Europeans in what is now Indonesia in their voracious bid for a monopoly of the Nutmeg market. In those days Nutmeg was more valuable by weight than Gold due to it’s supposed medicinal properties in an age of plagues. Read the excellent book “Nathaniel’s Nutmeg” for details. Please do not confuse today’s gentle dope smoking Dutch liberals with the barbaric Dutch pirates who terrorised those Islands to grab spices.
The Dutch were a gentle country?? Tell that to the Indonesians!
Every ethnic people from every nation on earth live and work together in harmony in New York, while the rest of the world can’t. And it’s amazing how incredibly productive that they are, each offering the best. Yeah, I’d like a nice German bologna sandwich on soft Jewish rye bread for lunch and a true Italian New York style pizza for dinner……Al-
You mean these Dutch? :
“In 1641 the Dutch governor Kieft of Manhattan offered the first “scalp bounty”–his government paid money for the scalp of each Indian brought to them. A couple years later, Kieft ordered the massacre of the Wappingers, a friendly tribe. Eighty were killed and their severed heads were kicked like soccer balls down the streets of Manhattan. One captive was castrated, skinned alive and forced to eat his own flesh while the Dutch governor watched and laughed. Then Kieft hired the notorious Underhill who had commanded in the Pequot war to carry out a similar massacre near Stamford, Connecticut. The village was set fire, and 500 Indian residents were put to the sword.
A day of thanksgiving was proclaimed in the churches of Manhattan. As we will see, the European colonists declared Thanksgiving Days to celebrate mass murder more often than they did for harvest and friendship.”
This was an interesting post. To add to the Manna Hatta bit, the actual mineral composition of NYC is mostly Gneiss and Schist. The latter one being very good for Languedoc wines.
That’s so interesting, I did not know the Stuart clan was responsible for the naming of New York City!! James II of England, formerly the Duke of York, was born in London and resided there at Court after his brother Charles II reclaimed the monarchy from Oliver Cromwell. During James’ lifetime, I doubt he spent any time in York or the northern provinces. So it is interestinghe named the city after a TITLE rather than sentimental attachment to a place of origin (the Stuarts originally hailed from Scotland). Also very cool that James’ New York City would in the modern era ecliipse the renown of its medieval namesake — which has quite an interesting history of its own. York derives phoetically from a Viking town on the site pre1,000CE — Uruk or something like that.
Remarkable, I knew that “York” was connected to England.
so many damn smily faces screw new york
[...] ‘New York’ is it of which we speak: The Center of the Universe if you live there? — A Smoker’s [...]
r u sure this is true? cause i heard that new york’s name came about from those chocolate mint candies bc mint was found in that land and then ya u know.. 
Yes the Dutch are from a gentle country. They were especially gentle when they were sailing slave ships from Africa. Wake up.
I Absolutely Love the City! It is true what they say. We do learn something new every day. Awseome read indeed!
Oh and thanks for the correction you added regarding “Henry Hudson” Mr. Mulligan.
New York is unique, beautiful and amazing. I LOVE NEW YORK.
I Luv Learning ! Especially About Stuff Like This! I Luv This Website.. So Much Knowledge!!!! =3
Hmmm, I think that this is a portrait of Robert Plant, who, by the way, is from England. Just Kidding…I love New York. I worked in the city for many years. My first job in NYC was in the Trade Center (2) on the 45th Floor. What a great building. My heart aches for the senseless loss of life and all the pain that we have endured through these acts of violence.
@Doug It’s obviously the Duke of York because the title says How is this man responsible for the name and in the article it says the Duke named it.
I loved this article, thanx God I had a chance to learn American history from my online school. thank you Penn Foster Highschool. God Bless you all.
Argyle County New York was settled by Scots from Argyllshire Scotland!
Was Argyle County part of New York City/
@Crimson Rose “It’s kinda sad that the Native Americans couldn’t keep their territory”
Not at all. The word you are looking for is “shameful”.
Just a couple of points. First, when New Amsterdam was taken, Charles II still sat on the throne of England. His brother, James, Duke of York, was Lord High Admiral, which is why he was given the credit for taking the colony. As there was already a Jamestown, it was unsurprising that the new acquisition was named after his title. But, no, York was most certainly NOT his home city. The title Duke of York is traditionally given to the second son of the British monarch, as in the case of James father, later Charles I, and the current Queen’s second son, Prince Andrew.
And the Viking name for York was Jorvik, meaning a wild boar or chieftan; Uruk was an ancient Summerian city state which gives us the name Iraq
this is about history, please keep the prayer stuff to yourself
Looks like James II just got back from a ski trip. Or he had some stylish shades in the hot Westminster sun…
@Karl on September 11, 2011 at 7:02 am
You mean these Dutch? :
“In 1641 the Dutch governor Kieft of Manhattan offered the first “scalp bounty”–his government paid money for the scalp of each Indian brought to them. A couple years later, Kieft ordered the massacre of the Wappingers, a friendly tribe. Eighty were killed and their severed heads were kicked like soccer balls down the streets of Manhattan. One captive was castrated, skinned alive and forced to eat his own flesh while the Dutch governor watched and laughed. Then Kieft hired the notorious Underhill who had commanded in the Pequot war to carry out a similar massacre near Stamford, Connecticut. The village was set fire, and 500 Indian residents were put to the sword.
A day of thanksgiving was proclaimed in the churches of Manhattan. As we will see, the European colonists declared Thanksgiving Days to celebrate mass murder more often than they did for harvest and friendship.”
-Well said/quoted. It is too often overlooked and forgotten that all of these lands in the New World were usurped and stolen from native people by the real savages- the white men.
I feel the the Britons were always lucky and God favored them most. The history of england reeks with the God”s love for the Britons. Take the
great Armada the Spaniards sent to destroy Britain and GOD sent the terrible storm and destroyed it and what little remained Britons destroyed it. As a matter of gratitude whole of Britain rang the church bells through out the day. Then think of the 30 years war, the Napolean’s adventures against Britain which was totally destroyed by God. And the last but not the least the Hitler’s Blitzkrig and the Battle of Britain, all were beaten back and the enemies of were all destroyed. that’s how God favors The Britons. And in my opinion they were just and carried civilization and democracy to all their colonies. They spread education through out. and brought enlightenment. That’s it.
That’s so weird! How interesting…
@ John Barr
Argyle NY is/was definitely not in New York City! It is located better than 200 miles north, 2/3 of the way to Montreal. It is about even with the south shore of Lake Erie, although nowhere close to it. Mapquest or Google will show you, if you ask nicely. There is, apparently, another Argyle, New York. It is 25 or 30 miles east of NYC, out Long Island in Washington County, near West Islip, but it’s not the Argyle you want.
Shure love to learn new things but many I’m crazy inlighten me with detail
I hate New York and never new this, but love california
Now i see why New York is named the greatest city in the world. I lived in New York my whole life and never knew that. I was a lucky one on september 11th and my heart goes out to all that were lost on that day in this great city of ours. May their lives never be forgotten and the ones responsible take the punishment for their wrongdoings. God bless everyone, God bless America, and God bless New York.
Is this “Peter Stuyvesant” governor associated with bringing tobacco from the Americas to Europe? Just guessing from the name …
Amazing! New york rules
i knew this already but…okay! its really cool!!!! i learned about it for a project in 4th or 5th grade i don remember…
Wasn’t New York City’s nickname “Big Onion” before it was “Big Apple”?
I love New York and didn’t know this! How interesting!