Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/489

Rh STATE.] NEW YORK 455 was the beginning of a bloody war which desolated New Netherland for five years. At its close scarcely one hundred men besides traders could be found in Manhattan, and the river settlements were nearly destroyed. This disastrous administration was closed in the summer of 1646 by the appointment of Peter Stuyvesant, who landed at Manhattan in May of the succeeding year. Though of a proud and overbearing temper, and by nature disposed to arbitrary rule, he proved the most satisfactory of the company s administrators. He closed the Indian difficulties, conciliating the friendly and utterly destroying the hostile tribes. He negotiated a settlement of the boundary disputes with the New England colonies (treaty of Hartford, 1650). In his relations with his own people he was less fortunate, and by his opposition to their demands for a larger freedom he alienated their affections and prepared them for ready submission to a more generous rule. The province was already shorn of its original limits, by English aggression and Dutch submission, before the consent of the director and council to a general assembly could be had. This, the first popular representa tive body of the province, met in April 1^64. Before the year closed the colony fell an easy conquest to the ihiglish. The population of the province was now fully 10,000, that of New Amsterdam 1500 persons. The English Government was hostile to any other occupation of the New World than its own. In 1621 James I. claimed sove reignty over New Netherland by right of &quot;occupancy.&quot; In 1632 Charles I. reasserted the English title of &quot;first discovery, occupa tion, and possession.&quot; In 1654 Cromwell ordered an expedition for its conquest, and the New England colonies had engaged their support. The treaty with Holland arrested these operations, and recognized the title of the Dutch. In 1664 Charles II. resolved upon a conquest of New Netherland. The immediate excuse was the loss to the revenue of the English colonies by the smuggling practices of their Dutch neighbours. A patent was issued to the duke of York granting to him all the lands and rivers from the west side of the Connecticut river to the east side of Delaware Bay. On the 29th August an English squadron under the direction of Colonel Richard Nicolls, the duke s deputy-governor, appeared off the Nar rows, and on September 8 New Amsterdam, defenceless against the force, was formally surrendered by Stuyvesant. The duke s authority was proclaimed, and New Netherland became New York. The name of Fort Orange was changed to Fort Albany, after the second title of the duke. Nicolls proved an admirable ruler, and his successor Francis Lovelace continued his policy, autocratic government, arbitrary in form but mild in practice. Religious liberty was as large as in England. In 1673 (August 7), war being declared between England and Holland, a Dutch squadron surprised New York, captured the city, and restored the Dutch authority and the names of New Netherland and New Amsterdam. But in July 1674 a treaty of peace restored New York to English rule. A new patent was issued to the duke of York, and Major Edmund Andros was appointed governor. He proved a firm but moderate ruler ; the unsustained charge of maladministration made against him had its source in religious prejudice. In 1683 Thomas Dongan succeeded Andros. The province flourished under his excellent administration. A general assembly, the first under the English rule, met on October 1683, and adopted a charter of liberties which was confirmed by the duke. In August 1684 a new covenant was made with the iroquois, who formally acknowledged the jurisdiction of Great Britain, but not subjection. By the accession of the duke of York to the English throne in 1685 the duchy of New York became a royal province. The charters of the New England colonies were revoked, and together with New York and New Jersey they were consoli dated into the dominion of New England. Dongan was recalled, and Sir Edmund Andros, who suggested the policy, was commissioned governor-general. He assumed his viceregal authority at New York, August 11, 1688. The English Revolution of 1688 had its faint counterpart in the colonies in an insurrection of the militia, headed by one Jacob Leisler, which was not terminated till the arrival from England in 1691 of a new governor, Sloughter, with whose administration what may be called the second period of English rule begins. The assembly which James had abolished in 1686 was reestab lished, and in May declared the rights and privileges of the people, reaffirming the principles of the repealed charter of liberties of October 30, 1683; but religious liberty was curtailed and the Test Act put in force as to Roman Catholics. In 1697 the lords of trade, in a formal report, protested against the Act declaratory of the rights and privileges of the people of the province of New York ; and the instructions of the king to Lord Bellomont, the newly appointed governor, were sharply restrictive of the rights claimed as to courts and assemblies. The government Avas to be ruled as a province by a governor and council, the governor having power to institute courts, appoint judges, disburse the revenues, veto all laws, and prorogue or dissolve the assembly at pleasure. The provincial legal authorities protested at once against this excess of prerogative. Thenceforth the political history of the province records one con tinued struggle between the royal governors and the general