More than 11000 years before the first Europeans arrived in New York City,
the native Americans occupied the area. They referred to themselves as the
Lenape or people of the region and spoke a language called Munsee. They used
bows and arrows to hunt for small game and lived along the banks of local
waterways in the summer and when winter came they moved to the woods to
shelter from the cold.
A Florentine called Giovanni da Verrazano explored the American northeastern
coast and arrived on the shores in 1524, although the area was never
documented until the English explorer Henry Hudson landed in his vessel
"Halve Maen" in 1609.
In 1625 the first Dutch explorers arrived in the area and established a
trading post, calling it New Amsterdam. In 1647 a new governor called Peter
Stuyvesant arrived to impose some order on the colony. The Dutch had
complained that the colony had become unruly and he imposed a ban on
religious freedom and alcohol. Jews and Quakers were targeted and eventually
New Amsterdam was taken over by the British in 1664.
New Amsterdam was renamed New York, in honor of King Charles II's brother,
the Duke of York although the town retained its Dutch character well into
the mid 18th century.
Many anti-British protests unfolded wars broke out over who should control
New York, finally in 1783 King George III's troops finally withdrew and went
home to England.
By the 19th century the population of New York boomed and in 1830 was fast
approaching 250,000. A major milestone was the completion of the Croton
Aqueduct in 1842, which brought 72 million gallons of fresh water to the
city each day and allowed residents the opportunity of bathing and an
improvement in health conditions.
Between 1850 and 1880 the population of New York grew at a alarming rate, as
waves of poor immigrants and blacks arrived in search of a better life and
the great American dream. The emmergence of the subway was a landmark in New
York's history, this replaced the horse-drawn trolleys and gave people a
wider freedom, allowing them to explore the far reaches of the city.
New York was one of the only world capitals not to be damaged by war and by
1945, after the second World War it had established itself as a major port
and the center of the television industry.
During the 1950's New York was on a steady decline with many of the middle
class moving out of the city to the suburbs. Industry started to decline and
many restaurants, landmarks and nightclubs were abandoned or boarded up. The
Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team and the New York Giants moved out of the city
to set up home in the outer boroughs. One of the low points in New York's
fascinating history came about in 1977, when the city was experiencing a
freak heatwave, there was a serial killer on the loose killing young people
and a massive power cut left the city in complete darkness. Opportunist
thieves went on the rampage and stole millions of dollars worth of goods,
the city was experiencing one of it's lowest points in history.
The Twin Towers were completed in 1976 giving fresh hope for a brighter
future. Not long after this the city started to rise again and the feel good
factor emerged - the New York Yankees won back-to-back World Series,
Broadway musicals made a comeback and new movies were shot on the streets.
New York has experienced highs and lows in its history - none more low than
the tragedy of September 11th 2001 when hijackers flew two passenger planes
into the Twin Towers and thousands lost their lives.The spirit of the city
and its habitants always seem to shine through the good times and the bad.
Nowadays the population of New York is over 8,000,000 and rising, with a
variety of cultures living and working together, speaking over 100 different
languages.