assembly, the assembly withholding money grants, and the gover nors exercising the power to dissolve it at will. The chief concern of the province was the defence of the northern frontier. The quartering of British troops became a source of constant irritation between ^the people and the officers, and the need of money by the authorities caused as severe a struggle between the governors and the assembly. The conquest of Canada in 1763 closed the long contest in which New York troops were constantly engaged. The war left a heavy burden upon Great Britain, a part of which par liament attempted to shift to the shoulders of the colonies. A general congress of the colonies held in New York in 1765 protested against the Stamp Act and other oppressive ordinances, and they were in part repealed. But parliament maintained the principle upon which the legislation was based, the supremacy of parliament and its right to tax the colonies without their representation or con sent. In 1769 the total exports of the province amounted to 246,522. During this long political agitation New York, the most English of the colonies in her manners and feeling, was in close har mony with the Whig leaders of England. She firmly adhered to that principle of the sovereignty of the people which she had inscribed on her ancient charter of liberties. Largely dependent upon commerce, she was the first to recommend a non-importation of English merchandise as a measure of retaliation against Great Britain, and she was first also to invite a general congress of all the colonies. On the breaking out of hostilities, New York immedi ately joined the patriot cause ; the English authority was overthrown, and the government passed to a provincial congress. In May 1775, Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which commanded^ Lakes Champlain and George, and secured the northern frontier, were cap tured by the Americans. New York city became the headquarters of the continental army under command of General Washington. On July 9, 1776, the provincial congress reassembled at White Plains, and formally took the name of the representatives of the State of New York. The same day they proclaimed their adhesion to the Declaration of Independence. The defeat of the Americans on Long Island, 27th August 1776, was followed by the abandonment of the city, September 15, the army of Washington retiring to the high ground at the northern end of the island. Next day a conflict took place between the advanced troops where Manhattanville now stands. The movement of Howe to White Plains, and his sub sequent successful operations, compelled the withdrawal of the Americans to New Jersey. In 1777 the advance of Burgoyne from Canada was checked at Saratoga and his entire army captured ; a diversion attempted by St Leger by way of the Mohawk was like wise unsuccessful. An attempt of Clinton to aid Burgoyne, in which he captured the forts at the entrance to the Hudson Highlands, failed ; West Point continued to command the passage of this import ant line of communication. On April 20, 1777, the State assembly adopted the first constitution. General George Clinton was elected governor, and held the office till the close of the war. In 1779 (July 16) Stony Point was captured by the Americans. In 1780 the failure of Arnold s treason put an end to the schemes of the British to command the river. The only other action of importance on the soil of the State was the punishment of the Indians who had aided Sir John Johnson in his incursions. Sullivan with 3000 men penetrated to the heart of the Seneca country and destroyed the towns. In the summer of 1781 Rochambeau with French troops made a junction with Washington in Westchester county, and New York city was threatened by the allied forces. News of the approach of the fleet of De Grasse to Chesapeake Bay caused a transfer to Virginia of the military operations. On the conclusion of the war New York was evacuated, November 25, 1 783. Freed from armed occupation, and its seaport regained, the State made rapid progress. Its natural advantages, which the war disclosed, attracted settlers from other States, and the western lands were quickly taken up. In 1788 (July 26) New York adopted the Federal constitution, became the most important member of the national union, and received popularly the name of the Empire State. The seat of government was transferred from New York city to Albany in 1797. The pro gress of the State met with no interruption until the war with Great Britain in 1812, when its northern frontier became the seat of opera tions by land and water. The treaty of Ghent put an end to the war, and important schemes for the development of the internal navigation to bring the products of the State to tidal water were rapidly consummated. Steamboat navigation began on the Hudson in 1807, and the canal system was perfected in 1825 in the comple tion of the Erie Canal, which opened the country from the lakes to the sea. This important artery of commerce has been recently freed from toll by popular vote. The railroad system is still more perfect : great lines traverse the State from its eastern to its western extremity, and a network of minor lines connects every town and village of any importance in the State with the central arteries. Progress of Settlement. At the close of the Dutch period the settlement of that part of New Netherland which afterwards became New York was confined to Manhattan, Long, and Staten Islands, and the banks of the Hudson. Westward of these there were small trading stations on the line of the Mohawk and other